You won’t find this American Founder on a coin or a Broadway musical. But Elias Boudinot (1740–1821) left an enduring mark on history. Hamilton’s mentor. Washington’s friend. President of the Continental Congress, Revolutionary War veteran, legislator, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and abolitionist. Boudinot shaped governments, schools, churches, and charities. Now, in the first biography dedicated to his life in 50 years, Ordinary Greatness invites readers to discover the compelling story of this Founder’s dedication to faith and liberty amid volatile times.
Set in times of division and change not unlike our own, Ordinary Greatness guides readers from the Great Awakening to the early Republic. It explores Boudinot’s life alongside four of his close connections: George Whitefield, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, and Alexander Hamilton. It shows how Boudinot’s faith shaped his public and private roles and his convictions on government, slavery, and missions. And it offers a new generation fresh inspiration and courage to face our own challenges.
Available in the gift shop at the Faith and Liberty Discovery Center, or order from Amazon or Bibles.com.
Buy your copy today!
Ordinary Greatness: A Life of Elias Boudinot
by Andrew Farmer
Philadelphia: American Bible Society
October 18, 2022
2 maps + 18 color illustrations
6 x 9 inches
$17.99 / Paperback, 288 pages
$9.99 / EPUB or Kindle
What Others are Saying
“In the era of the American Revolution, Elias Boudinot was friendly, generous, welcoming, a problem-solver, a man of faith, a person you’d enjoy getting to know. With conversational and fast-moving prose, Andrew Farmer introduces readers to this champion of both faith and liberty.”
—Jonathan J. Den Hartog, Professor of History, Samford University;
author of Patriotism and Piety: Federalist Politics and Religious Struggle in the New American Nation
About the Author
Andy Farmer is a pastor at Covenant Fellowship Church in Glen Mills, PA. He was inspired to write this book after discovering Elias Boudinot at an event for the Faith and Liberty Discovery Center. Andy holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from St. Andrews Presbyterian College and a master’s in biblical counseling from Westminster Theological Seminary. He is also the author of The Rich Single Life, Real Peace, and Trapped.
Media Inquiries
Author is available for interviews and podcasts.
Contact: Andy Farmer
Media Contact: pr@faithandliberty.org
Media Contact: pr@americanbible.org
Additional Information
Book Information (with Table of Contents)
Interview Ideas
From the Introduction
“What is remarkable about Elias Boudinot is the sheer constancy of his faith, both in the doctrines he believed and in his commitment to them. He caught his view of God and the world in the great evangelical revival of the mid-eighteenth century and never deviated from the path of his early convictions. For a good part of that life the flow of revolutionary times seemed to align with Boudinot’s Christian vision.
But starting in the mid-1790s, Boudinot sensed with increasing alarm that social and political trends no longer supported his understanding of how things should be. This did not shake his faith. If anything, that faith began to deepen and grow as it faced opposition.”
—Andrew Farmer, "Ordinary Greatness"
More about Elias Boudinot
•“Slavery and Abolition in the Life, Works and Words of Elias Boudinot” by Andrew Farmer (2022). This paper summarizes Farmer’s primary and secondary research on 66 “incidents” connecting Boudinot and slavery, emancipation, and abolition.
•Elias Boudinot timeline. Compiled by Andrew Farmer, this timeline connects Boudinot’s life with world historical events and ideas.