Faith and Freedom Speaker Series: Christianity and the Spirit of 1776
Join the National Endowment for the Humanities and Centennial Institute for the Faith and Freedom Speaker Series: Christianity and the Spirit of 1776, featuring Dr. Thomas Kidd.
There’s no more controversial historical topic today than the role of faith in the American founding. Most of the myths about religion and the Founding are a result of polemical views of the Founding, which create selective history. The reality is that religion played an extremely important role in the Founding, but not because the Founding Fathers were all in accord in their personal beliefs about Jesus and salvation. Dr. Thomas Kidd will examine how, in the American founding, many evangelical Christians and small numbers of influential skeptics (and a range of believers in between) united around religious principles that keyed the success of the Revolution, and helped create America.
Faith and Freedom Series: Dr. Thomas Kidd
Monday, February 9, 2026
7:00 pm – 8:30 pm MT
Fran & Larry Donnithorne Great Hall; Anschutz Student Center
Colorado Christian University
8787 W. Alameda Ave.
Lakewood, CO 80226
The Faith and Freedom Speaker Series has been made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this lecture series do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
MEDIA CREDENTIALING: While members of the media are welcome to attend our events, they are not allowed inside university buildings or facilities for the purpose of reporting unless they have received prior approval in writing from the Communications and Creative Services Department. For more information on how to apply for a media credential, please email centennial@ccu.edu.
About Dr. Thomas Kidd
Thomas S. Kidd serves as Research Professor of Church History at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City. He is the author of many books, including Thomas Jefferson: A Biography of Spirit and Flesh (2022) and Who is an Evangelical? The History of a Movement in Crisis, both from Yale University Press.
Kidd completed a Ph.D. in history at the University of Notre Dame, where he worked with historian of religion George Marsden. He also earned a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts degree at Clemson University in South Carolina.
