LEADER 05126oam 2200733 a 450 001 9910966908603321 005 20100114164512.0 010 $a9798400626180 010 $a9780313386435 010 $a0313386439 024 7 $a10.5040/9798400626180 035 $a(CKB)2550000000019613 035 $a(OCoLC)715153912 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebrary10448461 035 $a(SSID)ssj0000479379 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)12146866 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000479379 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)10439758 035 $a(PQKB)11141736 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL801141 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebr10448461 035 $a(OCoLC)499742529 035 $a(DLC)ABC0313386439 035 $a(DLC)BP0313386420BC 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC801141 035 $a(DLC)BP9798400626180BC 035 $a(Perlego)4169244 035 $a(EXLCZ)992550000000019613 100 $a20100114e20102023 uy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aurcn||||||||| 181 $ctxt 182 $cc 183 $acr 200 10$aChristian nation? $ethe United States in popular perception and historical reality /$fT. Adams Upchurch 205 $a1st ed. 210 1$aSanta Barbara, Calif. :$cPraeger,$dc2010. 210 2$aNew York :$cBloomsbury Publishing (US),$d2023. 215 $a1 online resource (218 p.) 300 $aBibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph 311 08$a9780313386428 311 08$a0313386420 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references and index. 327 $aIntro -- 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. 330 8 $aThis 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. 606 $aChristianity and politics$zUnited States$xHistory 606 $aChristianity$zUnited States$xHistory 606 $aChurch and state$zUnited States$xHistory 606 $aNational characteristics, American 607 $aUnited States$xHistoriography 607 $aUnited States$xHistory$xReligious aspects$xChristianity 607 $aUnited States$xReligion 615 0$aChristianity and politics$xHistory. 615 0$aChristianity$xHistory. 615 0$aChurch and state$xHistory. 615 0$aNational characteristics, American. 676 $a322/.10973 700 $aUpchurch$b Thomas Adams$01795289 801 0$bDLC 801 1$bDLC 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910966908603321 996 $aChristian nation$94336445 997 $aUNINA