Was George Washington a Christian?

QUESTION: Was George Washington a Christian?

ANSWER:

Many have asked, “Was George Washington a Christian?” When one studies the life of George Washington, whether digging in deep or just scratching the surface, the idea that George Washington believed in the God of the Bible cannot be missed. George Washington was a Christian. Whether on horseback or a chair in his home, whether in battle or resting peacefully by fireside in the woods of the northeast with his fellow soldiers, George Washington revealed his heart for God in his quiet yet astonishing faith.

George Washington was not an exuberant or loud mouth Christian. His was a quiet faith that played out not so much in the words he spoke but in the things he did or in the way he led. He was as a Christian should be. Those close to him, his wife, children, soldiers and colleagues all witnessed his faith as he lived out his life on a daily bases. Nelly Custis-Lewis, Washington’s adopted daughter, once wrote as depicted by David Barton in his article Was George Washington a Christian?, “He was not one of those who act or pray, "that they may be seen of men" [Matthew 6:5]. He communed with his God in secret [Matthew 6:6]”.

After Washington passed away Rev. J.T. Kirkaland said, as quoted by William J. Federer the author of America’s God and Country Encyclopedia of Quotations, “The virtues of our departed friend were crowned by piety. He is known to have been habitually devout. To Christian institutions he gave the countenance of his example; and no one could express, more fully, his sense of the Providence of God, and the dependence of man.” Washington’s trust as an individual and as the leader of a nation was in the God of our universe and in His son Jesus Christ. He loved God, he respected God, he followed God, and he influenced those around him with his faith in God.