Christian nation? : the United States in popular perception and historical reality / T. Adams Upchurch.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Upchurch, Thomas Adams.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Christianity and politics--United States--History.

Christianity and politics.

Christianity--United States--History.

Christianity.

Church and state--United States--History.

Church and state.

National characteristics, American.

United States--Historiography.

United States.

United States--History--Religious aspects--Christianity.

United States--Religion.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (218 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Distribution:

New York : Bloomsbury Publishing (US), 2023.

Place of Publication:

Santa Barbara, Calif. : Praeger, c2010.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This fascinating study examines America's complex and confusing history of arguing with itself over religion and secularism, God and politics, church and state. Hundreds of books are devoted to the ever-timely subject of the separation of church and state in America, but none does exactly what Christian Nation?: The United States in Popular Perception and Historical Reality does. Unlike other studies, this intriguing examination asks the right questions, defines the terms of the debate, explores the widely diverging points of view with equal respect for all sides, and provides insightful commentary and factual conclusions that cut through the clutter. The book begins with several questions: Is the United States a "Christian Nation?" Has it ever been? Was it ever meant to be? What did the Founding Fathers say? How has this issue been interpreted by various individuals and factions over the centuries? The author then surveys the vast literature on this topic, including the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence and the competing and/or complimentary views of various Founding Fathers to arrive at the answers-and, at long last, the truth.

Contents:

Intro

Christian Nation?: The United States in Popular Perception and Historical Reality

Contents

Preface

Introduction: The Church-State Issue as Historical Entertainment

Perceptions

Historiography

1. The American ''Way'': Fabricating a New Creed for a Nascent Nation

The National Paradox

The Founders and What They Founded

Nationalism, the Civic Religion, and Peer Pressure

2. The American ''Israel'': Considering the Annuit Coeptis Theory

A Chosen People

Religiosity and the Numbers Game

3. The American ''Pie'': Considering the History of E Pluribus Unum

Ingredients

Recipe

Move to America, Shake Well

Serve Hot

4. The American ''Magna Carta'': Congress Shall Make No Law ... So Neither Should the Supreme Court

Division of Labor

Developments in the Revolution and Early Republic

The Philosophy of Separationism

Exploring the First Amendment

5. The American ''Orthodoxy'': Nonconformity among the Founders

Freethinkers and Freethinking

Deism

Freemasonry

6. The American ''Irrationalism'': The Founders and the Reasonableness of Religion

The Declaration of Irrationalism

The Irrational Constitution

A Utilitarian Faith?

7. The American ''Exemplars'': Founders Who Led by Example

The Bit Players

Benjamin Franklin

George Washington

John Adams

Thomas Jefferson

James Madison

Alexander Hamilton

8. The American ''Duality'': The Art and Science of Equipoise

Faith and Reason

God and Mammon

North and South

Conservatism and Liberalism

Conclusion: A Novus Ordo Seclorum?

Notes

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9798400626180

9780313386435

0313386439

OCLC:

715153912