Third, we might mean that the founders were orthodox Christians. In some cases—for example, with Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, John Jay, Roger Sherman, and John Witherspoon—there is abundant evidence that they embraced and articulated orthodox Christian ideas. But the lack of records makes it difficult to speak with confidence on this issue with respect to some founders. Nevertheless, because of the many misleading statements on the subject, I demonstrate that there is no evidence to support the popular claim that many or most of the founders rejected orthodox Christianity or were deists.
