05126oam 2200733 a 450 991096690860332120100114164512.097984006261809780313386435031338643910.5040/9798400626180(CKB)2550000000019613(OCoLC)715153912(CaPaEBR)ebrary10448461(SSID)ssj0000479379(PQKBManifestationID)12146866(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000479379(PQKBWorkID)10439758(PQKB)11141736(Au-PeEL)EBL801141(CaPaEBR)ebr10448461(OCoLC)499742529(DLC)ABC0313386439(DLC)BP0313386420BC(MiAaPQ)EBC801141(DLC)BP9798400626180BC(Perlego)4169244(EXLCZ)99255000000001961320100114e20102023 uy 0engurcn|||||||||txtccrChristian nation? the United States in popular perception and historical reality /T. Adams Upchurch1st ed.Santa Barbara, Calif. :Praeger,c2010.New York :Bloomsbury Publishing (US),2023.1 online resource (218 p.) Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph9780313386428 0313386420 Includes bibliographical references and index.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.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. Christianity and politicsUnited StatesHistoryChristianityUnited StatesHistoryChurch and stateUnited StatesHistoryNational characteristics, AmericanUnited StatesHistoriographyUnited StatesHistoryReligious aspectsChristianityUnited StatesReligionChristianity and politicsHistory.ChristianityHistory.Church and stateHistory.National characteristics, American.322/.10973Upchurch Thomas Adams1795289DLCDLCBOOK9910966908603321Christian nation4336445UNINA