Atheist - Deist - Unitarian

Many would agree that the three most important founding fathers of the United States were Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams.  It is interesting how they are perceived by some Christian leaders, both Catholic and Protestant.  Paine is accused of being an Atheist, Jefferson a Deist, and Adams both Deist and Unitarian.  

What Christians actually mean in their criticism is that these Founders did not agree with the doctrines of the institutional Christian church.  To these Christians, those beliefs made them something less than Christian.

Nothing has changed, those who think outside the box of traditional creeds and statements of faith are labeled by some as something less than godly or "Christian."  Fundamentalist Jews thought the same thing of Jesus and the Apostle Paul.

Basically, a study of these men shows that they all acknowledged a Divine creator but to them He was unknowable by mere men.  To them He was bigger than the box that religion confines him to.  And from their perspective, any attempt to explain what the Divine is like would inevitably cause division and result in God being portrayed as less than who He is.  He would become a fabrication of men's minds with all sorts of false teaching surrounding those fabrications.  

Therefore, they concluded that it is best to keep religious doctrine separate from government.  The government should be of the people, by the people, and for the people.  Not of, by, and for some religious institution.  

They agreed with most Christians that men should pursue integrity and virtue in their lives.  But they refused to limit the Divine to any religion's perception.

As men go, they were great men and I am proud to call them our Founders and recommend we imitate their love for America and its pursuit of integrity and virtue.  There is part of me that wishes I could just leave it at that and move on.

But I disagree with their conclusion that the Divine cannot be known by mere men. I still believe the Bible is the word of God, and that it reveals His plan for creation, and that His purpose in creation can be understood by studying the Bible. 

"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness." (2 Timothy 3:16)

Those Founders learned that man-made religious creeds and doctrines do more to hide God from humanity than reveal Him, so they just ignore them - and so were labeled Atheist, Deist, or Unitarian.