The Founders Did Not Create a Christian Nation — But Religion Shaped Their Ideas

The claim that the United States was founded as a Christian nation is a popular myth pushed by some Christian activists and echoed by the Trump administration. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recently declared that “America was founded as a Christian nation … in our DNA,” and President Trump’s “America Prays” campaign highlights this narrative. But historians say this is a distortion of the facts.

Gregg Frazer, a historian at The Master’s University, explains that the founders did not create a Christian republic. Many key founders rejected core Christian doctrines or were deliberately vague about their faith. They were not a uniform group of rationalist deists either, but rather a mix of religious beliefs. This complexity disappoints those who want a simple “Christian nation” story.

The U.S. Constitution contains no references to Christianity or any specific religion beyond the date “in the year of our Lord 1787.” It forbids religious tests for officeholders and guarantees freedom of religion through the First Amendment. Early Supreme Court rulings have reinforced this separation between church and state.

While Christianity influenced the founders’ views on human dignity and governance, as historian Mark David Hall notes, this influence was cultural rather than doctrinal. The system of checks and balances, for example, reflected a Protestant understanding of human sinfulness but was also shaped by Enlightenment ideas about accountable government.

The Declaration of Independence does use religious language, referring to rights as coming from a “Creator” and appealing to “Nature’s God.” Yet, as Frazer points out, these terms were chosen to be acceptable to a broad audience, including Christians and followers of other faiths or philosophies.

The founders’ religious beliefs were diverse: some, like John Jay and Patrick Henry, were devout Christians; others, including Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, believed in God but not in Jesus’ divinity. George Washington, an Episcopalian and Freemason, avoided religious sacraments but maintained a public religious presence.

Americans United for Separation of Church and State sums it up: “Nearly all serious historians agree that America was not founded as a Christian nation in any meaningful legal, philosophical, or constitutional sense.” Yet, a 2022 Pew survey found 60% of Americans believe otherwise, showing how the myth persists.

Understanding the founders’ true views on religion matters because it shapes how we interpret the Constitution and the role of religion in public life today. The founders sought “toleration without eliminating the importance of real religious commitment,” Frazer writes, not a theocratic state.

As the nation approaches the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, it’s crucial to cut through the myths and hold the line on religious freedom and constitutional principles — something the Trump administration’s Christian nation rhetoric threatens to undermine.