The second-most popular work in colonial America
(after the Bible)

was the Westminster Standards.

This included a "Confession of Faith," a "Larger Catechism" and a "Smaller Catechism."

On May 12, 1779, in a speech to the Delaware Indian Chiefs, George Washington advised them:

You do well to wish to learn our arts and ways of life, and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ. These will make you a greater and happier people than you are. Congress will do every thing they can to assist you in this wise intention.
The Writings of George Washington, JC Fitzpatrick, ed., Wash. DC: US Gov't Printing Office, 1932, Vol 15, p.55.

Assuming someone should want to follow George Washington's advice, what exactly is "the religion of Jesus Christ."

Recently the religion of Presidential aspirant Mitt Romney has been in the headlines. He is a member of "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints." Is this "the religion of Jesus Christ" that Washington spoke about?

Definitely not. Aside from the fact that mormonism didn't exist when Washington advised the Delaware Indians, Washington was more familiar with the Christianity of the Westminster Standards.

The Westminster Confession of Faith and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms were written in the 1640's. B.B. Warfield, professor at Princeton in the late 1800's, wrote of the Westminster Standards,

[T]hey are the final crystallization of the elements of evangelical religion, after the conflicts of sixteen hundred years. . . . [T]hey are the richest and most precise and best guarded statement ever penned of all that enters into evangelical religion. . . .

Richard Gardiner, in his impressive collection of "Primary Source Documents Pertaining to Early American History, lists many sources which introduce the average Secular Humanist to the now-unknown religious foundations of American Revolution and Government. Among these sources are the Westminster Standards. Gardiner says of them:

The Westminster Confession of Faith (1646) In addition to being the decree of Parliament as the standard for Christian doctrine in the British Kingdom, it was adopted as the official statement of belief for the colonies of Massachusetts and Connecticut. Although slightly altered and called by different names, it was the creed of Congregationalist, Baptist, and Presbyterian Churches throughout the English speaking world. Assent to the Westminster Confession was officially required at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. Princeton scholar, Benjamin Warfield wrote: "It was impossible for any body of Christians in the [English] Kingdoms to avoid attending to it." The Westminster Catechism (1646) Second only to the Bible, the "Shorter Catechism" of the Westminster Confession was the most widely published piece of literature in the pre-revolutionary era in America. It is estimated that some five million copies were available in the colonies. With a total population of only four million people in America at the time of the Revolution, the number is staggering. The Westminster Catechism was not only a central part of the colonial educational curriculum, learning it was required by law. Each town employed an officer whose duty was to visit homes to hear the children recite the Catechism. The primary schoolbook for children, the New England Primer, included the Catechism.  Daily recitations of it were required at these schools. Their curriculum included memorization of the Westminster Confession and the Westminster Larger Catechism. There was not a person at Independence Hall in 1776 who had not been exposed to it, and most of them had it spoon fed to them before they could walk.

Washington probably did not agree with every jot and tittle of the Westminster Standards. Nobody does. But they are a good summary of "the religion of Jesus Christ."

The Smaller Catechism was for children. The Larger Catechism for teens. Both exceed the depth of most seminary graduates in the 21st century.

It takes approximately 11 minutes per day to read through the Bible from cover to cover. It only takes a couple of minutes a day to read through the Westminster Catechisms and Confession in a year. They were written around 1645 and the drafters unequivocally opposed our brand of political libertarianism. But they believed that God is God, and denied that the State is God, a necessary first step on your road to becoming an extraordinary American, an extraordinary Christian, and an extraordinary human being.

And from the Westminster Standards we're going to discover a program that will rapidly and profoundly change our personal character and habits.

Over the course of 365 days, you'll begin internalizing Christianity as a worldview.

You will begin applying Christian principles to every area of your life. Christianity will no longer be a private belief for you, but a public matter. You will become your own "City upon a Hill."

"In the total expanse of human life there is not a single square inch of which the Christ, who alone is sovereign, does not declare, that is Mine!"

If Christianity is relegated to Sunday school, then Monday through Friday we can deny justice, infringe on liberty, and destroy the life, liberty and property of others. It is because the Westminster Standard viewed life as a whole, all of it under the jurisdiction of God and His Laws and morality, that America became prosperous and admired. Americans Christianized business, science, the arts, and every area of life. This made America a great place to live.

Consider your alternatives:

An atheistic Soviet Union

Buddhist Sri Lanka

Islamic Uzbekistan

Most people would rather live in America, a Christian nation.

Or any nation that is a part of Christian Civilization.

It was Calvinism that shaped America.