Books in brief.

George Washington's Sacred Fire, by Peter A. Lillback with Jerry Newcombe (Providence Forum, 1,208 pp., $39.95).

IN academic circles it has long been taken for granted that George Washington was a Deist--one who believes only in an impersonal and remote God--and not a Christian. In this massive book, Peter Lillback of Westminster Theological Seminary presents the contrary evidence: Washington often mentioned Christ and the Gospel, and when he spoke of Christ as "the Divine Author of our blessed religion" he could hardly have been acting as a Deist.

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Lillback has compiled a work impressive for its detailed references to the original documents. There are, for example, over a hundred different prayers composed and written in Washington's own hand. This is a Founding Father who encouraged missionaries to "Christianize" foreign lands and who called on the nation's leaders to follow Christ's example. When in his First Inaugural Washington spoke of the "sacred fire of liberty," he was clearly referring to a flame that was lit from above.