A Republic of Righteousness: The Public Christianity of the Post-Revolutionary New England Clergy

by Jonathan D. Sassi

Overview

This book examines the debate over the connection between religion and public life in society during the fifty years following the American Revolution. Sassi challenges the conventional wisdom, finding an essential continuity to the period's public Christianity, whereas most previous studies have seen this period as one in which the nation's cultural paradigm shifted from republicanism to liberal individualism. Focusing on the Congregational clergy of New England, he demonstrates that throughout this period there were Americans concerned with their corporate destiny, retaining a commitment to constructing a righteous community and assessing the cosmic meaning of the American experiment.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195129892
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	10/11/2001
Series:	Religion in America
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	8.90(w) x 6.10(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

College of Staten Island, CUNY

Editorial Reviews

"[A]n extraordinarily powerful argument, cogently and effectively argued. No recent student of the New England clergy has treated them with the respect and even-handedness of Sassis's analysis; it is, in fact, the first to take the clergy of the early republic seriously on its own terms."—H-net

"The particular strength of his book lies in its generous consideration of previous as well as current scholarship and in its balanced attempt to offer correctives."—American Historical Review

"In this fine monograph, Jonathan D. Sassi provides a missing link between the Congregationalist clergy who urged New Englanders to stand up to British Tyranny and those who inspired them to call for an end to slavery....Sassi makes a strong case for what might be called the renaissance of the New England mind."—Journal of the Early Republic, v.22, no.3 (Fall 2002)

"An important contribution to the ongoing reassessment of the New England Congregational clergy in the era of the early replublic...Whereas previous scholarship has focused on a single state or region in a state, Jonathan Sassi expands the boundaries of inquiry to include southern New England and thus offers the most comprehensive and satisfying assessment of the Congregational clergy's public vision to date."—William and Mary Quarterly

"[T]he overall thrust of A Republic of Righteousness is convincing, and the argument is amply documented in many pages of endnotes, which display a masterly knowledge of the relevant historical literature. Sassi also writes in a clear and engaging manner. In the final analysis, Sassi makes a strong case for what might be called the renaissance of the New England mind."—journal of the Early Republic

From the Publisher