And the Making of a Nation - the Founding Fathers

American Gospel is right on target. Americans are fortunate that our founders conceived the wall of separation between church and state. These educated and forward thinking representatives had the historical knowledge to realize the folly of alternatives.

This book is written for the mass consuption of the choir. It is not a bad book for this reason, but its narrative is ripe with claims that are presented as mere observations, and the vast historical sweep of the book sacrifices depth. It thus resembles the thoughtful, heart-felt ruminations of an opinionated (though beloved) relative, rather than a thick work of scholarship.

This tome is a comprehensive history of worldwide faith in God and specifically, how the term "God" is interpreted as our nation has developed. I'm finding it [not finished reading it!] especially helpful in this current atmosphere of government influenced by the conservative right-wing.

When I read the riveting prose of "American Gospel" my second thought was, "This is sure to infuriate diehards on both sides of the "religion in America" debate. If the store reviews are any indication, my second thought was correct. Fortunately, "experts" on "both sides" such as David McCullough and Elaine Pagels, hardly naive historians, offer a more balanced assessment.

My first thought? "God, the Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation" is a well-written and well-research summation of a long-debated and still needed topic. The author, Jon Meacham, is an established writer (BA in English Literature, managing editor of Newsweek) and historian ("Franklin and Winston: An Intimate Portrait of an Epic Friendship").

In "American Gospel" Meacham avoids the extreme that every founding father was an atheist or deist, and the extreme that every founding father was a Christian. More importantly, what he quotes (and he uses a plethora of primary sources) he quotes in context--both the historical context and the documents context. Many of the quotes are well-established in the debate about our religious history. His work sheds new light on them.

His book will serve as a launching pad for continued debate on the place of religion in American society, in particular, in government, law, and politics. It certainly won't end the debate, but it has the potential to make it more intelligent. For this reason, and because the writing is tight, creative, and imaginative, "American Gospel" is a must read for all history buffs and politicians.

Reviewer: Bob Kellemen, Ph.D., is the author of "Beyond the Suffering: Embracing the Legacy of African American Soul Care and Spiritual Direction," "Soul Physicians," "Spiritual Friends," and the forthcoming "Sacred Friendships: Listening to the Voices of Women Soul Care-Givers and Spiritual Directors."

The book American Gospel, written by Jon Meacham, spells out the role religion played in founding the United States, and how Meacham believes religion should be a factor in the United States government today. Despite some of Meacham’s ideas on how religion would be positive in government, he is unaware that it would only work for specific sections of government, not government as a whole. By excluding some key pieces of how religion influences the public and politics, he weakens his argument and confuses the reader. Meacham delves into how religion influenced was involved in founding the United States, as well as some presidencys and The Civil Rights Movement. Meacham uses these topics to persuade the reader into obtaining his point of view or one similar.
Meacham brings in some persuasive points on how religion would be beneficial for the government in a public sphere.One way Meacum supports his argument is by providing an explanation that not with religion alone should the government be run, but by incorporating religion in the system. In chapter three Meachum provokes thought in saying, “The faithful should see that God was meant for them to use reason as well as revelation as they make their way through the world. The secular need to note the moral component of any cause and should not dismiss it even if the religious and the moral course happen to be the same.” (Meacham 128) While this may seem appealing, what Meacham fails to address is how when you begin associating morals and religion the line becomes unclear. If you walk into the government basing everything on Christian morals instead of human morals you lose sight of how exclusive the system is to religions besides Christianity. The ties between religion and morals are too tight to allow any influence of Christianity in our government.
Meacham argues his point by emphasizing that the founders belief in religion in government. He does so multiple times, but perhaps most blatantly on page 237, “ Can religion be a force for unity, not division, in the nation and in the world? The Founders thought so, and so must we.” This black and white perception of the time when The United States was founded being the exact same as present day is the root flaw in Meacham’s thinking. It’s impossible to apply the thinking of 1700s to modern day and our present day country. Also the founders didn’t have the same values and perceptions we have accumulated over the years. For example, during the 1700s slavery was legal and women had no rights, if we attempt to follow exactly what the founders wanted we would make no progress.
Meacham is able to make several valid points throughout his novel, but there are some circumstances he fails to include in his reasoning. It would be a beautiful concept to incorporate religious values into our government and have a peaceful society, but obviously that is not our reality. Many Americans follow religions other than Christianity, some follow no religion at all. To please everyone it is impossible to use religion as a key determining factor in government. The American Gospel is a compelling piece of writing, but is not convincing enough to persuade the reader into following Meacham’s thinking, due to some major flaws in his reasoning.

I just finished American Gospel, by Jon Meacham. I enjoyed it. I recommend it.

It was just recently released. I got it from the store this week. It's not unusual that I'll set aside all the other books I'm reading to start a new book, but it's less common that I'll actually finish it.

It is a well researched book about the influence of religion in American government. His premise is that the Founding Fathers created a kind of "public religion" in the words of Benjamin Franklin. The public religion was not specifically Christian, but broad enough to cover the Christian, the Jew, and the Deist. The Founding Fathers were classically educated as well. Annuit Coeptus is a paraphrase from Virgil. The Founding Fathers had a greater variety of religious beliefs than we realize. I find much truth in some of the ideas of Jefferson and Franklin, neither of which would be considered orthodox Christians in their time or ours. I think Thomas Payne offers some good ideas, too.

Christianity was more divided at the time of the revolution than it is today, and the importance of the differences was considered greater. One thing that is hard to recognize today is that not only was there a certain animosity toward Jews, or even Catholics, but the Protestant sects considered their differences important. In 1774, there was opposition to prayer in the Continental Congress, inspired in part by the Episcopalians' fear that having everyone join in a prayer would tend to treat all the religious traditions as equal.

Many of the quotes we usually hear in debates whether the United States is a "Christian" nation are given here, but what is particularly useful is that they are put in context. It does little good to say Washington said this and Jefferson said that in the abstract, without knowing what they were talking about.

Frequently there are references to people who worship twenty gods, or no gods being treated equally. In fact there were few who worshipped no gods then, and probably fewer who worshipped twenty. The point was made, however. There were also references to the ideal that the Muslim would be just as free to worship as anyone else (I think an amazingly impressive foresight in a country that had few if any Muslims).

It's hard to pick and choose from the book. In a way, it's so objective that more will find fault with it than do not. That's probably a sign of a good objective overview.

The main problem I see with the book is there's too little perspective of what it has meant to be pluralistic or secular in the context of the rest of the world. At the time of the American Revolution, a state without an official religion was a strange concept. The way of the world had always been that the government was run by a King who ruled by the grace of God, and in return protected God's true religion from heretics and blasphemers. Now in large parts of the world democracies in which people are more or less free to worship as they please are at least the aspiration, if not the reality, in most of the world. America was unique in creating and sustaining a state without an official link to a particular religious tradition.

Today, I think much of the world has passed us up. Today, Franklin's public religion has been replaced by a generic Judeo-Christianity where we are lucky, and a doctrinaire narrow fundamentalist Christianity where we are not. The doctrinaire Christianity does not seem to me to have much to do with the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, but I've ranted about that before. It is true, however, that it is always hard work to maintain freedom, including freedom of religion. Preserving that freedom is a job that will never end.

This book may not be the definitive word on the subject, but it's balanced and well-researched. It's something that one should take into account before asserting that America is either a Christian nation or a godless one.

Gerry

This book is basically one large entire quote picked off from people in history. Meacham probably wrote 1/6 of the book and the rest is quoted. I really don't understand what is so great about this book.

Jon Meacham’s book American Gospel is, without a doubt, one of the most disappointing pieces of literature ever assigned to me in all my years of schooling. Upon my initial entry into this text, I believed I would find enjoyment in the take on history this tome had to offer; once I read past the introduction, however, I was sorely mistaken. It does have its strengths, but they are generally outweighed by the numerous and glaring flaws that can serve to cause a disconnect between the reader and the author.

Meacham’s thesis is quite explicit: the most important thing modern America can do for the sake of resolution regarding its multitude of religious controversies is look back on the ripe history of faith in this country and the implications it has had on every era of our nation’s development. This use of the rearview mirror as a lens through which we can examine our own beliefs and personal ideologies regarding religion is the backbone of his work, allowing for a clear, timeline-based structure around which Meacham weaves his narrative.

Structure, however, is something which (beyond the overarching chronology of his chapter-by-chapter themes) seems to be lost on Jon Meacham. In any argumentative piece of literature, evidence should be analyzed, and tied back to the author’s claim. In American Gospel, Meacham regularly quotes important figures in American history on their views regarding many different aspects of faith in society. While there is value in the insight this technique provides into the most prominent characters in our nation’s mythos, these quotes are ripe for analysis, and leave the reader confused when the author sporadically jumps to another quote without first even attempting to connect it back to his thesis. For example, on page 53 Meacham quotes Connecticut’s Code of 1650 (which basically states that all who do not worship a Christian god shall be put to death), a text which could yield pages of analysis into the mindset of its authors. Instead of providing even one line of examination, Meacham immediately inserts an Alexis de Tocqueville quote which basically restates the aforementioned legislature, then starts a new paragraph discussing (instead of region-specific views on faith, like the previous paragraph suggested) the overall American stance on public religion in the 17th century, and spends only a single sentence summarizing it before resorting to a recitation of just short of a paragraph out of Cotton Mather’s book The Wonders of the Invisible World. Throughout chapters 1-5, a true challenge is provided to find paragraphs in which Meacham offers his pure claim on the topic at hand without providing at least one quotation. Paraphrasing, it seems, is lost on this author, although he does quite often rephrase quotes directly after he has included them in his text. This sporadic tendency is repeated throughout the book, and only in brief glimpses does Meacham occasionally offer the reader a refreshing glimpse into what this book could have been.

Now that I have concluded my attempt to articulate my frustrations with this text, I must acknowledge the numerous strengths Meacham exploits in his writing. His writing, when not riddled with non sequiturs, is quite engaging and concise, and makes the reader consider their own point of view on whatever topic he was tackling in each portion of the text. He uses satisfyingly prosaic diction, which allows the intake of his work to feel not like a slog through a textbook but more like a conversation between his arguments and my personal beliefs. In this sense, this book’s greatest value may lie in the fact that, for any reader, it allows an inner dialogue to be opened on the topic of religion, which can lead to increasingly introspective examination of personal beliefs, a powerful complement to Meacham’s narrative on public faith over the last four centuries.

Throughout the book, Meachum suggests that looking back is the only way to efficiently go forward, both as a society and as individuals, often reiterating this claim with statements like, “A grasp of history is essential for Americans of the center who struggle to decide how much weight to assign a religious consideration in a public matter.”(232) He also often discusses the idea that religious impulses are inherent in Americans, and our society will never be uncoupled with religion; on the contrary, he believes that, for the foreseeable future of our nation and its people, faith will be one of the primary components of the public’s most prominent ideological dissents. Personally, I hold similar beliefs to Meacham regarding the importance of history in our personal modern worldview. After all, if a nation is made up of hundreds of millions of people with conflicting ideas and stances on modern issues, there are two things that we all have in common: our humanity and our history. Indeed, our brains make decisions based on memories and experiences, so by this rationale the sole path towards reconciling our differences as a nation is reflection on the public history we share.

Jon Meacham's "American Gospel" is a detailed and comprehensive look at America and the influence religion has had throughout our country's existence from the time that the Mayflower landed at Plymouth to the present (2007). The "Separation of Church and State" (Also referred to as the Wall) is a theme discussed heavily throughout the book and if one comes away with anything, it is the importance in keeping the two separate that is one of the main reasons America has remained a democracy, not a theocracy, and the envy of the world. Welcoming people of all faiths and allowing the free practice and worship of the religion of your choice, is a hallmark that distinguished our country from other countries for centuries.

Unlike other novels by Mr. Meacham, I found "American Gospel" quite a cumbersome and unwieldy book to read, possibly because of all the quotes. In truth, I could not wait to finish the book, and yet I cannot deny the importance of the subject and great analysis the author offers.

America has thrived in good part because the founding fathers decided to seperate sectarian religious views from the founding documents. Many fundamentalist christians push forward to return the United States to its former glory built on a Christian foundation. Atheists argue that the country was founded by marginal believers in God. Author, Jon Meacham shows that niether is true. Many of the founding fathers firmly believed in the providence of God in the making of this great nation. But was it the God of Christianity? George Washington was part of the Methodist church but hardly devout, Jefferson was a staunch critic of the miraculous stories in the bible, Madison and Franklin both believers in God by reason. These men were not "happy christian soldiers".

"The American gospel, if you will - is that religion shapes the life of the nation without strangling it". These are the words of the author in the introduction and was ultimately the consensus view of the founders. Jefferson, Adams, Washington, Franklin and others struggled with the type of language they would use in forging the founding documents. They drew on their personal history of the church of England that it was vital not to form a state church. In fact, America was a great experiment, in which church and state would be seperated. This was the only way religion would flourish without oppresion and persecution.

Thomas Jefferson new that any society as free as America could only flourish if it were deeply religious. He also argued that a man's belief or unbelief in God was personal and no one had the right to impose his or her own brand of religion. In the formation of the Massachusetts Bay State colony in the early 1600s, Puritans tried to impose laws on those that were not worshipping "correctly". The founding fathers knew that this kind of rigidity would crush freedom and produce unhappy men. They foresaw that only a happy and a free people would produce a prosperous and strong nation.

The God of the Declaration of Independence was natures God, built upon reason and that everyone has inalienable rights to be free and pursue happiness. Any fundamental religionist ought to be grateful that America was founded on religious freedom and not the religion of the early puritanical dogma that threatened to take over a young nation, thus allowing groups to practice their own dogmas without the theology of another imposing on them. The founding fathers were modern day prohets worthy of admiration.

The author goes onto show how religion played a part in major events in American history. From the Civil War to Martin Luther King's civil rights movement to Reagan's cold war. In these major events religion has proved to be a help and sometimes a hindrance in progress. Ultimately the founding fathers understood human nature in that a man's religious beliefs were personal and vital to his happiness. And therefore should not be imposed upon.

Our library non-fiction book group read and discussed this book and most found it very informative and enlightening. Although the central thesis is clear and convincingly made by the author, the subject is a bit amorphous and unwieldy. The author, Jon Meacham, manages to tame it into a form that's cohesive and understandable.

If you want to understand the evolution of the role of religion in the formation and execution of our government, with particular emphasis on the founding fathers' vision, this book clearly spells it out. You will comprehend what Washington, Adams, Franklin, Jefferson and Madison uniquely had in mind regarding religion playing an important role in our national and political life, but no one church or religion was going to be allowed to dominate.

You will see that separation of church and state didn't mean that religion and God were to be left out of political life and matters of the state. But God was never clearly defined as being a Christian God, or a doctrinal God, and simply referred to as our "Creator" or "nature's God". Meacham explains it much more exactly than I have here.

Our founders felt a plurality of faiths created strength, and noted in America the regions which were most stable and successful were most diverse and tolerant. George Washington acknowledged that the bosom of America would receive Mohometans, Jews, Christians and atheists. The role of religion in our national affairs is a debate that is current today, and this book settles that debate by delineating what the founders said and meant.

This book includes a wealth of historical information with colorful quotes and anecdotes. My favorite is Lincoln's response when in church and the minister asked everyone to stand who wasn't going to hell. Lincoln was the only one who remained seated. You will enjoy reading Lincoln's response to the pastor's question as to where exactly Lincoln thought he was going. It's worth reading the book for that story alone.

The evolution of religion as it relates to our national history, politics and Presidency isn't fully explored in most history texts, and yet it impacts our life and culture. This book is a necessary book, and Meacham seems like the ideal author for the topic. He is an author who believes in God, is active in his faith, loves politics and has a journalist's objectivity. He includes the massive amount of research references in the index and resources accessed for this book in the bibliography. He is clearly passionate about this topic.

He closes the book with Jefferson's quote which sums up Jefferson's, and perhaps the other founders' vision: "I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." The founders wanted our minds to be free to worship, or not worship, as we pleased free from any kind of tyranny or government interference. However, separation of church and state didn't mean that God was going to be excluded from our national rituals and affairs. They resisted defining us solely as a Christian nation or bringing Jesus Christ into the equation.

While everyone liked this book, we LOVED Jon Meacham's other book, Franklin and Winston: An Intimate Portrait of an Epic Friendship. That book attracted the most newcomers to our library nonfiction group ever and is a delightful read. I enjoyed this one as well, although the subject is more abstract. It is a subject that is important to understand as our nation evolves and accepts immigrants from all beliefs and backgrounds. Our founders recognized that many nations foundered on the role of religion and the founders didn't want religious differences to fragment us or destroy our unity.

Some questions the book raised: what happens if a religion's practices and our nation's laws conflict? If a religion allows polygamy, for example. Or if Sharia Law by certain Muslim sects allows honor killings of wives and daughters? Will our courts allow Sharia law? And as more Americans becomes agnostics or atheists, how will that affect our national affairs? This book provides a helpful historical context to explore those questions.

The book American Gospel was published by the author Jon Meacham. It was originally published in 2006, it covers the main role of religion in America. It discusses the perspective of how the relationship between God and government developed in this country. As Meacham wrote ‘’religion shapes the life of the nation without strangling it.’’ (pg. 5) This story was developed through the story of how the Founding Fathers (Jefferson, Lincoln, Washington, Franklin, ect) viewed faith. This book was divided into 6 chapters, each one is a review of a historical moment/person ex. Civil War, Martin Luther KIng Jr., the Constitution, etc. Meacham proves how the idea of religion had an impact on these events. The historical book covers around 200 years of American history.
Meacham states several points throughout his book, but he is repetitive with a few. The author emphasized two main points, the separation between church and state(government) and private and public religion. The founding father were the ones who made this idea of Public and private religion. Public religion allows faith to recognize a God. A God who ‘’made all human beings in his image..with sacred rights to life, and the pursuit of happiness.’’ (pg22) Meacham includes that God has given a human natural rights in which no one can take away. This was the God that was interpreted in whatever religious form is meaningful to an individual. Meacham illustrates how this public religion helped the american presidents, it invoked the concept of God and the values of belief to unite the country. On the contrary, private religion states that every human has the right to God in any manner they decide, there is also the option of not worshipping any God. This concept lead to the idea of the founding fathers, the belief in faith and freedom.

The concept of the wall between church and state was brought up constantly. Roger William, a minister, argued to ‘’free faith from the power of government. ‘’(pg54) Mecham claims, that Jefferson suggest the separation was intended to protect religion from the state, not the other way around. The state should have no influence/ control over the church, vice versa.
I strongly agree with the idea of public and private religion and the separation of church and state, it allows each one to have their own faith without any restrictions. Everyone is entitled to their own personal belief. As a catholic, it is a relief to know that in our country we have to limits to our belief in God. I also belief these two ideas were his strongest points, he does a very lovely job analyzing and presenting this concept to his reader.
In conclusion, it is important to realize that religion shapes our life. This book mainly covers how the founding father viewed our religion and government. They have influenced our nation until this day. In fact, they were the ones who created a nation in which believe God is a matter of choice. To summarize, this book is a complex linkages between religion and government.
Overall I enjoyed this book and the ideas, it made me think of religion differently and see how it came to be with the influence of our founding fathers. Although, I must admit it was difficult to capture his idea thoroughly.

Disappointed in the product itself. I really thought I was buying a good book, but it was was so disappointing. Just pick up any secular newspaper published today and you can read the same secular viewpoint. Wish I had checked out who Jon Meacham was before I wasted my money.

"Every party cries out for Liberty & toleration till they get to be uppermost, and then will allow none." ~ Lord Bishop of Salisbury

There has always been differences of opinion when it comes to religion, but America was different from other nations because its founding included the idea that freedom of religion was a basic right – to worship where and how one chooses... or not. Nonetheless, we sometimes hear appeals to restore our country to the Christian principles and ideals it was founded upon – ignoring the fact that *freedom* is the most important of Christian principles. Jon Meacham points out that while many of the earliest settlers came seeking religious freedom, they often forgot about the "freedom" part once they got here, and mandated religious adherence and punishments for those who didn't conform. But when the colonies came together to form a new government, the "Founding Fathers" seized upon the radical idea that Americans should be free to worship – or not – according to conscience. No one should be compelled to attend or support (especially with their taxes) any church, and government should stay out of such affairs.

But don't get the idea that Meacham is anti-religion. He argues strongly that religion has an important place in American society and history. The Declaration of Independence along with many of the writings of the founders (and most leaders since) make frequent mentions of God or the Creator or Providence. The Constitution is deliberately free of such statements, but the Bill of Rights clearly defines the religious freedom we should all expect. It's what Benjamin Franklin and Meacham call "public religion" that makes America different from the European powers, giving religion an important voice in the public forum yet not sanctioning one viewpoint (religious or not) over another.

It's a viewpoint I appreciate – expecially in a time when we see a rising and sometimes violent intolerence against religion. Meacham says: "Secularists point to a 'wall of separation between church and state,' while many conservatives act as though the Founding Fathers were apostles in knee britches... [but] neither extreme has it right." It's a middle ground that argues for tolerence from both sides, as well as a short and easy read.

The issue of religion, both public and private, has had a place in the United States ever since our founding. Jon Meacham brings a historian's eye to this interesting and complex issue. The men who founded the United States came from diverse backgrounds, yet they had many things in common. Meacham shows that the ethics and morality of the Bible have informed and defined the history of the United States from the beginning.

Religion informs the way that we discuss issues and forms our public lives as well as our private lives. Jefferson used religious imagery when writing the Declaration of Independence. Abolitionists used the gospel to fight slavery. The issue was not couched in economic terms, but in the terms of a system that was evil in its nature. Franklin Roosevelt believed that the New Deal was a Christian imperative to help the poor. Martin Luther King, Jr. couched the Civil Rights movement not as a political movement, but as a spiritual movement.

This is an issue that still divides our nation today. This book will help to set the stage for understanding the complex ways that religion in general and the Christian religion in particular still defines how we talk about political and social issues. Both liberals and conservatives will take issue with different points of this book, but maybe that's a good thing. Whether or not you agree with every point you will find a lot to think about with this book.

Summary: Religion is considered one of the topics you should never bring up during conservation. However, it affects all of us, whether we consider ourselves religious or not. American Gospel: God, the Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation by Jon Meacham document the history of religion in America and how religion can divide or separate a nation. Meacham argues that America was not founded as a Christian nation; however it was not a secular nation either. He highlights how many of the founding fathers were deeply religious. Yet, they created a nation where government is free from the influence of religious powers. He also argues that America has a private and public religion. Meacham believes that religion is a positive force in America. The book discusses the role of religion in creating our government and the trials it has faced. He also documents both sides of the extremes. The extremists who believe American has lost our religious ways and the extremists that believe religion is overly involved in government. This book really made me think about the importance of religion in society. However, it also documented the significance of the separation between church and state.
My Thoughts: I had never read a book about religion in American history before. I was pleasantly surprised that American Gospel kept my attention. I did have a few issues with this book, but it did not distract me from my reading. My main issue is how the author skips over certain religious movements in American history. I also feel some of the quotes are taken out of context, but that may be a personal issue. However, I feel the quotes were very interesting as I love to read about influential Americans thoughts. This book would be a thought-provoking read for anyone interested in the role of religion in past and future America.

Book Review of American Gospel
The American Gospel is about Meacham’s thoughts and opinions on America’s history from the arrival of the Puritans to the last decade of our government and the powers leading us. The book began with the arrival of the Puritans unto American Soil, though it was Native American soil the,the next topic in this section the topic of religion and its influence on the townspeople in Jamestown is introduced. Chapter two brings in the majority of the next chapter focusing on the revolution/subsequent independence from the British, and the events that followed it such as the creation, plan, and details of the Constitution of America, along with the beginning and creation of America’s presidential system. The chapter after one and two cover events from the Civil war and the major events during this war, such as Lincoln; to religions hold in politics and anything connected even slightly by religion for example such America being a “christian nation”, though from this came religious freedom of multiple religions. Chapter four was about the struggle to fix racism in the south in addition to the Jim Crow law which legalized segregation between African Americans and Caucasians. It was also mentioned in chapter four that World War II was starting up in full swing, or at least Hitler was beginning to make his power known in Germany, then D-Day happened and Roosevelt/the Postwar Piety occurred; Oh, and Kennedy ran for president then later died. Chapter five held information about Martin Luther King and what his dream for blacks and whites to have equality rose up only for him to die from a gunman while at a hotel. Vietnam and Richard Nixon are mentioned in this chapter as well, but further in. The last chapter was about how important history is for our current structure of society to flourish and prosper.
This book, surprisingly, covered most of America’s large and influential parts of history, along with some lesser known history facts. I found Meacham’s writing to be very informative for a book 250 pages. The point he tried to prove could range from many ideas, it could be focused on religion, or as a whole that history is there to inform you of past mistakes as to keep from repeating them, and not to be boring in the idea that history is a pain. I say this because many of the topics Meacham brings into the book’s spotlight have to either do with war(which people find interesting) or focuses on important figureheads within history, both these themes draw in the attention of the reader either by bringing attention to the reason for a war and/or the rise to power of a leader and their subsequent death later on. Each writer has strengths and weaknesses and Meacham is no different just because he wrote a historical record book, the weaknesses I gathered from reading his book can be summed up as the reading loses the attention span of a reader quite quickly, I myself was only able to read a few pages at a time before I had to reign my focus back in; on the other hand his strengths can be viewed as he knows what is needed within a writing piece and is able to incorporate this.
After the reading of Meacham, I have gathered the many ideas and thoughts roaming through my head and have come to the simple conclusion of…. My previous understanding of my country’s history was lacking, not due to personal effort, but because my previous school skimmed over such history finding other countries more pressing to speak about. However though I now know more about U.S. history, I also realize that this book was written by a single man, a single man that has his own opinions and thoughts about certain subjects such as religion. This is true for everyone though and I say this because no two people have the same opinion, their opinions may share similarities but in the end they all differ.

Meacham is the managing editor of "Newsweek" and has published other best-selling histories. This book examines the perennial question of how religion and politics, church and state, should interact and can interact.

Meacham respects the Founding Fathers and argues they constructed a constitutional republic in which what Benjamin Franklin called "public religion" could and should operate. It's not private morality writ large, but it's an acknowledgement that a moral consensus is essential for free society. It also recognizes that government should protect and not intervene in religion even as religion must acknowledge a public domain for government wherein religion, or at least the church, need not insert itself.

The book is well-researched but, surprisingly, somewhat unmoving to read. The writing does not flow and the stories are not compelling. It reads more like, well, a poorly constructed history text. Gven Meacham's credentials and his writing that I've enjoyed in other books, I found this surprising. Consequently, while there's some good content in this book, I'm not enthused about the book as a whole. So I don't really recommend it unless you are avidly interested in the topic.

American Gospel approaches the issue of religion and the state of the USA. The book focuses on some major figures and episodes in the history of the country. This is not exhaustive or comprehensive. The author chooses some topics that he thinks are indicative of the general relationship of religion and state.

He provides insights into the thinking of Founding Fathers Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, James Madison, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, etc. He quotes their own writings and speeches to convey how they saw religion fitting in the new country. The author uses a wide range of resources that include letters and biographies that provide for me what was new information.

He then looks at some other primary figures such as Woodrow Wilson, Theodore Roosevelt and FDR, Lincoln, JFK, Reagan and Nixon to examine how they viewed religion's place in government and in their lives. He shows how in times of distress such as prior to WWII or during the Civil War, these men turned to religion and enouraged the country to pray.

He discusses the roles of prominent ministers in government. He looks at Billy Graham's relationships with presidents and how other ministers became involved in the political realm.

The author offers a balanced and mostly objective view of religion and public life. He targets both liberal and conservative extremists as being wide of the historical relationship of church and state. The picture he paints is one that lends itself to a moderate and reasoned approach that takes into consideration both sides of the argument. You won't find any other agenda here than to present the true historical account.

The research and narrative are excellent and it offers an educational and enjoyable look at this area of our country's history.

Craig Stephans, author of Shakespeare On Spirituality: Life-Changing Wisdom from Shakespeare's Plays

American Gospel By Jon Meacham

When I first started reading this book I was underlining frantically. I ran across an exuberant amount of quality quotes from the likes of Franklin, Jefferson, Adams, Washington, and Madison. However, the more I read the more I came to realize that no matter how many quotes I threw out, or facts I bring to your attention I realize I'm not likely to change your mind. Therefore, I feel my best course of action is share with you what this book has done for me, and hopefully from this you will choose to read it and draw your own conclusions.

Within these pages you will read stories of early settlers coming to America and setting up a theocracy. The men who ran these theocracies would beat you for not attending church on Sunday, and you would of course be executed for missing it a second Sunday service. You will also read stories of lewd individuals who did everything within their power to strip the word God from within the borders of our country. In the end the author asks for moderation and does this by illustrating how many of the struggles we face today are in fact not new. Extremist zealots from both sides would love nothing more than to corrupt our minds to their point of view. Our founding fathers understood the dangers of both a theocracy and secularist totalitarianism. If I can share one just one word to summarize the authors view it would be moderation. Our founding fathers understood that true faith can only be obtained by free will choice and not by religious law (miss your second Sunday and your dead). They also understood faith was important to man, and Mecham makes a strong argument when he tells his readers that our founding fathers would not have liked men trying to take the word "GOD" out of the pledge of allegiance. In the end Mecham argues America has remained free because wise men chose the route of moderation.

I give this book four stars because I feel the author could have easily made this book 500 pages (not the 250 pgs. It is now). I found that Mr. Mecham failed to fully develop all of his concepts or to fully support some of his conclusions (some of which I don`t agree with). However, in the end this book is probably one of the most moderate books on the concept of public religion in America.

As an example of serious audio non-fiction, Jon Meacham's book is excellent, with a presentation that is neither too long nor too shallow, with background, analysis and insight that moves right along through American history. The six CDs obviously focus mostly on the Founders directly and indirectly, as key moments in American history test the Founders' wisdom and adapt the American ideal to fresh circumstances.

A student of history will already know many of the basics that Meacham covers, with the book adding detail and connecting themes, often expressed in the wonderfully articulate classical style of the Founders. To me, the fresh look and additional perspective on somewhat familiar topics were well-suited for an audio book, where 100% concentration may not be available.

Meacham is well balanced in his thesis, which is that the "wall of separation" allows for some place for public religion, while retaining a sharp distinction in many scenarios brought forth by opponents and proponents of more public religion through history. He poked at the extremists on occasion, without being too heavy handed, and avoided the patronizing style that many other commentators applied to more recent figures, such as Ronald Reagan and Jerry Falwell. In fact, one of the more surprising sections was Meacham's praise for Reagan with respect to religion.

The narrator's voice held little appeal to me, for reasons I never could quite define exactly. Perhaps it was the academic tone. Others may find him to be spot on.

"American Gospel" examines the story of the role religion has played in American public life from colonial times to the present. Utilizing quotes from clergy and presidents, among others, author Jon Meacham presents an interesting narrative of one of the most important forces of history.

Through this book, Meacham follows the role of religion in shaping crucial eras. The inspiration or use of religion molded the colonial experience at the beginning of the story. One of the most interesting sections deals with the role that the founding fathers, whose religious orientation often differed markedly from that of many modern readers, saw for faith in the nation's birth. Later high points included the Civil War, both World Wars and the Depression when God was invoked to guide the country through these trying times. Not limited to periods of crisis, Meacham also involves the words of Theodore Roosevelt, Billy Graham and some historical figures who are less frequently quoted.

The theme of this book is that public religion has and always will play a role in public life, most effectively when it respects the religious diversity of America. Those looking for book to praise or denigrate religion will be disappointed. The reader looking for a balanced study of the religious thread woven into our history will be well satisfied.

Jon Meacham, Newsweek managing editor, examines U.S. national traditions and the intention of the founding fathers when they created freedom of religion more then two centuries ago. Contends that faith and freedom are intractably linked. 'A nation will thrive only by cherishing freedom and protecting faith.'

This book is well written and researched. It is also an easy read and a topic that merits much more discussion. But you must pay attention while reading. For you will see that Meacham is biased. And inconsistent when and where he feels the use of religion should or should not be used in government. He is uninformed on the make up of the Pre-Civil war south and he seems to gloss over the parts of this countries disfavor of Roman Catholicism. He is so set on his thesis that America is tolerant of religion he forgot these transgressions and did not address them. Yet still points out times where politics and religion have met throughout history where it meets his thesis, ignoring all those that do not.

In summation this author is far from objective. And seems to have a preconceived desire to convince us his thesis is correct at any cost. Meacham uses insinuation, omission of opposing points of view or more importantly: opposing facts, broad generalization, attempts at impugning the morality of the Founders and colonists, and a glaring failure to account for etymology all run rampant through out this book. At the end of the book he states, "In choosing to explore the connections between religion and public life," ...which he does explore as long as it supports the thesis he has put forth. On page 397 and 398 he states; "In a way the genesis of this book can be traced back nearly twenty years, when Herbert Wentz introduced me to Robert Bellah's idea of civil religion," Which tells us he already had preconceived idea of this book and how he would defend them regardless of historical evidence. Meacham finds "public religion" good when he likes a person's views and bad when he doesn't. His retelling of history may soothe some secularists, but it is not likely to calm some religious believers' fears. Tolerance runs one direction. Though the author is biased and does not have a deep knowledge on the subject I still will give him three stars for getting the discussion re-started.

Anyone writing a book on the relationship between religion and politics invariably traces the lineage of their thinking to the wisdom of the Founding Fathers. Both Christian fundamentalists and secular humanists will claim that they are the true heirs of the so-called orignal intent or original understanding regarding church and state.

Jon Meacham, managing editor of "Newsweek," has written a long historical essay trying to stake out a compromise position between the two. Notwithstanding the copious notes and bibliography, this is not a work of academic history, by the author's own admission. The history of the role of religion in American politics would require a much bigger book.

According to Meacham, the Founding Fathers believed in both religion and freedom of conscience. The American Revolution established freedom of thought, and hence freedom of worship. At the same time they did not want to take religion completely out of politics, for they believed religion would bolster the foundations of government. The Founders encouraged a "public religion." (The expression was coined by Benjamin Franklin.) The evidence of public religion can be seen everywhere in our founding documents with phrases such as "Creator," "Nature's God," "In God We Trust," "One Nation Under God," etc.

Meacham points out that these documents do not make any references to Christ or Christianity. It is a fantasy on the part of Christian fundamentalists to think that they occupy a privileged position our system of government. Inspite of the many efforts to introduce the Christian religion into the Constitution, all attempts have fallen short. With the enormous numbers of different religious groups in the New World, and by the fact that many had fled the Old World to escape religious persecution, the Founders were determined to keep a extremism in check.

The prime mover - pardon the expression - behind the separation of church and state was Jefferson. And it was in his home state of Virginia that freedom of worship was first written into law. Other states had their official churches and some did not allow non-Christians to run for office. The issue was contentious but the example of Virginia prevailed when the First Amendment was written. The First Amendment codifying that Congress shall make no law regarding the establishment of religion.

The so-called public religion was a kind of generic big-tent religion that embraced many different religions. It guaranteed equal rights of conscience. Although Meacham's narrative of the original understanding of the balancing act between church and state will have its detractors, he has done an excellent job of reestablishing the middle ground.

This is an interesting book on the relationship and influence of religion upon the founding fathers in the political sphere. It is written by a capable author on American history. The author’s thesis is contrary to the opinions of twentieth first century secular humanists and atheists, since he argues that historically there has been a place for religion in the public square. He also balances this view by challenging the views adopted by some Conservative Christians that the United States’ founding fathers were thoroughly Christian or sectarian as it is expressed in the political realm. His view is approximately that of my current stance: No doubt Christianity has been influential in the lives of individuals who were involved with the American independence and the new United States government but there were other ideological influences as well such as the Enlightenment, rational theism, etc. I was eager to read this book to learn more about the non-Christians among our Founding Fathers and to see where they stood theologically. Since my undergraduate studies I have concluded that Benjamin Franklin was not quite the ideal Deists as some propagandists makes him out to be especially concerning the issue of God’s providence. The book reinforces my view when it quoted Franklin saying, “I have lived sir a long time, the longer I live the more convincing proofs I see of this truth: That God governs in the affair of men.” Though he was not a Christian, Franklin was far from being the modern militant secularist today since he wrote, “He that spit against the wind, spit in his own face” against someone who was going to publish a tract against Christianity. Concerning Thomas Jefferson I thought it was ironic that as he was approaching his death Jefferson would comfort himself with the portion of the Gospel of Luke that he edited out of his own Bible version from the Song of Simeon. I also found it intriguing that the No Establishment Clause in the Constitution, seemed to be interpreted contrary to the current interpretation today when we read of instances such as the case of a Jew name Jacob Henry whose attempt to enter into state political office was challenged, indicating that the First Amendment was not invoked or understood historically as implying that there must be a ban against religious test for office at the state level. I also enjoyed reading in the book John Jay boldly stating he believed in Jesus Christ at a party in France before philosophers mocking the faith. Over all a good, informative and captivating read. The title was a bit misleading since it went beyond the founding fathers to talk about the role of public religion in the lives of later presidents such as Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, Kennedy, Nixon and Ronald Regan. I was surprised to read that Eisenhower would pray in every cabinet meeting. One criticism I did have was the author’s wrongful assumption that the Bible teaches Earth was the center of the universe. While one gets the sense that the author leans more left especially with his treatment of Christian conservatives, nevertheless I think discerning readers who are Christian conservative can learn from this book that yes, there is an influence of Christian heritage among America’s founding fathers. There’s plenty of ammo here against the New Atheists types and Brights concerning the nature of America’s public religion. However, the book rightly points out that the public religion in America’s political landscape is not thoroughly Christian and is quite ecumenical. I believe Christians ought to be careful of ecumenicalism lest it changes and compromises the Christian faith and the Gospel message with this Americanized public religion.

American Gospel: God, The Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation
--By Jon Meacham

In American Gospel, Newsweek Managing Editor Jon Meacham has undertaken to, and succeeded in, putting the religious background of the United States into perspective.
In logical and unemotional fashion, Meacham traces the origin of Democracy to its theological principles; and follows its development from Colonies; the writing of the governing documents; and the role of the legislative and judicial branches.

Meacham argues (convincingly) that there is good reason for a "Public Religion" in America. One of his major contributions is dispelling some of the myths: for example,
The apparent inconsistency of religious belief with the Institutution of Slavery.. How, in the Name of Heaven, could supposedly Christian people like Thomas Jefferson support the bondage of African-Americans? It is easy for us to judge, through the prism of history, the actions of others. As Arthur Schlesinger said: " Righteousness is easy; and also cheap, in retrospect."
Meacham cites a critical passage from Justice Hugo Black's majority opinion in Emerson V.Board of Education in the township of Ewing, N.J in which he wrote:

"The Establishment of Religion clause of the First Amendment means (at least) this: Neither a state nor the Federal Government can set up a church. Neither can pass laws which aid one religion; aid all religions, or prefer one religion over another.
In the words of Jefferson, the clause against establishment of religion by law was intended to a wall of separation between church and state. That wall must be kept high and impregnable. We could not approve the slightest breach."
In conclusion, Jon Mecham has done us all a public service by providing this intelligent and unbiased perspective on an important subject.. One other note: this book might be read in context of two other recent books on the subject: Fighting Words: The
Origins of Religious Violence by Hector Avalos; and Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon by Daniel C. Dennett. This reviewers Score: Five Stars.

--By Philip W. Henry Rialto, CA
s

Meacham provides a great summary of the history of religion in public life, and our nation's "public religion" over the years, in a well-researched, well-written, easy-to-read book. It was somewhat informative, particularly (for me) in discussing the variety of religious viewpoints present at the founding of the country and the founders' efforts to be inclusive of Jews (who were here) and Muslims (who weren't yet), as well as various recognized Christian sects.

Essentially, Meacham's thesis is that religion has always been a part of public life in the United States, but that our religious diversity has led our public religion to be ecumenical and tolerant. Accordingly, those who don't want government recognition of God in any form, or who want legislation that pushes their religious agenda at the expense of others, are out of touch with American history.

The reason I'm only giving this book three stars is that Meacham seems a little too dedicated to his thesis. He seems to gloss over some fairly striking episodes of religious intolerance in American history, for example. Little mention is made, for example, regarding the KKK's efforts, rather successful in some parts of the country, to disfavor Roman Catholicism. My impression is that it would run counter to his picture of America's tradition of tolerance, so it wasn't addressed head-on. He also mentions, from time to time, that God wouldn't like intolerance. I don't disagree, but brief statements about what God wants seem out of place in a book about history.

I enjoyed reading this book, and I agree with the author's conclusions, but the reader should be cautioned to look beyond these pages for the big picture.

This is an interesting book, worth reading, although with some caveats. It is sometimes heavy going when dealing with the founding fathers. This in a sense is a back handed compliment to author Jon Meacham, because the heavy going is partly because American Gospel contains much detailed well-researched content. There are over 149 pages of references, acknowledgements and appendices.

Once again, the founding fathers are credited with great foresight. The separation of church and state was not a universally acclaimed belief at the time (not to suggest it is now either.) Meacham cites a number of politicians and clerics who expected fundamentalist Christian beliefs be incorporated in the constitution, a concept not accepted by the men, most of whom were solid churchgoers, who wrote the document.

Maybe it was one of the most laissez faire churchgoers, Thomas Jefferson who best summed up the final logic of church and state separation. "I never told my religion nor scrutinized that of another, he wrote and "For it is in our lives and not from our words, that our religion must be read.

Meacham references some virulent disagreement between Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry on this topic and apparently other issues. Jefferson wrote to James Madison, "What we have to do I think is devoutly to pray for his death"!

The section on slavery and its justification is compelling. Many slave owners were able to find clear rationale in the bible, not just for slave owning but the mistreatment of the poor creatures. "He that knoweth his master's will and doeth not, shall be beaten with many stripes." Frederick Douglass wrote that life became even more difficult for him after his master converted to Christianity.

A criticism that might be leveled at author Meacham is that you get the feeling that he wants to be "safe" and centrist in his views. It is a very balanced book, but as a result possibly lacks a little edge. All the "good guys," Jefferson, Washington, Madison, Lincoln etc. come across as being, well I suppose the word is, `balanced.'

The other criticism is despite the prolific notes and appendices, there is no index which is a real pain in the .... when you're trying to find some reference.

Some atheists and agnostics argue to remove "in God we trust" from our currency. Conservatives on the religious right work for prayer in our public schools. Secularists fear religious zealotry, and believers abhor moral anarchy. In this popular level historical overview of the relationship between church and state, religion and politics, Jon Meacham, the managing editor of Newsweek and a practicing Christian, argues against both extremes. There is, he insists, a well-defined historical common middle ground, what he calls a "sensible center," that best serves the many and varied interests of our country. Meacham writes to help us recover that successful effort of our founding fathers to "assign religion its proper place in civil society." He writes with the hope that we can move beyond discord and division to both reverence and tolerance.

It is "wishful thinking" rather than sound history to imagine that America was founded as a specifically "Christian nation." Meacham does a good job of showing how and why this falsehood propagated by conservative Christians is not true. George Washington, for example, is not known to have taken communion, and one bishop who knew him was confident he was not a believer. Jefferson's scissored-down New Testament is well known. In the realm of what Meacham calls "public religion" the founding fathers thus assiduously avoided any sectarian bias. They strongly protected the right of every citizen to freely exercise "private faith," or no faith at all, as each individual conscience saw fit. Such was the paradox between political liberty and religious faith: "Many, if not most, believed; but none must."

But understood in a broad, generic sense, America is a very religious if not specifically "Christian" nation. On the whole, Meacham thinks the benefits of this legacy have outweighed the costs. Even today it would be silly, and impossible as a practical matter, to deny or try to eradicate this collective cultural consensus that we have inherited. The Declaration of Independence thus argues that rights are God-given and not granted by the state, even though this "God" is deliberately and vaguely defined, and the Constitution never mentions him. Or again, if you look at the image on the back of a dollar bill you see one of our three national mottoes, the "Eye of Providence" above an unfinished pyramid with the phrase, "God has favored our undertakings" (Annuit Coeptis) -- taken not from any Biblical literature but from the poet Virgil. In another line of argument, Meacham appeals to the likes of Homer and William James to observe that all human beings are naturally religious, and that to deny this impulse is both wrongheaded and futile. He considers it natural and probably healthy for our country that virtually all presidents and our most important leaders make public if deliberately vague appeals to the Almighty, from Lincoln and FDR to Martin Luther King, Jr.

Meacham makes copious use of quotations from primary resources (documented in 80 pages of end notes). A long appendix provides nine examples of divergent primary documents on the public role of religion in America--for example, a letter from George Washington to a Jewish congregation, a treaty between America and Muslim Tripoli ratified by the Senate in 1797 that declared "the government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion," and a letter from the nineteenth-century free thinker Robert Ingersoll that defines the "religion" (his word) of secularism. At times the book is so general that Meacham only skips across the mountain tops. One chapter begins with the Civil War, devotes a few pages to Darwin, and finishes with Wilson. But that's a minor quibble for an otherwise excellent popular treatment of the "shrewd compromise" that our founders made between protecting private faith and insuring public freedom.

"Many Americans, especially secular ones, tend to stake everything on Jefferson's wall between church and state. The wall metaphor originated with the Anglican divine Richard Hooker, was used by the dissenter Roger Williams, the Scottish intellectual James Burgh, and by Jefferson, and gained its current weight when, in 1947, Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black quoted Jefferson's phrase. The wall Jefferson referred to is designed to divide church from state, not religion from politics." "The nation's public religion,then, holds that there is a God." Just "not the God of Abraham or God the Father of the Holy Trinity." Thus "every American is free to define God in whatever way he chooses" when a president says God Bless America, or invokes a non-denominational God in whatever manner. That's the wall between church & state, between A PARTICULAR Church AND the state. "In 1959, 1662, and 1663, Jefferson reported, Virginia made it a crime not to have children baptized in the Anglican Church." That's the basis for the separation, in the author's argument: "The argument that the government which governs best governs least suffused American politics and this applied to the idea of favoring one church over another." Hence the use of the term 'Nature's God' in the Declaration of Independence and the statement that men are 'endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights,' avoiding sectarian religious imagery or associations, but not religious faith." As Dwight Eisenhower said: "Even those among us who are, in my opinion, so silly as to doubt the existance of an Almighty, are still members of a religious civilization." Meacham concludes from this that "Eisenhower understood something many Americans do not quite grasp, even now: that 'Nature's God' resides at the center of the Founding [of America]." The author then discusses how JFK, Jimmy Carter et al (besides Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Lincoln, & FDR) employed religion while president. "A grasp of history," the author states consequently, "is essential for Americans of the center who struggle to know how much weight to assign a religious consideration in a public matter." What about those not in the center? After quoting a number of odd statements made by Jerry Falwell & Pat Robertson the author goes on to state that these men "do not, of course, represent all of evangelical Christianity." Then, seemingly trying to be evenhanded herein, the author adds that "extreme secularists have not helped matters either." In summary, he concludes that "voices like Robertson's, Falwell's, and O'Hair's come from the farthest fringes;" O'Hair being the only securalist (extreme or otherwise) that Meacham even mentions (a radical activist from the 1960s who has been dead for over a decade). And while Meacham's point that "many committed secularists in our own age have largely made their peace with public religion" is true, it is also meaningless; for it is just as true that "many committed secularists" have not. None of the latter are mentioned, but he does have ample space to offer up examples of extremist anti-abortion protesters, all the while bandying around the examples of Falwell & Robertson in liberal (pardon the pun) measure. Regretably this book has no index & is only 250 pages long: The rest consists of excerpts of over 25 presidents' inaugural addresses which quote biblical scripture, source notes (82 pages), and a 27 page bilbliography of over 500 works! (without a word as to what is worthy of exploring further or not). (06Jul) God Bless!

This book provides a persuasive, historically based argument for accepting the important role of inclusive religion in American political life. Meacham shows that God and religion have been consistently important in the language and actions of our political leaders, from the founding fathers to our most recent presidents. He also shows that our religious leaders have historically clung to and united the country around an inclusive, humble approach to God in which a broad array of religions can find common ground. Meacham rejects both militant secularism and intolerant "Christian Nation" approaches to the relationship between church and state, and he makes emminent sense.

This book bypasses traditional partisan accounts of Church-State scholarship to deliver a truly entertaining read. It argues that the American state's relationship with religion, religious freedom, and democracy always has been more complex than we want to admit.

After religious strife in England and the colonies, religious freedom intentionally was inserted into the Constitution. However, because the founders own idea of religious freedom was narrower than what actually exists in America today, pinpointing the First Amendment's exact and original intentions is challenging for the best and most well-intentioned scholars.

This book also examines how subsequent American politicians dealt with and dealt with Church-State issues. I don't doubt that there was enough material for the author to stop after the 19th century, but to his credit he kept going---and did not abandon the quality of writing during the process.

Franklin Roosevelt is considered the architect of modern liberalism. Yet, he adopted oratorical skills which are today more associated with fundamentalist preachers and the far right politicians who court them. Roosevelt campaign materials clearly illustrate that he knew establishing the association would provide substantial political returns. .

Likewise, another prominent Democratic president understood the importance of downplaying his religious affiliation. Regardless of his personal religious convictions, John Kennedy knew his presidential nomination and election hinged on opponents convincing voters that the Pope would rule through the White House if he were elected. That history has certainly proved otherwise is an irony.

Because religion is such a personal issue, the topic tends to provoke conflict. Predisposed to their own perspectives, people see other views as 'wrong' and even 'dangerous'---potentially creating a volatile political situation in a democracy needing pluralism to exist. However, Meacham's well-researched book keeps readers engaged through thoughtful prose.

This book is great for leisure reading. It is also recomended for students of constitutional issues.

It was a semi-interesting read...but coming in at 250 page for 200 years of history??? I think perhaps it's a bit short in that respect. He made some interesting points and overall it was enjoyable, if a bit bland and lacking in a real "point" or conclusion. I'm glad I got this one from the library, because it's not really one I would want to have for my personal library and I can't really see myself needing to refer to it again in the future, or even really recommending it to others. I give it a B-, an interesting summary but it has no real depth.

This book confirms the Founding Fathers got it right and allowed all to have a position of thought and belief system. It also tracks how public position cycles from sectarian to secular and if dates were not associated with quotes, it would be difficult to say these were not from today.

Meacham does a great job in demonstrating the Founding Fathers knew what they were doing with the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment. They knew there was a requirement for "separation" between politics and religion, but government and belief systems are consistent. Their actions ensured a particular religion's doctrine would not become the law of the land or in anyway influence it, yet allow for one to believe as they wish, free from influence from any source, state or church.

Every chapter tells a story of American history. Those that center on the Presidents and their personal beliefs are most interesting. How these men balanced their personal beliefs and their duties in leading the Nation makes for good reading.

I highly recommend American Gospel to anyone that finds history exciting, dull, or curious about how this nation has arrived where it is today. It does a solid job in documenting this huge experiment, not just as a representative government, but one that allows any religion, or not, to (co)exist, successfully.

I have to admit, after reading A Peoples' History of the United States, I had much concern about this book. It seems that it was either going to state that the United States was founded on Christian beliefs or it was going to say that it was absolutely not founded on Christian beliefs. Much to my surprise, the answer was 'sort of.'

As much as one could, Mr. Meacham seems to have taken a middle road, analytical view of the topic. From the origins of separation of church and state to discuss what God and maker were the founding fathers speaking of, the book was found to be most informative an interesting. It seems that some readers will get annoyed because they want the book to pick a side and argue it but instead he presented both parts of the argument and follows history to where we are today with respect to faith, God and government.

His citation system is far superior to that found in A Peoples' History though it was still lacking. He provided a long citation list but only by page with no corresponding reference on said page. I don't know...maybe in popular history books editors feel that when a reader sees a superscript number that they will be turned off. What I would hope is that two editions could be published, one as the book currently is but also one with exact citations so the reader, if she so chooses, can look up a quote or fact and see if it is presented in an appropriate context. Another good thing was the inclusion of entire documents within the appendix to allow the reader to see the source material as it was and to either agree or disagree with Mr. Meacham's interpretation.

In my opinion, this is a well researched, well balanced treatment of one of the hot button topics of our time. The author is very clear in his expression of respect for the founding brothers differentiating between separation of Church and State vs. separation of Religion and Politics. The former was their goal the latter was not. I think they got it right, and in many ways, their prescience is amazing. I suspect that neither readers from the neo-conservative right nor the ultra-liberal left will be pleased with where the author leads them but that is not history's problem...

American Gospel tells the truth of the history of religion (primarily the belief in Christianity) in the United States. It is very satisfying because it tells the whole story.

I have been an evangelical (born-again) Christian for almost 30 years. In that time, I have heard people say "America is a Christian nation," and I even went to a lecture by David Barton, founder of Wallbuilders, who claimed that the founding fathers were all Christian men.

I love the Lord and I love to study American history. But when I would hear and read about how Christian the nation was (and many evangelicals want to ensure that it remains so), I always think, "How could this Christian nation have tolerated slavery? How could these Christian men say 'thou shalt not steal,' and then take land away from Native Americans?" I often felt like those I've heard go on about how America was founded by Christians would like for people to forget our country's greatest sins, or believe that Christians had nothing to do with them. In fact, on Independence Day weekend 2007, I went to Church and my pastor gave a message about America, and he said "The battle cry of America has always been freedom." That's a nice thought, but it's just not true.

The truth is that the founders wanted a nation where people could be free in every aspect, including their spiritual beliefs. I'm glad for a book that respects Christianity but does not justify, minimize or ignore America's sins.

Jon Meachum's book has gotten accolades from a wide variety of readers. His research is outstanding in the many quotes he comes up with which detail comments and thoughts various ones of our "founding fathers" had about God. He believes that "the God who is spoken of and called on and prayed to in the public sphere is an essential character in the American drama." Washington called him "the almighty being who rules over the universe", but didn't believe in kneeling to pray. Jefferson took a razor blade during his lifetime and cut out portions of the New Testament, for he didn't believe Jesus was divine. At the end of his life he expected after death to be with friends, family and associates in some kind of resurrection or revival after his decease. Reagan believed in the "end of the age" and questioned during his lifetime if we were not near the return of Christ and the end of the age. Lincoln spoke as if the civil war resulted from the judgments of God upon the country and anyone who denied the state of affairs facing the nation "is to deny that there is a God governing the world."

Meachum's approach in his book states that "God" is critical to our national consciousness. It reminds me of the point of Jack Miles in "God-- a Biography", where he says that God is the "protagonist of the Old Testament." It appears that God is the protagonist of our national heritage.

You will be amazed at some of the quotes he comes up with of former presidents and statesmen.

The only question we face is whether the institutionalized God of our country will continue to serve us as faithfully as Meachum says he has served us in the past. Somewhere the real God must show up.

Jon Meachum's book has gotten accolades from a wide variety of readers. His research is outstanding in the many quotes he comes up with which detail comments and thoughts various ones of our "founding fathers" had about God. He believes that "the God who is spoken of and called on and prayed to in the public sphere is an essential character in the American drama." Washington called him "the almighty being who rules over the universe", but didn't believe in kneeling to pray. Jefferson took a razor blade during his lifetime and cut out portions of the New Testament, for he didn't believe Jesus was divine. At the end of his life he expected after death to be with friends, family and associates in some kind of resurrection or revival after his decease. Reagan believed in the "end of the age" and questioned during his lifetime if we were not near the return of Christ and the end of the age. Lincoln spoke as if the civil war resulted from the judgments of God upon the country and anyone who denied the state of affairs facing the nation "is to deny that there is a God governing the world."

Meachum's approach in his book states that "God" is critical to our national consciousness. It reminds me of the point of Jack Miles in "God-- a Biography", where he says that God is the "protagonist of the Old Testament." It appears that God is the protagonist of our national heritage.

You will be amazed at some of the quotes he comes up with of former presidents and statesmen.

The only question we face is whether the institutionalized God of our country will continue to serve us as faithfully as Meachum says he has served us in the past. Somewhere the real God must show up.

This book is precisely what Meacham claimes it to be in his introduction ... "The point of this book is to explore the role faith has played in the Republic and to illustrate how the Founding Fathers left us with a tradition in which we could talk and think about God and politics without descending into discord and division. It is not a full-scale history of religion in America or of the issue of the separation of church and state. It is, rather, a narratice essay that covers much ground quickly and briefly."

Meacham proves true and his writing is outstanding. I found this book to be very fair to all sides concerned, which - as other reviewers have pointed out - will make those on the religious and political fringes unhappy with some of the content. That, I suppose, is as it should be, and only confirms the wisdom of our Founding Fathers and magnifies the solemn beauty of the incredible turning point in history, effectuated by the results of their labors, regarding the formal creation of this great nation.

If there is anything negative to say about Jon Meacham's excellent review of the role of religion in American public life, it is this: The folks who most need to read it probably won't. These, of course, are the fundamentalists, pentecostals, and similar groups whose goal is the domination of our national life (see Kevin Phillips' American Theocracy for a thorough investigation of the damage they have already done to the body politic). Meacham has been criticized for failing to take seriously the grave danger these folks pose for the republic, and there is truth in this. For instance, his description of Jerry Falwell's supposedly stunned reaction to the 1973 Supreme Court decision in support of aborition, Roe v. Wade, sounds like something written by Falwell's press agent. In reality most right-wing Christians greeted the decision positively. It wasn't until they needed a hot-button issue to push their political agenda that abortion became anathema. Even with noting this, however, it is still fair to say that Meacham has made a major contribution to the several efforts now underway to restore some perspective to the discussion of the role of religion in American public life. Americans are beginning to realize that the fundamentalists and pentecostals cannot and must not have what they want, any more than atheists like the (in my opinion) certifiably insane Madalyn Murray O'Hair can be allowed to banish all God-talk from public life. The American Gospel, Meacham says, is the news that religion PARTICIPATES in American public life without controlling it. I believe it is fair to say that the witness of courageous and faithful Christians hastened the end of the Vietnam War and the success of the Civil Rights movement. What's more, that witness also hastened the end of apartheid in South Africa. Now, the Christian presence which gave rise to such witness, usually called the mainline, is suffering from the activities of those who considered that witness a threat not to the republic but to their own domination of the political and economic life of that republic. Those reactionary elements gained control of the Republican party and have used fundamentalist and pentecostal churches, once ridiculed by the mainline, and have been used by them. The result is an unholy alliance that Meacham's book can help to redress. Until just recently, the fundamentalists and pentecostals were the only ones talking. Now more reasonable voices, voices grounded in what Meacham (himself a practicing Episcopalian) calls an appreciation for humility and history, are at last beginning to be heard. Read the book. Pass it on, not to your fundamentalist or pentecostal neighbor (by now, I suspect, only what Reinhold Niebuhr called the "vicissitudes of history" will quiet their voices), but to the person next to you in your Presbyterian or United Methodist or Disciples or United Church of Christ congregation. We're the ones who need the hope and energy generated by Meacham's slim but wise volume.

Well balanced with sources well referenced. Great glimpse into the thoughts of many of the people that of have shaped our Democracy. Very brief discussions covering the pre-Revolution thinking through the Reagan era.

Only 4 stars given because the discussions dealing with civil war mind set was very one-sided without any depth. Lincoln illuminated in a very biased light. Categorized all pre-war Southerners as ignorant slave-holders, when in fact only 6-8% of Southerners owned slaves in 1860, and most were against the institution.

This was just small section of an overall, well written book.

Very interesting to read about the history of America in the context of the beliefs of the founding fathers. The first words of the constitution and how the founding fathers strived to strike a very moderate stance in the face of some radical elements was amazing. Their words have lasted generations and held good. I do believe they must have been God inspired. Highly recommend it.

Superb book, truly worth reading. It reveals the intention of the founders of America to be a nation "Under God" but without defining or delving more into the nature of the God except to say "Nature's God" in the Declaration of Independence. There is no reference to whether this God is Judeo-Christian or whatever. The Deistic influence on the founders' thinking and writing is very clear, but in a Christian social background. We can all be truly thankful that our founders prevailed over the religious fundamentalists at the time of the creation of this great republic, leading to the greatness of America.

Raja

I think anyone with the remotest interest in the role of religion in American history, or even more importantly, concerned about the Christian right influence in the country should read this book.

A very candid and unbiased presentation of the wonders and faults in the process of the founding and development of America and the proper role of religious beliefs (or lack of).

This book will interest those who like reading about early U.S. political, cultural, and religious history, and how the foundations of the United States were set up, and how the role of religion was discussed, debated, disagreed upon, and compromised on. This is a great book for scholars, but also casual American history buffs. What's surprising is that the very issues in this book - are still being debated today - over 200 years later.

"American Gospel" notes that the secular tone was set very early on by the founders. Actually, the very beginning: it was the first debate. And, the result could have gone in the other direction. At "Carpenter's Hall" in Philadelphia, the Continental Congress gathered for it's inaugural session in 1774. A move to have the delegates open the session with a prayer led to disagreement because of the different religious denominations of the members. The first governmental disagreement in 1774 concerned, public prayer. Do we hear about this issue today, in 2006?

Many statements (quotes) and writing excerpts selected by Meacham provide insights into what the Founders and influential people were thinking, and to what degree religion was supposed to be integrated or secularized into an emerging American society. John Adams stated in one treaty, later ratified in the Senate in 1797, that "the Government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion...." And other excerpts reveal statements showing some integration of government and religion, both legally and philosophically, to various degrees.

The Founders and other architects involved in the American-cultural-governmental-religious relationship were indeed, thinking about the future. This was an experiment. And this experiment was taken conscientiously.

Of course, many people that initially came to the "New World" were escaping political persecution. But it can be difficult to

ponder the internalized perceptions of what people *really* thought 230+ years ago. Religion did play a significant role in the motivations of the Founders. Some of this motivation was out of convenience. But the main motivation for American colonial independence was promoting the economic and financial interests of a small group of influential people. Religion, then and today, is a very useful tool in helping influential people do what they want to do. Religion was utilized in making justifications and excuses for not only independence, but slavery, Indigenous American genocide, and persecuting the so-called non-believers. As in many nations, past and present, religion serves as a vehicle to procuring political power, and gaining and maintaining, public support.

In "American Gospel," we also are reminded how religion was much more enmeshed with the nation-states in Europe 200 years ago, whereas today most Europeans citizens are secular. currently, if a European political leader is religious, he/she doesn't "wear it on their sleeve" like American public officials often do. Now in the USA, most people's religious affiliation is merely a superficial token of expression, and not a motivator for mass movements to promote a political agenda. However, this has been changing recently.

Currently, the debate over religion and its role in government, schools (intelligent design), and medicine (stem cell research) continue, and likely will for time to come.

Author John Meacham is extremely balanced and non-biased, which is what a superb historian does. He did great research and writing, also.

I think anyone with the remotest interest in the role of religion in American history, or even more importantly, concerned about the Christian right influence in the country should read this book.

A very candid and unbiased presentation of the wonders and faults in the process of the founding and development of America and the proper role of religious beliefs (or lack of).

This book will interest those who like reading about early U.S. political, cultural, and religious history, and how the foundations of the United States were set up, and how the role of religion was discussed, debated, disagreed upon, and compromised on. This is a great book for scholars, but also casual American history buffs. What's surprising is that the very issues in this book - are still being debated today - over 200 years later.

"American Gospel" notes that the secular tone was set very early on by the founders. Actually, the very beginning: it was the first debate. And, the result could have gone in the other direction. At "Carpenter's Hall" in Philadelphia, the Continental Congress gathered for it's inaugural session in 1774. A move to have the delegates open the session with a prayer led to disagreement because of the different religious denominations of the members. The first governmental disagreement in 1774 concerned, public prayer. Do we hear about this issue today, in 2006?

Many statements (quotes) and writing excerpts selected by Meacham provide insights into what the Founders and influential people were thinking, and to what degree religion was supposed to be integrated or secularized into an emerging American society. John Adams stated in one treaty, later ratified in the Senate in 1797, that "the Government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion...." And other excerpts reveal statements showing some integration of government and religion, both legally and philosophically, to various degrees.

The Founders and other architects involved in the American-cultural-governmental-religious relationship were indeed, thinking about the future. This was an experiment. And this experiment was taken conscientiously.

Of course, many people that initially came to the "New World" were escaping political persecution. But it can be difficult to

ponder the internalized perceptions of what people *really* thought 230+ years ago. Religion did play a significant role in the motivations of the Founders. Some of this motivation was out of convenience. But the main motivation for American colonial independence was promoting the economic and financial interests of a small group of influential people. Religion, then and today, is a very useful tool in helping influential people do what they want to do. Religion was utilized in making justifications and excuses for not only independence, but slavery, Indigenous American genocide, and persecuting the so-called non-believers. As in many nations, past and present, religion serves as a vehicle to procuring political power, and gaining and maintaining, public support.

In "American Gospel," we also are reminded how religion was much more enmeshed with the nation-states in Europe 200 years ago, whereas today most Europeans citizens are secular. currently, if a European political leader is religious, he/she doesn't "wear it on their sleeve" like American public officials often do. Now in the USA, most people's religious affiliation is merely a superficial token of expression, and not a motivator for mass movements to promote a political agenda. However, this has been changing recently.

Currently, the debate over religion and its role in government, schools (intelligent design), and medicine (stem cell research) continue, and likely will for time to come.

Author John Meacham is extremely balanced and non-biased, which is what a superb historian does. He did great research and writing, also.

The author did a good job of addressing a difficult subject. America is founded upon the belief that our creator has given us certain rights and among them are the freedom to worship him how we chose our not at all.

The author makes the case that, according to the history he cites, America is not a Christian nation. A public God/the Creator is at the center of the Founding but Jesus for the good of this nation has been kept in the private relm. If we get in to too much detail about our "Public Religion" there will be too much strife.

I subtract one star, because Jon Meacham did not compare the "American Gospal" to the "Gospal" (if any) of other nations.

This is an important book for Americans to read now in this period of deep spirituala crisis and whre the country is torn apart by hatred, pettyness and a step away from real Christian values! How much better were the founding fathers in their ability to transcend their smaller divisions and to see the good in each other and the hope for a truly Christian and spiritual American society. The author is a solid historian and true American patriot.

In a day when both fundamentalist Christians and atheists appeal our nation's Founding Fathers to support their causes, Jon Meacham clearly demonstrates that most of our founders were in the middle. They understood both the benefits and the dangers of religion, and Meacham helped me to better understand the absolute need for the separation of church and state -- a separation that allows both the state and religion to thrive.

I recommend reading this book to supplement your understanding, but not relying on it to give you an unbiased account. The book's strength is that it contains many interesting quotes by important public figures on the subject of religion and government. Many of these will be eye-opening for those who have been fed the view that the founders wanted the government to endorse Christianity or the view that the founders were largely unmoved by religion.

As an argument, though, the book fails badly. Meacham's central thesis is that a "public religion" should have a place in government, but that no particular denomination should be endorsed. (He also thinks that religious leaders should and should not involve themselves in politics, depending on whether he agrees with their views or not).

To support his thesis, he gives us a long list of anecdotes in which great Americans said religious things without specifically endorsing any religious sect (while noting that sometimes, religion has been used to support bad views too). Obviously, this is not enough. After all, it would be easy to give a long list of anecdotes in which great Americans were wealthy white males, but this does not demonstrate that our government should be composed of wealthy white males. What Meacham needs to demonstrate, but does not, is that these great Americans would not have been as great if they were not religious. To do that, you need to compare more and less religious individuals to see if religion made a difference. Such a comparison needs to be taken not just between American political figures but between political figures in different nations - are countries with more or less "public religion" any more or less likely to produce great persons? The question simply doesn't arise in Meacham's book.

Another question that does not arise is whether the religious Americans that Meacham lavishes attention on are representative of great Americans in general - after all, the point at issue is not that you can be both religious and great, but that religion has a positive effect. Another question that does not arise is whether the religious statements made by great Americans in public speeches might have been rhetorical devices rather than signs of deep personal commitment. We are all familiar with politicians playing to the crowd by talking about God, after all.

Lastly, Meacham freely applies double standards regarding religious tolerance towards atheists, sometimes hilariously so. He praises the inclusion of "In God We Trust" on the currency for tolerantly failing to support any particular sect, but ignores the fact that the motto excludes atheists just as much as "In Jesus We Trust" would exclude Jews. He praises Roosevelt for saying "In the dim past [my ancestors] may have been Jews or Catholics or Protestants. What I am more interested in is whether they were good citizens and believers in God. I hope they were both". It is hard to imagine that he would offer Roosevelt similar praise if the president had said "In the dim past [my ancestors] may have been Jews or Atheists or Protestants. What I am more interested in is whether they were good citizens and not Catholics". Similarly, the addition of "under God" to the pledge is praised on the grounds that it is all-inclusive - "A Christian's mind may summon God the Father; a Jew's, Yahweh; a Muslim's, Allah; an atheist's, no one or no thing". It would be hard to imagine him offering similar praise if the pledge said "under Jesus", on the grounds that a non-Christian can just happily imagine "no one or no thing" when they come to that bit.

All up, a useful resource, but badly argued and hopelessly biased.

Jon meacham’s “American Gospel” is a critique of how religion has affected american history. In many ways Jon Meacham has claimed that the benefits of religion in America has out weighed and is still out weighing the costs of religion today. Jon meacham expresses this thesis by citing past presidents as well as talking about past events that would have resulted in a much bigger catastrophe without religion. Me personally, I disagree with his thesis. Some of the biggest genocides and wars in the world were caused by a difference and discrimination in religious beliefs. For example, the holocaust was from a discrimination of a religion. Next we have the crusades, which was a huge war between two major religions.
Jon meacham covers a huge range of events from things like the declaration of independance to the emancipation meeting with Lincoln. He does this by introducing a new topic then providing some example and words of either past presidents or from a political figure. This method is effective for those of you who are not looking for any further analysis and will accept an answer from someone many many years ago. However you will have a hard time grasping an understanding of the book if you are looking for thorough analysis of a topic he introduces. You will find yourself getting lost very often because of Meecham’s lacking of segwaying skills.
There are sections of the book that are well explained and provide satisfaction for people who are the not the ordinary reader. Toward the beginning of the book when he states that the benefits of religion in America outweigh the costs, he not only provides evidence from presidents and the declaration of independence, he gives his own thoughts on it as well. He says that religion provides a sense of unity and togetherness for all of the people of America, that religion is the best way for all these people to find a common thing about them all. This is he is the most persuasive. He even caters toward a rhetorical device of logical reasoning that he usually does not use anywhere else in the book. This also makes sense for why he does this at the beginning of the book, he states something that is extremely controversial and then chooses the side that most people would not. This is what’s called an “attention grab”
On the other hand, I cannot say the entire book is so enticing. After the first chapter, the rest of the book follows this basic pattern of: Introduce a topic, Provide quotes, move on. He does not use other methods to attract the reader. Throughout the book he talks about world war one and two, but he could have related these two wars to wars we are fighting now, and they do not even have to be physical wars to have the same effect on the reader. His whole thesis overlooks so many terrible things that have happened that show the real costs of religion in the these countries. U.S citizens were not the only ones who were affected by the 9/11 attacks. After those actions the U.S army killed over one hundred thousand muslim natives in the same year. Much more than the three thousand of U.S citizens and the nineteen terrorists.
Gordon Wood also gave a review on this book. He also agrees that Meecham is overlooking the big picture. Gordon states that a lot of current events were already destined to happen by the actions of our founding fathers. He states that religion has changed from back then. He believes that it is better for religion to be separate from state and from political issues. I agree because if there so happened be a difference between religions that could transfer to disputes in politics as well. Those disputes would affect a lot more people and a political war could break out at anytime. This war would be a greater mess than any religious dispute.
This book is for a certain type of reader. The reader would have to be fine with assuming what Jon Meacham means by quoting all of these political leaders. You would shoud not want to be looking analysis and then this book will a perfect choice for you. I rate this book a solid two out of five stars. I have to give Jon Meacham credit for finding all these things in his research. I am sure it was extensive, however his lack of paraphrasing and analysis has me in a quite a bind for the past six weeks. Jon Meacham writing style does not bode well with this current generation, a generation that is cut-throat and straight to the point with a lot of things. Jon Meacham spends a lot of time beating around the bush and not offering his own opinions on the topics that he introduces himself. I am sure that many people who want to seem like they know what they are talking about when it comes to America and religion, will buy this book. This book is only good for brushing up on famous quotes and speeches from past presidents and different political leaders who had a say when it came to religion. I would recommend this book to those of you who need some quotes from presidents about america and religion, or need some extra sources on America and religion. I mean, half the book is just Meacham citing his sources after all.

With solid research and absolute clarity, John Meacham tells a story that every political and religious leader should be required to read. Without becoming a partisan, Meacham debukes a lot of myths regarding the religious beginnings of the U.S.

When the religious right speaks of the "values the nation was founded upon", which values are they speaking of: the values of Jamestown and Mass. Bay colony or the values of Jefferson, Franklin and Washington? Meacham makes clear that there is a difference.

The author is encouraging in that he makes a case that the "center" position re: religion has always held forth in American. I "pray" that, through his book and others, it shall always be so.

Anyone who comes to this book with a preconceived agenda will not like the book.

That is to say, those on the hard Left who would like to wipe out any and all vestiges of religion from our culture as well as those on the hard Right who are promoting the "Christian Nation" belief will be not only disappointed but historically wrong. With few exceptions, the Founders were believers in a Christian God or were Deists ("Nature's God). If my memory serves me, Paine claimed to be an atheist and Carroll was the lone Catholic at the Convention. The Founders had the "sensible center" in mind and they succeeded beyond their wildest expectations protecting the rights of the most diverse population on earth.

They believed in "separation of church/state" but NOT separation of religion from the political scene. Yes, a wall of separation but a "short wall" ignoring trivial matters when the boundary is stretched.

I'm wondering if B. Bleicken's review above, "Total Garbage" referred to the book or the review he wrote of the book and does the "B." stand for Bozo (his word, not mine in his review).

"A little learning is a dangerous thing;

Drink deep or taste not the Pierian Spring."

Great book! Highly recommended.

This 399 page American history penned by Jon Meacham is a thought-povoking trek through our country's religious views starting with our founders and guiding us all the way to our own current yesterdays of 911...If you are seeking an intelligent account of how religious concepts have molded the Ameican consciousness, this is really a must read.

Added note: Do no skim over the appendix of this book, folks--it is extremely interesting, entertaining and informative!

Meacham's book will disappoint both the American Civil Liberties Union and the Christian Fundamentalists. He finds a place for God in the public square and supports the establishment clause in the Constitution. His portraits of the religious or non-religious propensities of our founding fathers is well done without any preconceived notions on Meacham's part. Although not a truly academic book, it belongs to that portion of your library on Constitutional Law.

Do politics and religion ever mix? Were they ever meant to in the United States? American Gospel is the ultimate book about what the Founding Fathers really meant about the separation of church and state. If you only read one history book this year, then select this highly entertaining and engrossing truth by Meacham, the editor of Newsweek.

Very well thought-out and presented by a wise author. Very insightful. Would recommend this book to anyone with an open mind that would like to learn more about the facts of how our Founding Fathers thought through Public Religion.

Meacham's style allowed for a quick, easy read. The book did a great job of discussing both the well known documents relating to religion in American history and the lesser known ones. As I read the introduction, I was dissapointed by the thesis, because it seemed to not really take a definite stance. After finishing the entire book, although I am still annoyed that there is no set standard for what aspects of religion are acceptable in the public arena, I believe that his thesis was supported with an enormous amount of evidence. I recommend the book to anybody interested in the ongoing debate over religion in America.

As an American history teacher for over thirty years i found Meacham's book readable and with broad generalizations, backed up w/ well grounded examples and documentation
However, (at risk of sounding pedantic)it is a book aimed at people without a great deal of background in history. Entertaining and a quick read, but without much new ground covered
i recommend it as an excellent background read, but if it is provacative arguments you
re looking for it will be a bit disappointing

This was a very interesting book, by a champion of historical American Democrat presidents. Now, what happens when an American Democrat president actively attacks, via thousands of paid government employees, Christianity in the land in which HE IS GIVEN THE POWER TO UPHOLD THE LAWS???

Think about it..