Thanks, Rick. Other readers:
Reader A:
I would say that that definition of ‘Christian’ [i.e. believing every word of the Nicene Creed] would instantly dismiss Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Paine. For James Madison and George Washington, there is insufficient evidence to definitively call it either way. (Circumstantial evidence leads me to think that Washington would probably subscribe, and Madison would probably desist. But I’m willing to countenance arguments the other way.) Among the Founders I suspect would affirm the Nicene Creed, I’m inclined to include John Witherspoon, Benjamin Rush, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay.
Reader B: “The likeliest candidate may be Charles Carroll, a devout Catholic and the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence.”
Reader C:
One who most certainly fell into that category was the Rev. John Witherspoon, DD (1723-1794), president of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), the only clergyman to have signed the Declaration of Independence. He was a member of the Continental Congress 1776-79 and again 1780-83; served on the secret Committee of Correspondence in Oct., 1776, on the Board of War Oct., 1777, and the committee on finance in 1778.
Reader D: “John Adams was a solid Puritan and would have held to the Nicene Creed.”
Reader E pointed me to this primer on the subject by the Sons of the American revolution.