tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237087217187172116.post4446455844240562734..comments2024-03-28T10:44:30.518-06:00Comments on American Creation: George Washington on the BibleBrad Harthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17669677047039491864noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237087217187172116.post-50239090706661155512009-05-29T15:30:52.929-06:002009-05-29T15:30:52.929-06:00Please excuse me jumping in here again. The charg...Please excuse me jumping in here again. The charge about Washington is ownership of Bibles is made in Church's (2006) "So Help Me God" on page 48...and I think I did represent it fairly above (although I didn't have the book with me). Church does not provide any citation for this claim in the book and I don't just want to take his word for it. Does anybody know anything about this claim and where Dr./Rev. Church might have gotten this information?Jared Farleynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237087217187172116.post-77384127464113955102009-05-29T13:36:58.444-06:002009-05-29T13:36:58.444-06:00Yes, you're probably right about the second one, R...Yes, you're probably right about the second one, Ray. My paraphrase of the book could have been more precise.<br /><br />As for why the address was in Washington's own handwriting, I'm not certain your explanation is adequate. That it's in Washington's own hand lends it some level of endorsement, as he would have deleted the "offending" parts.Tom Van Dykehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237087217187172116.post-11700428380993284402009-05-29T06:10:11.019-06:002009-05-29T06:10:11.019-06:00Tom,
I think this is the bookmark you are looking ...Tom,<br />I think this is the <A HREF="http://gwpapers.virginia.edu/documents/inaugural/fragments.html" REL="nofollow">bookmark</A> you are looking for. The <B>Papers of George Washington</B> website, "Undelivered First Inaugural Address: Fragments," indicates that Washington needed a copy of his speech, not because it was a "good way of memorizing it," but because a copy was needed for Madison's inspection. <br /><br />Your idea that the "inaugural Washington gave ... embarrassed him" is a stretch. Washington's embarrassment was most likely caused by the difficulty he had speaking with his cumbersome false teeth.Ray Sollerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07950061062767093373noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237087217187172116.post-17623856674883316342009-05-28T22:42:01.136-06:002009-05-28T22:42:01.136-06:00Jon,
I have no first-hand knowledge of this, but a...Jon,<br />I have no first-hand knowledge of this, but a different and indirect way to estimate the importance George Washington gave to the Bible is through how many Bibles he owned and from where he got them. I believe it is Rev./Dr. Forrest Church's book "So Help Me God" (2006) which states that in 1783 a record of every book in George Washington's personal library was created and within it there is not a listing of a single copy of the Bible. When he died, there is a record of three copies of the Bible being in his possessions, but all three were given to him as gifts while he was serving as president...he apparently never bothered purchasing his own copy. My point being that if someone actually thought the Bible was totally inerrant or even infallible, wouldn't you own at least one copy, and probably several?<br /><br />I would be curious to know if there were any markings in these gift Bibles to indicate if they had been heavily used or notes in the margins to indicate frequent study. I wonder if they are stored somewhere?Jared Farleynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237087217187172116.post-85985673601477764692009-05-28T21:57:22.498-06:002009-05-28T21:57:22.498-06:00In an undelivered First Inaugural Address, Washing...<I>In an undelivered First Inaugural Address, Washington supposedly said:<br /><br /> The blessed Religion revealed in the word of God will remain an eternal and awful monument to prove that the best Institutions may be abused by human depravity; and that they may even, in some instances be made subservient to the vilest of purposes. <br /><br /><br /><br />The problems with this quote are 1) it probably wasn't written by Washington, but by Colonel Humphreys</I>...<br /><br />But Washington repenned it in his own handwriting, which is why it still exists today.<br /><br />He was considering using it, this much is clear. Writing it over in his own hand would be a good way of memorizing it.<br /><br />That Washington cast about for another inaugural address [and got one and used it], well, if you read the rejected draft it was frigging dreadful and boring. That the whole thing was kicked to the curb is unsurprising.<br /><br />I thought I'd bookmarked the best of the piecemeal surviving copy, but I seem to have lost it. But take my word for it that it was one of the worst speeches in the history of Western Civilization.<br /><br />Even the inaugural Washington gave [authored by Madison?] embarrassed him. An interesting account here:<br /><br />http://books.google.com/books?id=4iafgTEhU3QC&pg=PA277&lpg=PA277&dq=hamilton+washington+inaugural&source=bl&ots=v5rpuPe9pv&sig=hAXR_HvpQkWB1PvWaEujm4bN7GM&hl=en&ei=hFsfStXFKZ_wswO3wbT4Aw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1Tom Van Dykehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com