At Valley Forge, May 2, 1778, the Continental Army suffered from cold, lack of food and clothing and equipment, yet General George Washington encouraged all of his men to conduct themselves in a Christian manner: "To the distinguished character of patriot, it should be our highest glory to laud the more distinguished character of Christian." On January 1, 1795, George Washington wrote the National Thanksgiving Proclamation: "In such a state of things it is an especial manner our duty as a people, with devout reverence and affectionate gratitude to acknowledge our many and great obligations to Almighty God, and to implore Him to continue and confirm the blessings we experience." At one point, Washington said about the correlation of good government and Christian ideals: "True religion affords government its surest support. The future of this nation depends on the Christian training of our youth. It is impossible to govern without the Bible." When in Washington and Williamsburg, George Washington attended Bruton Parish in Williamsburg, Virginia, and Christ Church of Philadelphia when in Pennsylvania. On April 30, 1789, when George Washington was inaugurated as the first President of the United States, he reverently kissed the Bible and said, "So-help-me-God." As a legacy to all Americans, George Washington voiced this lovely prayer: "Almighty God; we make our earnest prayer. .. that Thou wilt most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with charity, humility and pacific temper of mind which were the characteristics of the Divine author of our blessed religion [reference to Christ], and without humble imitation of whose example in these things we can never hope to be a happy nation. Grant our supplication, we beseech Thee, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."
It was the Quaker Isaac Potts who found George Washington on his knees praying for divine assistance at Valley Forge. He said of our Founding Father’s piety: "Till now I have thought that a Christian and a soldier were characters incompatible; but if George Washington be not a man of God, I am mistaken, and still more shall I be disappointed if God do not through him perform some great thing for this country." And so God did a great thing for this country through a man of great faith. On his deathbed, the last words of George Washington were as follows: "Father of Mercies, take me to thyself." Were these words of an agnostic, a skeptic, a deist? I think not.
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