A Nation with the Soul of a Church: How Christian Proclamation Has Shaped American History

by O. C. Edwards Jr., James Dunkly

Overview

From the very beginning, religious leaders have influenced the course of American history—sometimes for better, sometimes for worse. This book examines those Christian sermons that set or changed the course of the nation.

What did 18th-century preacher Jonathan Edwards really mean to convey with is "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" sermon? What Southern minister did most to encourage secession of the Southern states from the Union? And why does Martin Luther King Jr. need to be remembered for more than his "I Have a Dream" speech? This book examines the sermons that have shaped American history from the Massachusetts Bay Colony to the Obama administration. It provides extended biographical treatments of those who preached them, thereby providing readers with the historical context of the sermon, an explanation of what made these orations so effective, and an understanding of the role of religion in American history.

Author O.C. Edwards Jr. supplies insightful and interesting coverage of Christian preachers and sermons that will engage anyone interested in America's religious or social history. The book addresses the religious philosophies and speeches of individuals such as William Sloan Coffin Jr., Russell Conwell, Charles Coughlin, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Billy Graham, Anne Hutchinson, Martin Luther King Jr., Patricia Merchant, John Winthrop, and Jeremiah Wright.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780313393853
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	08/12/2013
Pages:	384
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

O.C. Edwards Jr., PhD, is a retired Episcopal priest. He is a former president and professor emeritus of preaching at Seabury-Western Theological Seminary at Evanston, IL.

James Dunkly, PhD, is librarian of the School of Theology, associate university librarian, and lecturer in New Testament at the University of the South, Sewanee, TN.

Table of Contents

Introduction ix

1 "A Modell of Christian Charity": John Winthrop (1588-1649) 1

2 "Our Cod Sent a New Storm": Anne Hutchinson 17

3 "The Limit of Endurable Ecstasies": Jonathan Edwards 35

4 The Tolerable Catechist: Jonathan Mayhew 53

5 "The Impassioned Little Saint with the Burning Heart": William Ellery Channing 69

6 "The Cultural Priest and Visionary": Ralph Waldo Emerson 85

7 "I Am a South Carolinian, You Know": Benjamin Morgan Palmer 101

8 "In the Next Generation, I Shall Be Orthodox Enough": Henry Ward Beecher 117

9 "The Penniless Millionaire": Russell H. Conwell 133

10 A Social Evangelist: Washington Gladden 151

11 Casting Out Demon Rum: Billy Sunday 169

12 "The Great Divide," Part I: William B. Riley 187

13 "The Great Divide," Part II: Harry Emerson Fosdick 203

14 "The Most Noticeable Public Religious Voice": Charles E. Coughlin 219

15 "A Realist without Despair, an Idealist without Illusion": Reinhoid Niebuhr 235

16 "The Moral Leader of Our Nation": Martin Luther King Jr. 251

17 "Above All a Preacher": William Sloane Coffin Jr. 271

18 "America's Pastor": Billy Graham 289

19 An Aptly Named Prophet: Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. 305

Conclusion 321

Notes 325

Index 359

Editorial Reviews

Recommended.” —Choice

“A brief review can hardly do justice to the richness of this volume. . . . There is much here to contemplate and much conventional wisdom to reconsider.” —Sewanee Theological Review

From the Publisher