Was America Founded as a Christian Nation? Revised Edition: A Historical Introduction

Was America Founded as a Christian Nation? Revised Edition: A Historical Introduction

by John Fea
Was America Founded as a Christian Nation? Revised Edition: A Historical Introduction

Was America Founded as a Christian Nation? Revised Edition: A Historical Introduction

by John Fea

Paperback(Revised)

$40.00 
  • SHIP THIS ITEM
    Qualifies for Free Shipping
  • PICK UP IN STORE
    Check Availability at Nearby Stores

Related collections and offers


Overview

John Fea offers a thoroughly researched, evenhanded primer on whether America was founded to be a Christian nation, as many evangelicals assert, or a secular state, as others contend. He approaches the title's question from a historical perspective, helping readers see past the emotional rhetoric of today to the recorded facts of our past. This updated edition reports on the many issues that have arisen in recent years concerning religion's place in American societyincluding the Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriage, contraception and the Affordable Care Act, and state-level restrictions on abortionand demonstrates how they lead us to the question of whether the United States was or is a Christian nation. Fea relates the history of these and other developments, pointing to the underlying questions of national religious identity inherent in each.

"We live in a sound-bite culture that makes it difficult to have any sustained dialogue on these historical issues," Fea writes in his preface. "It is easy for those who argue that America is a Christian nation (and those who do not) to appear on radio or television programs, quote from one of the founders or one of the nation's founding documents, and sway people to their positions. These kinds of arguments, which can often be contentious, do nothing to help us unravel a very complicated historical puzzle about the relationship between Christianity and America's founding."


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780664262495
Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
Publication date: 09/21/2016
Edition description: Revised
Pages: 328
Sales rank: 553,166
Product dimensions: 5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

John Fea is Professor of American History and Chair of the History Department at Messiah College in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. He is a leading interpreter of American religious history and identity and has written for such media outlets as the Washington Post, Sojourners, Patheos.com, RealClearPolitics.com, and more.
He blogs at www.TheWayofImprovement.com.

From the B&N Reads Blog

Customer Reviews