# Patrick Henry: Was He a Calvinist?



## Reformed Covenanter

I am aware that Patrick Henry the American (conservative) Revolutionary professed to be a Christian; but did he explicitly claim to be a Calvinist?


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## VirginiaHuguenot

I don't have a definitive answer on this; however, I believe his mother was a Calvinist and I know that he sat under the ministry of Samuel Davies, Presbyterian minister, from age 11 to 22. David J. Vaughn argues in _Give Me Liberty_ that Henry was a Calvinist.


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## Reformed Covenanter

VirginiaHuguenot said:


> I don't have a definitive answer on this; however, I believe his mother was a Calvinist and I know that he sat under the ministry of Samuel Davies, Presbyterian minister, from age 11 to 22. David J. Vaughan argues in _Give Me Liberty_ that Henry was a Calvinist.



I have that book; its sounds probable that he was. I want to put quotes from him on liberty in the source-book I hope to compile.


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## Reformed Covenanter

Are there any writings of Patrick Henry available either to buy or read online?


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## crhoades

Daniel Ritchie said:


> Are there any writings of Patrick Henry available either to buy or read online?


Volume 1 of his works
Volume 2
Volume 3

Enjoy!


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## RamistThomist

Not only was he not a calvinist, he was probably an atheist secularist deist. I am tired of you right-wing Christians trying to rewrite history and make all the Founding Fathers--they were Deist, didn't you know?--into bible-believing calvinists. You are probably secretly a theonomist theocrat.


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## Zenas

You're kidding right? 

51 of 55 Founding Fathers were publicly, professing, Christians, back when church membership meant something. 80% of them were Calvinists at that.


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## RamistThomist

Zenas said:


> You're kidding right?
> 
> 51 of 55 Founding Fathers were publicly, professing, Christians, back when church membership meant something. 80% of them were Calvinists at that.


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## Ivan

Of course he's kidding and pretty funny too!


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## Amazing Grace

Zenas said:


> You're kidding right?
> 
> 51 of 55 Founding Fathers were publicly, professing, Christians, back when church membership meant something. 80% of them were Calvinists at that.




What about privately?


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## Zenas

Privately, most were Scientologists.


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## Reformed Covenanter

Zenas said:


> Privately, most were Scientologists.


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## No Longer A Libertine

To be Christian in colonial America was to be Reformed without much exception, Catholicism was minimalist in the population, Jews were largely underground or not present, deists flourished though adopted Christian morality, the Methodists were not present in any noteworthy fashion until the next century and they wrecked havoc after the Second Great Awakening.


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## No Longer A Libertine

Daniel,

Some fascinating American Revolution trivia for you:

All but one Colonel in George Washington's army that lay siege to Cornwallis at Yorktown in 1781 was an elder in his Presbyterian congregation, the lone exception was the Frenchman Lafayette; surrogate son to Washington and self-proclaimed American even though he returned to France.

So fierce was the Presbyterian involvement in the American cause that King George III was on record to have referred to the American insurrection as "That little Presbyterian rebellion" and "Those damned Presbyterians are behind this, they always defy the monarchy no matter where they hail from."

John Witherspoon, Scottish immigrant and St.Andrews trained theologian as well as president and teacher at Princeton University (then called the College of New Jersey) drilled home the ideals of republicanism and checks and balances into his star pupil James Madison's head; Madison would be the author of the United States Constitution.
Madison credits Witherspoon, the lone clergy to sign the Declaration of Independence as his chief influence, Witherspoon credited the Presbyter itself.

Two thirds of the American army were Presbyterian, one third were Northern Irish in origin.

Every chaplain in the American army was a volunteer Presbyterian minister.

As an act of superstition upon declaring war a number of fervent George Whitfield admirers (not necessarily Presbyterians) raided his tomb and took the cuff links from his burial robes in hopes to bring his memory into battle (a bit weird but whatever).


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## kvanlaan

Found this article here (didn't read the whole thing, but the first two paragraphs seemed good...)



> THE BLACK REGIMENT LED THE FIGHT IN OUR WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE
> 
> By Reverend Wayne C. Sedlak During the War of Independence there was a group of heroic men referred to as the "Black Regiment". The very name enraged the British armies. As heroes in the war, their courage and leadership were hailed throughout the colonies from Massachusetts to Georgia. As a "regiment", they never once drilled together, yet the strategic impact of their highly disciplined attacks was overwhelming. As a unit, they never fought together on a particular field of battle, yet without question, their leadership provided the spark which ignited victory after victory.
> 
> This "Black Regiment" was responsible for providing the conviction and wisdom necessary for winning a war against the cruelty of an unjust government. What was the "Black Regiment"? Actually, it wasn't a regiment at all. It referred to the American Presbyterian, Congregationalist, and Baptist clergy.



THE BLACK REGIMENT LED THE FIGHT IN OUR WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE


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