George Washington's Sacred Fire by Peter A. LillbackMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is an excellent book for those who want to know more about our first President's faith. It is very long but worth the read. The author does a great job using first source documents. I am very happy to report that without a doubt President George Washington was a believer in our Lord Jesus Christ! The book has ten appendixes and the endnotes start on page 959 and go through 1155. The author, Peter A. Lillback, did much research for this fantastic book! I highly recommend it.
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Here are just a few of the great quotes from the book:
The
highest message of the [Washington] monument at its very pinnacle declares, “Laus
Deo” or
“Praise to God!” Similarly, the many inner messages of the monument that are
found chiseled in stone along the ever-rising stairs, such as, “Search the
Scriptures,” “Holiness to the Lord,” “Train up a child in the way he should go,
and when he is old he will not depart from it” are left unread, since the
mandated way to the top is by speeding elevator, and the daunting and
contemplative walk up the stairs is typically closed. p. 192
And
most interestingly for the new nation, it included an order for the celebration
of July Fourth. The Service for July 4th was listed as “A Form of
Prayer and Thanksgiving to Almighty God, for the inestimable Blessings of Religious
and Civil Liberty; to be used yearly Fourth of July” and included the following
prayer:
O
God, whose Name is excellent in all the earth, and thy glory above the heaven,
who as on this day didst inspire and direct the hearts of our delegates in Congress,
to lay the perpetual foundation of peace, liberty, and safety; we bless and
adore thy glorious Majesty, for this thy loving kindness and providence. And we
humbly pray that the devout sense of this signal mercy may renew and increase
in us a spirit of love and thankfulness to thee its only author, a spirit of
peaceable submission to the laws and government of our country, and a spirit of
fervent zeal for our holy religion. Which thou hast preserved and secured to us
and our posterity. May we improve these inestimable blessing for the
advancement of religion, liberty, and science throughout this land, till the
wilderness and solitary place be glad through us, and the desert rejoice and
blossom as the rose. This we beg through the merits of Jesus Christ our Savior.
Amen. pp. 300-301
As
surprising as it sounds in a secular America, the first act of the first
Congress was to pray, despite a myriad of Christian denominations represented.
This prayer not only began in America, but it began the continuing
congressional tradition of prayer and the work of chaplains among our
government officials. p. 486
THAT
it is an indispensable duty which we owe to God, our country, ourselves
and posterity, by all lawful ways and means in our power to maintain, defend
and preserve these civil and religious rights and liberties for which
many of our fathers fought, bled and died, and to hand them down entire to
future generations. (emphasis ours)
~Continental Congress
Here
is what the commander-in-chief [George Washington] ordered on July 4, 1775:
The General most earnestly requires and expects
a due observance of those articles of war established for the government of the
army, which forbid profane cursing, swearing, and drunkenness. And in like
manner he requires and expects of all officers and soldiers, not engaged in
actual duty, a punctual attendance on Divine service, to implore the blessing
of Heaven upon the means used for our safety and defense. p. 551
The
president (Washington) wrote in his Farewell Address, “Can it be, that
Providence has not connected the permanent felicity of a Nation with its
virtue? The experiment, at least, is recommended by every sentiment which
ennobles human Nature.” p.
551
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