On two wings : humble faith and common sense at the American founding / Michael Novak.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Novak, Michael.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United States. Constitution--Signers--Religious life.

United States.

Church and state--United States--History--18th century.

Church and state.

Religion and politics--United States--History--18th century.

Religion and politics.

Statesmen--Religious life--United States.

Statesmen.

Statesmen--Religious life.

History.

United States--Religion--To 1800.

Religion.

Physical Description:

235 p ; 24. cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

San Francisco : Encounter Books, [2002]

Summary:

"The leaders of the American Revolution were not, like the leaders of the French revolution, secularists. They did not set out to erase religion." Indeed, as Michael Novak points out in this brilliant book about the birth of the American Republic, the very first act of the Continental Congress was to pray to Divine Providence in the face of British bombardment of Boston. In establishing a new model of self-government, the Founders believed that they were not only acting according to reason and common sense, but also obeying a religious duty. Benjamin Franklin proposed as their motto: "Rebellion against tyrants is obedience to God."

There have been religious peoples throughout history -- including Jews and early Christians -- whose strong faith did not lead to the creation of a republic of civil liberty. The American eagle could not have risen without the empirical turn of mind embodied in John Locke's teaching on the ends of government and the consent of the governed. The Founders also believed that liberty depends on certain habits of life -- and these in turn depend on faith as well as reason.

In telling the story of the forgotten -- if not deliberately ignored -- role of faith in America's genesis, Novak probes the innermost religious conviction of Washington, Jefferson, Madison and others who helped the American eagle take flight, including some of the lesser-known Founders whose reputation has dimmed with the passage of time. These founders were not "Deists," Novak shows, but shared an underlying "Hebrew metaphysics" of contingency, openness and liberty.

In the course of his illustrious career, Michael Novak has written several prize-winning books on theology and philosophy. Now, in On Two Wings, he has created a profound meditation on American history, and on human nature and destiny as well. This book is original, unconventional and thoroughly stunning. It could not have come at a better time.

Contents:

Preface: The Forgotten One Hundred 1

Chapter 1 Jewish Metaphysics at the Founding 5

Hebrew Metaphysics 8

Seven Events that Revealed the Power of the Second Wing 13

Summation 24

Chapter 2 Two Beat as One: Plain Reason, Humble Faith 27

What is Faith? 27

The Added Lift of Faith 39

Political Corollaries 43

The Most Precarious Regime 46

Chapter 3 Immoral Man, Moral Society, Religious Liberty 51

A Whip in the Mouth 52

The Massachusetts Way-Virtue in Community 61

Establishment, No; Pillars, Yes 65

The Corruptibility of Liberty 70

If You Can Keep It 72

Chapter 4 A Religious Theory of Rights 77

The Concept of Dignity 77

Zuckert's Exposition of Jefferson 79

The Logic of Liberty 85

A Religious Interpretation of the Founding 90

Chapter 5 Ten Questions About the Founding 99

1. You Wouldn't Pray to "Nature's God," Would You? 99

2. Wasn't the Religion of the Founders Merely Utilitarian? 101

3. "Common Sense" and "Faith" Have Many Meanings, No? 106

4. When and Why Did Legal Elites Become Hostile to Religion? 110

5. Does the Logic of the Founding Lead Inexorably to Relativism? 113

6. Is "Faith" the Same as "Natural Theology"? 116

7. Does America Subordinate Religion? 117

8. Why Do Scholars Today Clip "The Second Wing"? 120

9. If Aquinas Was the First Whig, Why Did a Regime of Religious Liberty Appear So Late? 120

10. What Is Your Favorite Story from the Founding? 123

Appendix The Forgotten Founders 127

A Secular Hurrah! 129

Sherman, Williams, Williamson, R. T. Paine, Paca, Morris 129

Alexander Hamilton 131

Princeton's John Witherspoon 133

Livingston, King, and Henry 134

Rush, Dickinson, and Wilson 135

The Three Catholic Cousins 140

George Mason 142

Thomas Paine 144

John Adams 147

Benjamin Franklin 155

The Price They Paid 157.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 219-235).

ISBN:

1893554341

OCLC:

47893081