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<div>Lillback is also a graduate of the Dallas Theological Seminary, a bastion of fundamentalist wishful thinking. So save your money, folks, don't buy his book.</div><div>Ralph Nielsen</div><div><br></div><div>Nick Gier wrote:</div><div><br></div><div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Courier" size="4" style="font: 13.0px Courier">Hi Mike:</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Courier; min-height: 16px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Courier" size="4" style="font: 13.0px Courier">Nothing in Lillback's 1,200 pages disputes what I said in my column: </font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Courier; min-height: 16px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Courier" size="4" style="font: 13.0px Courier">Anyone can do a word search of Washington’s published works, and only once does “Jesus Christ” appear. Washington never took communion (a requirement for being a Christian in Washington’s Episcopalian Church), refused to answer repeated questions about whether he was a Christian, and made it clear that no clergy should be present at his death. For more on the liberal religion of our founders please read <a href="http://www.class.uidaho.edu/ngier/foundfathers.htm">www.class.uidaho.edu/ngier/foundfathers.htm</a>.</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Courier; min-height: 16px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Courier" size="4" style="font: 13.0px Courier">Here is a review of the book by Jon Rowe, self-described as "a libertarian and college professor," posted at the well regarded Religion and American History website.</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Courier; min-height: 16px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Courier" size="4" style="font: 13.0px Courier">Here is the conclusion of the review for those who do not want to read the whole thing:</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Courier; min-height: 16px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Courier" size="4" style="font: 13.0px Courier">On Washington’s non-Christian death, where he asked for no ministers and said no prayers, Lillback likewise makes excuses. Indeed, in addition to a great deal of facts, “George Washington’s Sacred Fire” contains much idle speculation, illogical arguments, and redundant prose in 1200 pages. No respectable academic publisher would publish a book that length where so much could have been edited down. “Providence Forum Press,” the publisher, is part of a group of which Lillback himself is leader. This is essentially a glorified self published book.</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Courier; min-height: 16px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Courier" size="4" style="font: 13.0px Courier">Review of Peter Lillback's "George Washington's Sacred Fire"</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Courier" size="4" style="font: 13.0px Courier">by Jon Rowe</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Courier" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br></span></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Courier" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">[rest snipped]</span></font></div></div></body></html>