Q: Why do I write about Jesus Christ and the Bible in American history?
A: To establish references points so that we might better know and appreciate just how far we have wandered from the Lord. Without knowing where previous American generations stood with respect to the Lord, we’d have no way of knowing whether we were drawing closer to, or falling farther from, Him.
When you go for a swim at the beach, it’s a good safety measure to choose a landmark on the shore where you first entered the water. That way, at any point during the swim, a quick glance at that landmark will tell you how far the undertow might have pulled you away from your starting point.
Sources Used:
Dreisbach, Daniel L. Reading the Bible with the Founding Fathers. Oxford University Press, 2017
Federer, William J. America’s God and Country: Encyclopedia of Quotations. FAME Publishing, 1994.
Hatch, Nathan O. and Mark A. Noll. Editors. The Bible in America: Essays in Cultural History. Oxford University Press, 1982. (Most of the essays which appear in this volume were presented as papers at a conference, “The Bible in American Culture: A Historical Inquiry,” November 1-2, 1979, at Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois. Other contributors to the collection, besides Hatch and Noll who contributed a chapter each, were Gerald P. Fogarty, George M. Marsden, Richard J. Mouw, Harry S. Stout, Grant Wacker, and Timothy P. Weber.)
Marsden, George M. The Soul of the American University Revisited: From Protestant to Postsecular. Oxford University Press, 1996, 2021. – A revision and updating of the original 1994 book.
__________. The Soul of the American University: From Protestant Establishment to Established Nonbelief. Oxford University Press, 1994.
Tocqueville, Alexis de. Democracy in America (Volume One 1835, Volume Two 1840). Translated by Harvey C. Mansfield and Delba Winthrop. University of Chicago Press, 2000 (hardback), 2002 (paperback). – The book was based on Tocqueville’s 1831-1832 travels in the United States.
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