In The Hands Of A Good Providence

by Thompson, Mary V.

• ISBN13: 9780813927633
• ISBN10: 0813927633
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-10-31
• Publisher: Univ of Virginia Pr

Summary

"Attempts by Evangelical Christians to claim Washington and other Founders as their own, and scholars' ongoing attempts to contradict these claims, are nothing new. Particularly after Washington was no longer around to refute them, legends of his Baptist baptism or secret conversion to Catholicism began to proliferate. Mount Vernon researcher Mary Thompson endeavors to get beyond the current preoccupation with whether Washington and other Founders were or were not evangelical Christians to ask what place religion had in their lives. Thompson follows Washington and his family over several generations, situating her inquiry in the context of new work on the place of religion in colonial and post-revolutionary Virginia and the Chesapeake."--BOOK JACKET.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xvii
Controversy: A Man of Many Questions	p. 1
Foundations: Early Influences	p. 11
Church Affiliation: A Lifelong Anglican	p. 30
Sundays: Public Worship and Time for Reflection	p. 50
Confirmation and Communion: Questions about a Rite and Sacrament of the Church	p. 75
Prayer: Private Devotions	p. 91
Evidence of Belief: Contemporary Statements	p. 101
Outward Actions: Charity and Toleration	p. 124
Church and State: Washington's Vision for America	p. 139
Conclusions: Washington's and Others'	p. 169
Notes	p. 187
Bibliography	p. 229
Index	p. 243
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