More Pious Frauds

More Pious Frauds

Over the years, I have identified a number of "quotes" from the Founders about guns for which no one can find a source, and that are almost certainly false. The "liberty teeth" quote from George Washington is one of them.

There's another almost certainly false quote from Washington, in this case, about religion and the Bible. Here's one example of its use (but there are plenty of others that I could have pointed to for using this):

"It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible" --George Washington

Professor Jonathan Rowe brought this bogus quote to my attention in an email because a website that I had linked to used the bogus quote elsewhere. I am quite sure that Professor Rowe is correct that the quote is bogus.

David Barton's The Myth of Separation (1988) may be why this particular quote is so widely used. As Barton has acknowledged here:

In 1988, David Barton published The Myth of Separation, documenting the Founding Fathers religious beliefs and practices with over 700 footnotes. In that work, he cited from several sources, including history professors, legal scholars, and early textbooks. Although this is common practice in the academic community, David came to believe that historical debates undergirding public policy should be conducted using a standard of evidence that would be accepted by courts: only the "best evidence" should be used (e.g., eyewitness testimony, direct statements and actions by the participants, etc.). In other words, instead of quoting what a professor or judge said about Thomas Jefferson's (or the other 200+ Founding Fathers') views on the First Amendment, let Jefferson's (and the other Founders') own words and actions speak for themselves.

Barton recommended that these "unconfirmed" quotes not be used until a proper source could be found for them (although one or two of these quotes have since been properly sourced). I can't find this quote in the Library of Congress's George Washington Papers. Indeed, I would be a little surprised; Washington almost never uses the word "God." This could be because Washington was a Deist; it could be that he was such a pious but conventional Christian that he was reluctant to do so for the same reason that Orthodox Jews only write "G-d," out of respect for God. It is a bit hard to tell; Washington was astonishingly circumspect in his writings about his religious beliefs.

I have found a lot of other sources that claim that the quote appears in Washington's 1796 Farewell Address (which it does not) and it is often quoted alongside Washington's remarks about the importance of religion that do appear there.

William J. Federer's America's God And Country: Encyclopedia of Quotations also has this quote, and the citation attributes it to Halley's Bible Handbook and Gary DeMar's America's Christian History. Federer's book also cites the bogus Washington's Prayer Journal as well.

It is at least vaguely possible that either Halley's Bible Handbook or DeMar's books actually have a proper citation of the quote to a primary source, but that Federer merely says "Attributed" isn't what I would expect if that is is the case. The earliest example that I can find of this quote appears (without any citation) as far back as Howard Hyde Russell and Frank Wakeley Gunsaulus, A Lawyer's Examination of the Bible (1893), p. 40. That figures! It's all the fault of lawyers!

UPDATE: A reader did a bit more digging, trying to see how far back he could push the origins of this supposed Washington quote:

I found a version of the "govern the world" quote, attributed to Washington, as far back as 1879:

_The Huntington [PA] Journal_ June 6, 1879, p. 4
" "It is impossible to govern the world without God. He must be worse than an infidel that lacks faith, and more than wicked that has not gratitude enough to acknowledge his obligation."-Gen. George Washington."

The same (more or less) collection of quotes appears also in The Alton [IA] Democrat, Dec 11 1885, p 1, and assorted other places in the 19th century newspapers collected in Newspaperarchive.com.

Possible origin:

If you go to the Univ. of Michigan's "Making of America" website http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/moagrp/ , and enter "govern the world without god" into the search field, you get:

"It is impossible for statesmen to govern the world without God. We cannot expect his blessing on politicians that are godless in their principles and prayerless in their lives. " from Daniel, a model for young men, Scott, W. A. (William Anderson), 1813-1885.  New York: R. Carter & brothers, 1854, p. 308.

Another possible origin:

Eau Claire [WI] Leader, June 20 1900, p. 5  (another collection of quotes about the importance of religion/Bible) "Prof. S. B. Tobey of Chippewa Falls, in a forceful way, gave an address on "The Influence of the Bible on National Life." He said in part . . . "Even Robespierre confessed that no nation could live without God and the Bible." "
(another collection of quotes about the importance of religion/Bible) "Prof. S. B. Tobey of Chippewa Falls, in a forceful way, gave an address on "The Influence of the Bible on National Life." He said in part . . . "Even Robespierre confessed that no nation could live without God and the Bible." "