American Covenant: A History of Civil Religion from the Puritans to the Present

by Philip Gorski

Overview

An authoritative account of the long battle between exclusionary and inclusive versions of the American story

Was the United States founded as a Christian nation or a secular democracy? Neither, argues Philip Gorski in American Covenant. What the founders actually envisioned was a prophetic republic that would weave together the ethical vision of the Hebrew prophets and the Western political heritage of civic republicanism. In this ambitious book, Gorski shows why this civil religious tradition is now in peril—and with it the American experiment.

Gorski traces the historical development of prophetic republicanism from the Puritan era to the present day. He provides close readings of thinkers such as John Winthrop, Thomas Jefferson, Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Hannah Arendt, along with insightful portraits of recent and contemporary religious and political leaders such as Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama. Gorski shows how the founders' original vision for America is threatened by an internecine struggle between two rival traditions, religious nationalism and radical secularism. Religious nationalism is a form of militaristic hyperpatriotism that imagines the United States as a divine instrument in the final showdown between good and evil. Radical secularists fervently deny the positive contributions of the Judeo-Christian tradition to the American project and seek to remove all traces of religious expression from the public square. Gorski offers an unsparing critique of both, demonstrating how half a century of culture war has drowned out the quieter voices of the vital center.

American Covenant makes the compelling case that if we are to rebuild that vital center, we must recover the civil religious tradition on which the republic was founded.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691147673
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	02/21/2017
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Philip Gorski is professor of sociology and religious studies at Yale University. His books include The Protestant Ethic Revisited and The Disciplinary Revolution: Calvinism and the Rise of the State in Early Modern Europe.

Table of Contents

Preface: Three Trips to Philadelphia vii

Acknowledgments xiii

Introduction

Prophetic Republicanism as Vital Center 1

1 The Civil Religious Tradition and Its Rivals 13

2 The Hebraic Moment: The New England Puritans 37

3 Hebraic Republicanism: The American Revolution 60

4 Democratic Republicanism: The Civil War 83

5 The Progressive Era: Empire and the Republic 109

6 The Post–World War II Period: Jew, Protestant, Catholic 143

7 From Reagan to Obama: Tradition Corrupted and(Almost) Recovered 173

8 The Civil Religion: Critics and Allies 202

Conclusion The Righteous Republic 223

Notes 235

References 279

Index 307

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Essential reading for this moment.”—David Brooks, New York Times

“Sweeping and exhilarating.”—Publishers Weekly

“[Gorski] charts one way to political reconciliation in these divisive times. . . . This is an important work, one that returns us to our national origins.”—Kirkus Reviews

“A rich, detailed account of the history of efforts to define American religion.”—Sarah Posner, American Prospect

“Writing as both a citizen and a scholar, Gorski wraps his passionate appeal for the common good in a thoroughly documented and convincing argument. A remarkable achievement.”—Choice

“Indispensable reading for lay readers and specialists alike.”—Michael R. Whitenton, Reading Religion

Editorial Reviews

★ 01/09/2017
Gorski (The Protestant Ethic Revisited), a sociologist and religious studies professor at Yale, offers a sweeping and exhilarating review of the history of American political culture. He revives Robert Bellah’s famous idea of civil religion to look at three intertwined strands of political theology: religious nationalism, which fuses religion and politics; radical secularism, which completely divorces the two forces; and, midway, civil religion, which he sketches as a prophetic republicanism based on ideals drawn from biblical prophets and millennia of political philosophy. He analyzes key figures, offers refreshing insights into some, such as W.E.B. DuBois and John C. Calhoun, and is never shy about offering remedies for the corruption of the American civic spirit. National service is one bold recommendation to reawaken a spirit of public engagement. Gorski’s interpretation is likely to be challenged, and it should be, as part of the process of taking his thesis seriously and using it to move forward politically. More academics should follow his example of contributing to public debate in an accessible way. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

"Writing as both a citizen and a scholar, Gorski wraps his passionate appeal for the common good in a thoroughly documented and convincing argument. A remarkable achievement."

Choice

"[A] striking new book on American civil religion. . . . Gorski explores the key thinkers who shaped the different strands of our civil religions."

The American Conservative

"[E]ssential reading for this moment."—-David Brooks, New York Times

From the Publisher

2016-12-25
A philosophically and academically rigorous argument that charts one way to political reconciliation in these divisive times.At the outset, Gorski (Sociology and Religious Studies/Yale Univ.; The Protestant Ethic Revisited, 2011, etc.) declares that he's not writing for scholars, but although he generally adheres to that aim, he sometimes crafts thick paragraphs with multiple allusions that might daunt general readers. His work is also organized in a traditional academic format, featuring introductions, conclusions, lists of points and distinctions, and more than 70 pages of endnotes and bibliography. Nonetheless, this is an important work, one that returns us to our national origins, examines the evidence about our founding—and our founders—concerning religion and its interactions with public policy. Gorski dispels any number of hazy historical beliefs, on both sides of the political spectrum, including the notion that the United States is a Christian nation or that we are an entirely secular nation. He spends much time defining, and refining, his terms and categories and includes the work of many philosophers, historians, writers, and political figures to illuminate his points. Some are names quite familiar—e.g., Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King Jr., Jerry Falwell, and George W. Bush, while others will be principally familiar to academics (Robert Ingersoll and John Rawls). Gorski is frank and unapologetic about his own left-of-center leanings and issues dire warnings about what will happen if we fail to heal our divisions. Unfortunately, most of his suggestions at the end of the book are unlikely to occur—e.g., "make civic holidays into holidays again"—and though he warns about public ignorance, it's surprising that he does not emphasize more emphatically the absolute necessity of improving our system of public education. Though the narrative is occasionally as dense as a rain forest, it will be rich and rewarding for the determined explorer.

Kirkus Reviews