6 min.

Providential Orchestration and the American Founding

The Soul of the First Amendment

As the foremost advocate for separating church and state in Virginia—waging a cultural and political battle that began in Fredericksburg in 1776 and lasted a full decade—Thomas Jefferson became the defining symbol of complete religious liberty. A free thinker by temperament and unjustly accused of impiety and atheism, he nevertheless held a deep conviction in the moral order of the universe. By treating religion as a private matter, he freed his mind from man‑made ecclesiastical systems and doctrinal coercion, enabling him to think boldly, independently, and far ahead of his time.

Jefferson understood the devastating price religious conflict had exacted on Europe for centuries. He knew that the stability of the new American republic would be strengthened—not threatened—by religious pluralism, tolerance, and mutual respect. Leading the charge for disestablishment, he rightly assumed that once Virginia broke the chains of state‑supported religion, the other states would eventually follow. His leadership became the catalyst for a nationwide transformation, laying the groundwork for the liberty Americans now enjoy.

Rejecting Original Sin and Clerical Power

Believing that human nature could be trusted and that most people would choose what is right if allowed complete freedom of conscience, Jefferson rejected the doctrine of original sin. To orthodox clergy and defenders of state churches, his views were heretical, “a mere disguise for atheism.” To him, they were the foundation of his lifelong commitment to education and his unwavering insistence on complete separation of church and state. Though attacked repeatedly by church groups tied to political power, he regarded these assaults as clerical rather than religious. However, the controversy followed him throughout his life—and even beyond the grave.

A Study of Christian History

In an effort to understand the religious factions shaping the new nation, Jefferson undertook a deep study of Christian history. He identified what he believed were the accumulated heresies that had obscured the beauty and simplicity of Christ’s original teachings. This intellectual independence—rooted in conscience rather than coercion—placed him squarely at odds with the religious establishment.

The Hierarchy’s Fear of Liberty

The religious hierarchy of the revolutionary era feared that their repressive system could not survive in a world of personal conscience, individual liberty, and modern revelation. Determined to preserve their authority, they sought control over every channel of education and information—and ultimately over the lives of citizens themselves. Their resistance intensified the growing conflict between church and state, between creedal authority and divine pronouncement, that was taking shape in America.

Unwilling to see their influence diminished, traditional Christendom fought back. They branded the author of the Declaration of Independence an atheist and an infidel, hoping to discredit his advocacy for religious freedom. Decades later, the same impulse led them to attack Joseph Smith and his successors as non‑Christian. In both cases, the pattern was identical: when threatened by liberty, entrenched institutions responded with accusation rather than introspection.

The First Salvo of Religious Liberty

And so, in the very year he wrote the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson fired the opening salvo in the long battle to secure religious liberty in the Constitution. Refusing “the speculations of crazy theologists”, he insisted that true Christianity meant following “the system of ethics taught by Christ, uncontaminated by… additions, adulterations, and distortions.”

Applying himself to a rigorous study of Jesus’ teachings, Jefferson allowed the “free exercise of reason” to become his guide for “abstracting what is really his from the rubbish in which it is buried.” To defenders of state religion, this independence of mind was heresy—indeed, godlessness. But he refused to yield. He believed that religion must be voluntary, never coerced, declaring: “God himself cannot save a man against his will.”

In that conviction, Jefferson laid the intellectual cornerstone of American religious freedom. His challenge to ecclesiastical authority was not an attack on faith, but a defense of conscience—an assertion that only uncoerced belief can be genuine, and only genuine belief can elevate a nation.

The Religious Machinery of the Old World

In 1776, the American colonies inherited Europe’s religious traditions: state-established churches, heresy laws, religious taxes, paid clergy supported by government, and sectarian political dominance. Coercion, as opposed to conviction, shaped the religious landscape. Eight colonies still had official state churches. Dissent was punished. Rival sects fought for political power.

With heresy–defined by the Virginia Assembly as denial of the Trinity or the divine authority of the scriptures–still a capital offense and punishable by imprisonment, Jefferson believed that even though the spirit of the times had aligned itself against this residue of tyrannical laws, he was unwilling to rely on the present attitude of tolerance, which might prove temporary And even thou he doubted whether the people would suffer an execution for heresy or a sentence of imprisonment for not comprehending the mysteries of the Trinity, he wanted all laws swept away that could be enforced against what someone believed.

Jefferson saw clearly that the new republic could not survive if it repeated the Old World’s mistakes. State religion had produced centuries of persecution, corruption, and tyranny. If America carried those systems forward, liberty would rot at the root.

The Partnership That Changed History

Jefferson was not alone. James Madison — equally steeped in Enlightenment thought — joined him. Together they probed the relationship between religion and democracy and concluded that religion appropriate to “Nature’s God” must be natural, voluntary, and free from state coercion.

Madison warned: “Who does not see that the same authority which can establish Christianity… may establish with the same ease any particular sect of Christians, in exclusion of all other sects?” He later declared: “Liberty of conscience is the most sacred of all property.”

The Problem of State‑Supported Clergy

Looking back in later years, sensing that the state-supported clergy had grown complacent, Jefferson wrote to John Adams, “Our clergy, before the Revolution, having been secured against rivalship by fixed salaries, did not give themselves the trouble of acquiring influence over the people.” What he objected to was the preferred status and special privileges that had combined to make the clergy “an artificial aristocracy and enabled them to exercise an unwarranted degree of authority.”

Removing that privilege would force churches to rely on persuasion, not power — ultimately strengthening sincere faith. Even dissenters who initially wanted tax support for their own ministers came to see Jefferson’s point: coercion corrupts religion.

The Assessment Question

With the Episcopalian Church continuing as Virginia’s official church, one question remained: Should religion be supported by general taxation or by voluntary contributions? Jefferson believed that even forcing a man to support a minister of his own persuasion was a deprivation of liberty.

Disestablishment

In 1779, Jefferson undertook to disestablish the Episcopal Church in Virginia with the hope that other states would follow. He believed that religion belongs to the individual, that “God himself cannot save a man against his will,” and that spiritual compulsion always fails. State religion, therefore, was a contradiction in terms.

Madison’s involvement proved decisive. In 1785, he circulated a petition signed by thousands of Virginians opposing renewed attempts at religious establishment. “The petition,” he wrote, “extinguished the ambitious hope of making laws for the human mind.”

The Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom

Jefferson’s Act for Establishing Religious Freedom began with the thunderous declaration: “Well aware that Almighty God hath created the mind free…”It concluded with one of the most sweeping guarantees of liberty ever written: “No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship… nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinion or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess… their opinions in matters of religion.” Virginia became the first state to fully separate church and state. Massachusetts — the last — did not do so until 1833.

The First Amendment and the Restoration Stand on Jefferson’s Foundation

Jefferson warned: “Coerced belief begets habits of hypocrisy and meanness.” Madison insisted that conscience must remain free. Their victory broke the centuries‑old machinery of religious coercion:

• compulsory tithes.
• paid state clergy.
• legal privileges for dominant denominations.
• heresy laws.
• sectarian political dominance.

For the first time in modern history belief could flourish without state interference, scripture could be published without censorship, new religious movements could arise without persecution. This was not merely political. It was divine preparation.

Because of Jefferson and Madison:

• the Restoration could occur.
• the Book of Mormon could be published.
• priesthood authority could be restored.
• houses of worship could be built.
• missionaries could be sent.
• the true nature of God and man could be revealed.

In 1789, Madison showed Washington his draft of twelve amendments—later reduced to ten and immortalized as the Bill of Rights. Washington approved the proposal without changing a word.

The First Amendment enshrined Jefferson’s victory: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

A remarkable assembly of inspired men had been raised up to secure human liberty. Their work cleared the ground so the seed of the Restoration could take root. And in the same year the Declaration was signed and the Virginia Statute initiated, Providence raised up another voice whose influence shaped both the Founders and the Restoration: Adam Smith.

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