Biblical Religion In America Summary

One of the main reasons that the settlers came and founded America was for religious freedom. Colonist made the long and dangerous journey for other reasons as well, but a major factor was the search for religious freedom. Coming to America alone did not solve this problem; the journey to religious freedom was just that, a journey. Everyone had a slightly different idea of what this new nation’s ‘religious freedom’ should look like and it took many years to come to a compromise.

In Chapter 2, “Religion Matters”, Prothero briefly discusses how religion has impacted America even if it seems subsided, and why we tend to neglect it. When it comes to some of the major events of American history, Prothero argues that “none of the classic events in American history…can be understood without some knowledge of the religious motivations” of its major players. (Prothero) Perhaps part of the reason we generally ignore this statement is because of confusion and controversies it presents in government rulings and school teachings.

In American Gospel: God, the Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation, Jon Meacham explores the dynamic relationship between religion and government in America in the hope that contemporary America can learn from the past. The period covered by the book spans from 1620 until Reagan’s presidency in the late 1980s. However, Meacham focuses on the Founding Fathers stances and their continued impact on American politics. More specifically, the book details the conflict over the separation of private religious expression and the more neutral ‘public religion’.

Summary: The division between church and state is a gray line that is often crossed and argued about. For example, Gwen Wilde, the author, argues that the words “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance requires people who do not believe in God to recite something they do not necessarily believe in. If a person chose not to say the full Pledge, including to utter the words “under God” they run the risk of being called unpatriotic. The author continually argues that the words “under God” add a religious doctrine that not all Americans believe in.

In this document, he states that religion has been, one of the many, yet most important basis for all American settlements. He claims men refer to religion in order to unify with one another and base their laws on religious beliefs. “Religion kept their little community together-religion assisted them in their revolutionary struggle; it was religion to which they appealed in defending their liberties” (Document 3). Grund also makes the point that the Declaration of Independence,which is based on religion, is annually read to the people for it announces and proclaims religious values put forth to unify and govern their people. “It is with the solemnities of religion that the declaration of independence is yet annually read to the people from the pulpit” (Document 3). This proves the fact that the basis of America was backed by religious beliefs and a belief in a one powerful God.  Finally, he states that based on what he had seen from his various visits to the US, that “religion which assists them in all their national undertakings”(Document 3).  He claims that religion is a power used daily by the American people to unify and bring together the society. This is significant to the motivation of reform by religion because it brings out the fact that during times of crisis and chaos, people return back to their faith in hopes of

Religion played a key role in colonial America and caused a great deal of conflict and confusion among the colonist. There were religions in the New World that did not tolerate each other. Some people, like the Quakers, wanted religious freedom from the Puritans. Some people believed in strange superstitions that alienated non-believers. Some people believed government and religion should be the same although government eventually became separated from religion. If the New World in the colonies was to be successful for the most people, the conflict between the many religions would have to be addressed.

It not only played a major role in the workings of the individual household but it also heavily influenced the political and economic expansion of European settlements into Native American territories. The idea that God had bestowed upon the colonists the mission to spread the word of the Bible ties into the concept of “manifest destiny” as seen in 19th Century America. The rapid series of conquests and territorial expansion that the United States enjoyed during this period is a reflection of this idea. From the settlement of Jamestown in 1607 to the American colonization of the Pacific Coast in 1819, religion was a driving factor in the expansion of the European frontier. The horrible atrocities committed against the Native Americans in the last few centuries is a cautionary tale to our generation. Throughout human history, men have killed each other, burned cities to the ground, all in the name of religion. By admitting to the mistakes of the past, we can build a brighter

It cannot be ignored that “religious thinking, religious questioning, religious faith permeated the Revolution and the Founding.” We also cannot ignore the important influence of Christianity on many Americans, “from the Puritans to the present day.” Our nation was founded by the devout Christians, who wanted to spread His nation. The Founding Fathers were mostly Christians who agreed with Christian doctrine. They were strongly influenced by Christianity that later they involved the influence to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

In conviction, this nation, and our presence were established on our religious sponsorship from our progenitor yet all through our evolving history, religion does not assume a profound part in an advanced

Out of all three of the pieces that were discussed in class this one gives the most room for audience interpretation. I believe that when Fea was creating this book his purpose was not to give a definite yes or no answer to the question “was America founded as a Christian Nation?” but to set up the question in a historical setting. As a historian he does ask the audience to consider the question of America’s religious past by using the rules of the historical profession. The five tools of the profession include that first historians must anticipate to find change over time, must interpret the past in context, must look for causality, be concerned with contingency, and recognize that the past is complex. In his book Fea explores the ways in which the founders dealt with the problem of establishment by basically leaving it up to the states, and from that Fea takes the audience through the various examples to try to understand the religious nature of the nation. By showing how the idea can be changed over time, and the relationship to the context. In this piece it explains that the relationship between the United States has to Christianity is left all up to context of who the person is, and how they look at all of the evidence of America’s political religious views and are allowed to perceive their own

The act of defining religion has been a contentious issue in a wide variety of situations, particularly in the United States. The US is a nation that prides itself on religious inclusivity and freedom. There are consequences to this belief and tenant. Through the social, legal and moral structures of the United States, defining religion has become imperative. In The Impossibility of Religious Freedom, Winifred Sullivan outlines the legal implications of defining religion in the United States. In order for religious freedom to be protected by the American state, religion must be clearly defined. As a result, religious theory must be used to maintain some semblance of religious freedom in the United States. Likewise, Josh Dubler’s Down in

Religion has shaped and played a big part of America since colonial times. In colonial times there was religious event and groups that affected the American’s society we know today. A religious event that made an impact was The Great Awakening, the revival of Christianity. Two religious groups were the Puritans and the Quakers. The Puritans came to the country to reform the Church of England and they tried to establish a temporary government in the new country until an official government arrived.

Religion in the British North American colonies had greatly shaped, defined and allowed growth in the seventeenth-century. The Europeans that colonized North America brought with them a form of religion unaccepted in their previous home. America was a refuge for settlers who wanted to practice religion freely. With so many people coming overseas due to religion, it had greatly impacted the nation and how it began from a very early time. The presence of religion in the seventeenth-century British North America colonies contributed to the communities, social structures, revenue, and ideologies that formed.

This paper is a book critique of The Godless Constitution. The first chapter of the book is titled “Is America a Christian Nation?” and it is an introduction for the rest of the book. In this chapter, the main idea is to open the reader’s mind about that the constitution was created with the idea that religious believes will not influence in the politics of the nation. The authors state that “The principal framers of the American political system wanted no religious parties in national politics” (Kramnick and Moore, 23). Actually, the creation of a constitution without influence of religion was not an act of irreverence. The authors believe that the creation of the constitution was a support to the idea that religion can preserve the civil morality necessary for democracy, without an influence on any political party. The end of the chapter is the description of the following chapters and with a disguise warning that both authors were raise in religious families and they wrote the book with high respect for America’s religious traditions (Kramnick and Moore, 25). The second chapter, called “The Godless Constitution” explains how the different terms to talk about God were taken out and a “no religious test” clause was adopted with little discussion. This clause was a “veritable firestorm” during the ratification debates in several states (Kramnick and Moore, 32). For many people the “no religious test” clause was considered as the gravest defect of the Constitution (Kramnick

“American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us,” by Robert D. Putnam and David E. Campbell, and “America and the Challenges of Religious Diversity,” by Robert Wuthnow, give different thoughts to religion and politics in the United States. Putnam and Campbell utilize the concepts of shocks and aftershocks to highlight religious changes in the United States. On the other hand, Wuthnow uses observations to focus on the encounters of religious diversity in the United States. Wuthnow compares American Christianity with other popular religions in America and how Christianity has affected the perception of religion. Putnam and Campbell’s “American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us” is a more persuasive assessment of American religion and politics.