Books on United States history:  religion

The Faiths of the Founding Fathers (Hardcover)
by David L. Holmes

David L. Holmes is a professor of religious studies at the College of William and Mary.  His book "is a clearly written, and, at 185 pages of text, brief account of the religious beliefs of Franklin, Washington, Jefferson, Samuel and John Adams, Madison, and Monroe.

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"Mr. Holmes's account is valuable because rather than issuing sweeping generalizations about the religious views of the founders, it acknowledges that they were diverse. Some of them were deists. Some of them fell into a broad middle category that Mr. Holmes calls 'Christian Deist.'  Others were what Mr. Holmes calls 'orthodox Christian,' meaning not Russian or Greek Orthodox Christian but rather traditional followers of their churches, whether Congregational or Anglican or Presbyterian."--from review by Ira Stoll at nysun.com

I found the book interesting and pleasant to read.  It appears to be based on intelligent scholarship.--JP

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