George Washington is a man of a mythological stature. A stalwart man of war, 6’2” with animal teeth and a seemingly endless supply of stories where he cheated death, Washington’s role is so much more than just a founding father or first president. From the $1 bill to the capital to the busiest motor vehicle bridge in the world, Washington’s name and image are everywhere in the USA.
Washington is famously remembered as “First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen,” and, this sentiment still largely rings true. And 250 years after the nation’s founding, Washington is still remembered as a great leader and a great man.
But was he a good man? Did he understand morality? Did he have a relationship with divine goodness or submit to a higher power?
Washington’s embrace of slavery as a means to growing his wealth, his collaboration with deists and just the general historical distance we have from when he lived, have all caused historians to call into question Washington’s relationship with Christianity.
As American Independence Day approaches, on this week’s episode, culture critic Joseph Holmes investigates the faith of our foremost founding father in two separate conversations. In the first part of the episode, he interviews Peter Lillback about his national bestselling book, “George Washington’s Sacred Fire,” in which Lillback makes a strong argument for the case that Washington was in fact a committed Christian. In the second part of the episode, Joseph speaks with Diederik Hoogstraten, screenwriter of “Young Washington,” which comes out this Friday.
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