Quotes from Peter Lillback

Thus, we find phrases such as the following in Washington's public and private writings: "A Christian Spirit," "A True Christian," "Be more of a man and a Christian," "Christian soldiers," "The little Christian," "To the distinguished character of Patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of Christian." 32

We don't know what inscriptions Washington's nephew found on the tombs of their early Virginian ancestors. But we do know what Washington's ancestors ultimately put on his Mount Vernon tomb. Should you visit Washington's tomb at Mount Vernon, you will read "I am the resurrection and the Life." (John 11:25), the very first words of the funeral service in the Book of Common Prayer.

The King's 1606 patent for Virginia explained that the purpose of their mission to the New World was that: So noble a work may, by the Providence of God, hereafter tend to the glorie of his divine majestie, in propagating of Christian religion to such people as sit in darkness and miserable ignorance of the true knowledge and worship of God, and may in time bring the infidels and savages (living in those parts) to human civility and quiet government.20

Strange indeed that the immediate descendants of a Deist would have a Gospel text quoting Jesus' teaching on the resurrection on the alleged Deist's tomb!

Whether as General, a private citizen, or as president, Washington never swerved from an expressed commitment to the Christian evangelistic mission to the Native Americans that was a legacy bequeathed to him by the very first Anglican settlers of the colony of Virginia.

The skeptics who argue for Washington the Deist must explain his lifelong and heartfelt commitment to Christian missionary work.

The King's instructions included that "all persons should kindly treat the savages and heathen people in these parts, and use all proper means to draw them to the true service and knowledge of God."21 As early as 1588, Sir Walter Raleigh had given 100 pounds for the "propagation of Christianity in Virginia."22

The greatest rule in doing biblical exegesis is that the immediate context of a passage is crucial in determining the meaning of that passage.

Moreover, nothing less than both written evidence and recorded deeds from Washington himself will be sufficient to explain how he could simultaneously explicitly advocate Christian missionary evangelism, and yet as a Deist deny the teachings of Christianity.

Let's begin by noting that Washington historian Rupert Hughes is wrong when he writes in 1926, "… there is no direct allusion to Christ, and the word Christ has been found in none of Washington's almost countless autographs." 3 For George Washington wrote in 1779, "You do well to wish to learn our arts and ways of life, and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ. These will make you a greater and happier people than you are." 4

The inescapable conclusion is that Washington was a Christian.

a view that reflects the profound words of Dr. Gaffin: "Christ is the mediatorial Lord and Savior of redemptive history not only at its end but also from beginning to end.