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John Adam's: A Political Puritan?

As I am now on my second biography of a U.S. President I have come to the conclusion that this is going to be a more difficult task than I originally had planned. It is hard to peer into the soul of a man through pages and ink! If the biographer doesn't give you anything to work with then you are put in a very difficult position to make any safe calls on the man's life. Such is the case with John Adams. Without pouring over his personal letters from hundreds of years ago and doing more reading than I have time for, Adams is a hard man to nail down.

John Adams was born and raised in Massachusetts during the beginning of the 18th Century and this means he was raised in the Puritan tradition. This also places him at the heart of the Great Awakening when men like Whitefield and Edwards were prominent public figures. If we remember, Adams was going to school originally to be a minister and we can judge from this that there was always at least some interest in the religion of men like Edwards. Adam's letters to his wife Abigail and Thomas Jefferson (later in life) include many reflections on religion. The following are quotes from Adams:

"There is great pleasure in hearing sermons so serious, so clear, so sensible and instructive as these..."  -July 4,1774

 "I had rather go to church. We have better sermons, better prayers, better speakers, softer, sweeter music, and genteeler company. And I must confess that the Episcopal church is quite as agreeable to my taste as the Presbyterian...I like the Congregational way best, next to that the independent." -October 9, 1774

"I have examined all religions, as well as my narrow sphere, my straightened means, and my busy life, would allow; and the result is that the Bible is the best book in the world. It contains more philosophy than all the libraries I have seen." -December 25, 1813

 "The ten commandments and the Sermon on the Mount contain my religion..." -November 4, 1816

 "As I understand the Christian Religion, it was, and is, a revelation"- December 17, 1816

 These and many more quotes give us an insight into the theology of Adams and it is clear that doctrinally he had swerved very little from the men who impacted Puritan thought. Adams held true throughout his life to the Christian profession and was much more up front than Washington. This makes him an easier subject in one way. Yet, men are men at best.

Adams was known for being stubborn and many times was called vain by his critics. He was known for his blunt style of argumentation. Adams was so embittered against Jefferson's tactics to win the 4th Presidential Election that he refused to go to Jefferson's inauguration. Adam's also was not one to allow his name to be slandered without a defense thereof. At times refutation is necessary as the truth is important and has to be stood up for but in an effort to defend every slander and accusation thrown at him, Adams came off as a man who was too wrapped up in his own image and ideals. Whether his character faults disqualify Adams as a follower of Christ is not my place to say. Public life as a political figure during this time was very similar to today in that your faults will always get more attention than your strengths.

 John Adams held to orthodoxy when it came to Christianity and was a professing Christian through his entire life. He had character flaws that people made a point to bring up. These sins, like all sins are not beyond the forgiving power of Jesus for those who are walking by faith (1 John 1:9). Will I meet John Adams when I get to heaven? I don't think I can say right now, but I can rest assured that whatever state John Adam's soul was in as it entered eternity, His creator knew his soul much better than I did..."will not the judge of all the earth do right?"

David McCullough Interview

This video is a sixty minutes interview of David McCullough who is one of today's greatest United States historians. His ability to tell the story and put history into context inspires me as a future social studies educator.

3 Ways to Live with Joy

Tim Challies has an excellent writing style that is easy to follow and to the point. One of his newest pieces is a short reflection on joy and how God would have us live in light of Ecclesiastes. Read it here and enjoy!

Review: A Praying Life by Paul Miller

Reviewing a book on prayer is an interesting beast to tackle.  First, there is the issue of whether the author stays true to the Word.  Is what they are saying biblically true?  Second, there’s the issue of whether the author stays true to grace and doesn't fall into legalism.  Is what they are saying holding true to the freedom that Christians have to pray and does it then take advantage of that, or do they only talk about a requirement to pray and the consequences of not?  Third, there’s the issue of practicality.  Does the author treat this book as another theology book on prayer or do they provide practical experiences to help the reader in their pursuit to pray?

Paul Miller’s A Praying Life does well in dealing with these issues.  Very well.  I have read a couple of books and listened to a handful of sermons on the subject of prayer, but this one takes the cake in my opinion.  

In terms of remaining biblically true I would say that Paul Miller does a good job.  I can’t remember a time where I theologically cringed, or thought to myself, “Uh oh... What’s he talking about?”  One thing that I wish there was more of would be explaining the different promises or verses regarding prayer.  He does this a bit, but I wish he would have done it more.  Paul Miller also does a great job of humbling the reader.  He emphasizes that we have to pray like children who are helpless.  That’s fantastic for me because I fall into the trap of thinking that I should pray to get better at prayer, or I should pray only because I know I should.  Now it is easier to see that prayer is actually humbling ourselves before God and making our needs known to Him like children. On another note, this book does a great job of feeling real.  A lot of books or sermons on prayer leave me in this weird state where I want to pray for three hours the next morning and if I don’t then I probably did not pray in the right way.  I don’t pray because I’m making my needs known to God, or worshiping God as my Father, but I’ll just pray to... pray because the book told me I needed to.  Miller stayed away from this.  I came away feeling like it was possible for a Christian to pray at all times without ceasing.  I think the table of contents give an insight into this:  Part 1: Learning to Pray Like a Child (with chapter titles like Learning to Be Helpless), Part 2: Learning to Trust Again (with chapter titles like Following Jesus out of Cynicism), Part 3: Learning to Ask Your Father (with chapter titles like Why Asking Is So Hard), Part 4: Living in Your Father’s Story, and Part 5: Praying in Real Life.  Miller does a great job of using his experiences to show the reader each aspect of prayer, which was very helpful for me.  He’s a great story teller and is good at tying these in to what he’s speaking on.

Overall I would recommend A Praying Life for any Christian who struggles in prayer.  This book has been a great help and encouragement to me.  Paul Miller does an excellent job dealing with practical issues in prayer in such a way that will leave you wanting to pray.

John Adams: A Quick Life Timeline

Seeing as the name of John Adams' cousin Samuel Adams has become more of a household name thanks to a namesake beer, I thought I might give you a quick summary of his life before we discuss his spiritual life.

John Adams father was a deacon in Braintree, (Just Outside Boston) Massachusetts where John was born and raised. John's father set him on track early to go into school with the goal being the ministry. John went to Harvard with the original intent on the ministry, but as he reflects " it was whispered and circulated among others that I had some faculty for public speaking and that I should make a better lawyer than divine." He also expressed his inclination was to preach but the religious establishment threatened his liberty to think. Adams chose to become a lawyer and began to practice in 1756. After Britain had implemented the stamp act (1765) and during the years leading up to the revolution, Adams was a very outspoken author.  His newspaper installment piece "Dissertation on Canon and Feudal Law" thrusted him forward as a political figure in the resistance against these taxes. During these years Adams held several public offices for Braintree just as his father had. After moving to Boston and retiring from public office to be a lawyer again (He served as defense attorney for the British soldiers of the Boston Massacre in 1770) he was informed that in 1774 he had been elected by the general Court of Massachusetts to attend the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. He was 39.

Adams played a major part in this Congress. He was more moderate in his desires for independence early on during the stamp act, but he took a stronger stance in the continental congress and was in charge of urging Jefferson to draft the declaration and was pivotal in the debates to convince all "states" to vote for independence. He was soon assigned as an ambassador to France to work for peace with the one nation that could really swing the revolution in America's favor. He would leave in 1779 and not return to America until 1788. Soon after arriving Adams found that initial peace had already been established with the French and he was re-assigned to Holland to make a treaty with the Dutch. Adams would be successful in gaining loans from the Dutch and once done here was sent to England to achieve peace with the Great Britain after the war was over.

Adams returned to America after his work as an ambassador and upon receiving the second most votes from the electoral college, was elected vice president (vice president was the second place winner back then). Adams served as vice president under Washington for two terms until he was elected president by the backing of Hamilton and the Federalists in 1796. He was much against political parties yet was often called a monarchist and many worse names in his leanings. He signed the Alien and Sedition acts which limited free speech in America against the government. Adams made it his goal to settle peace with the French who had soured in their relationship with the U.S. since the U.S. had refused to help their war against Great Britain. Federalists called for preparation of war and action against the French and the Republicans called for a uniting with France against Britain. This desire for peace with France and taste for policy that gave the federal government more power made him unpopular with both the Federalists and the Republicans respectively.

Adams would achieve peace through the success of Napoleon Bonaparte who offered peace once he took the office of French monarch. It was too late however, and Adams lost the next election (1801) to Jefferson. Adams finished his life writing his memoirs and letters to Thomas Jefferson who was at time a fierce opponent but ended up being his dearest friend. Both friends died on July 4th 1826 as the last two founding fathers alive.

Shaw's Biography Overall Review

After reading Peter Shaw's The Character of John Adams I would warn you against picking this volume up if you are expecting a good over view of Adam's life and the events that impacted the world he lived in. This biography zooms over what we would see as major events in a person's life such as the deaths of two of his children and his wife and chooses to focus in an unbalanced manner on John Adam's as a man consumed only by a desire to defend his own glory and pride. Shaw does a great job focusing on this aspect of Adam's character throughout his entire life but fails to paint Adams as caring about anything else. Adams, like all of the founding fathers, had his enemies and critics and it seems like he was always in a correspondence to clear his reputation. Yet we have to assume there is more going on in a person's life than their never ending pursuit of a clean name. While Adams certainly did care about his reputation, he also cared about the future of America and his family both of which take up a total of only about a quarter of Shaw's discussion of Adams. In conclusion, as a discussion of Adam's pride and vanity this biography does a good job of covering these topics from his early life to his death. However, Shaw speeds over important events and deaths and expects the reader to have a previous knowledge of the events like the Alien and Sedition acts as he approaches his next example of how John Adams was defending his name. For a general overview this biography is not what your looking for. I would suggest reading another biography first and reading this one only if you are interested in Adam's defense of his character through his life.

The most widely acclaimed biography on Adams is McCullough's John Adams I knew about this book when I chose Shaw's biography and decided to stick with Shaw because McCullough's piece is 750 pages and I needed a speedier read for my winter break restraints. I plan on some day reading McCullough's piece when I have the time and I hope it fills in the gaps that might be left from Shaw's biography.

As I process Shaw's work and try to organize my thoughts for a synopsis of Adam's spiritual life I am finding myself much more confused than with Washington. Shaw focused very very little on this aspect of Adams so there is little I can gather either for or against his standing with Jesus. I am hoping to get a conclusion out about John within the next week. I am also considering writing about Abigail Adams (John's wife) as she was very outspoken in her letters about the Lord and her life is equally as intriguing as her husbands.