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The exodus story is America's story. Moses is our real founding father.
The pilgrims quoted his story. Franklin and Jefferson proposed he appear on the U.S. seal. Washington and Lincoln were called his incarnations. The Statue of Liberty and Superman were molded in his image. Martin Luther King, Jr., invoked him the night before he died. Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama cited him as inspiration. For four hundred years, one figure inspired more Americans than any other. His name is Moses.
In this groundbreaking book, New York Times bestselling author Bruce Feiler travels through touchstones in American history and traces the biblical prophet's influence from the Mayflower through today. He visits the island where the pilgrims spent their first Sabbath, climbs the bell tower where the Liberty Bell was inscribed with a quote from Moses, retraces the Underground Railroad where "Go Down, Moses" was the national anthem of slaves, and dons the robe Charlton Heston wore in The Ten Commandments.
"Even a cursory review of American history indicates that Moses has emboldened leaders of all stripes," Feiler writes, "patriot and loyalist, slave and master, Jew and Christian. Could the persistence of his story serve as a reminder of our shared national values? Could he serve as a unifying force in a disunifying time? If Moses could split the Red Sea, could he unsplit America?"
One part adventure story, one part literary detective story, one part exploration of faith in contemporary life, America's Prophet takes readers through the landmarks of America's narrative—from Gettysburg to Selma, the Silver Screen to the Oval Office—to understand how Moses has shaped the nation's character.
Meticulously researched and highly readable, America's Prophet is a thrilling, original work of history that will forever change how we view America, our faith, and our future.
Feiler had begun his career writing about another culture with Learning to Bow: Inside the Heart of Japan, a funny and enlightening account of his year as an English teacher in a small Japanese town. The book continues to be embraced by those who want a better understanding of Japanese culture, one spiked with the humor of its alien gaijin observer. Feiler depicted another hallowed educational system in Looking for Class: Days and Nights at Oxford and Cambridge, an account of the author's experiences as a graduate student at Cambridge. Feiler's books educate, but their appeal also lies in the discoveries he makes as someone entering a new situation with natural preconceptions, then having those ideas upended by reality.
Kicking the fish-out-of-water theme up a notch, Feiler joined the circus for Under the Big Top: A Season with the Circus. Here, Feiler showed the journalistic enterprise and mettle that would later figure into his bold journeys through Biblical territory. Spending a year performing as a clown on the Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. Circus, Feiler provides a surprising look at the show, its performers and the often seamy underside that accompanies circus life.
Feiler jumped into yet another milieu with his look at the country music industry, Dreaming Out Loud. Presenting an insider's view of Nashville made possible by his access as a journalist to stars such as Garth Brooks and Wynonna Judd, Feiler puts together of picture of starmaking -- including in his profiles a young talent named Wade Hayes -- and the machinery that runs modern country music. As with his other books, Feiler describes how his notions (he hated country music before Brooks made him a fan) have evolved along with his subject.
Feiler is also an award-winning food writer and journalist who has written articles for major publications such as the New York Times, Rolling Stone, and the New Republic. But he gained a larger audience when he took on his biggest topic yet: the Bible. "Over more than a decade of living and working abroad I found that ideas, and places, became more real to me when I experienced them firsthand....In the Middle East, the Bible is not some abstraction," Feiler wrote in an essay on Barnes & Noble.com about the origins of Walking the Bible. "It's a living, breathing entity unencumbered by the sterilization of time. That was the Bible I wanted to know, and almost immediately I realized that the only way to find it was to walk along those lines myself."
In taking that walk, Feiler vastly expanded his audience and found himself a subject he would stick with. He was already working on a sequel to the book when September 11 redirected him toward one aspect of his earlier studies: the religious father figure of Abraham. He set out to find hope in this binding tie among Judaism, Christianity and Islam; but found, again, a different picture than the one he anticipated painting. Feiler's education is ours; without him asking the questions, we might not have new insights on cultural fixtures that already seem so familiar.
Feiler, who grew up Jewish in Savannah, Georgia, says that an early encounter with the legend of Abraham was part of a watershed moment for him. The Torah passage he read for his Bar Mitzvah was Lekh Lekha, the story of Abraham going forth from his father's house. He told BeliefNet, "The defining moment of my life was the night of my Bar Mitzvah, when my father pulled me aside at this family gathering, poured me a drink, and said, 'Son, you're a man now, you're responsible for your own actions.'"
Feiler's exploration of the Bible has been confined to the Hebrew Bible, leaving out much in the Old Testament and the entirety of the New Testament; but he told readers in a USA Today chat that he hopes to do a sequel that would take him through the events of Jesus' life.
Feiler is also a contributing editor at Gourmet magazine and has won two James Beard Awards for his food writing.
Feiler says he has traveled to over 60 countries and sprained his ankle on four continents.
I Moses! Moses! 1
II An Errand into the Wilderness 7
III Proclaim Liberty Throughout the Land 35
IV A Moses for America 73
V Let My People Go 106
VI The War Between the Moseses 140
VII Mother of Exiles 176
VIII The Ten Commandments 208
IX I've Seen the Promised Land 241
X A Narrative of Hope 275
Giving Thanks 311
The Books of Moses 315
Select Bibliography 325
Index 337\
Holz
Posted February 6, 2010
"America's Prophet" is original history that is based on Bruce Feiler's thorough research. The author visits American historical sites that are keys to understanding his compelling narrative on Moses as America's real founding father. These include a trip to Philadelphia to see the Liberty Bell with the quotation on its face from Leviticus 25, which God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai: "Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof". Other travels take the author to the Underground Railroad locations including the Ohio River crossing location that inspired Harriet Beecher Stowe in "Uncle Tom's Cabin" to write of the slave girl Eliza carrying her son to freedom across the Ohio River. Feiler visits Saint Paul's Chapel in lower Manhattan, which survived on 9/11, for a reenactment of the inauguration of George Washington as the first President of the United States. His connection of Moses and the first President of the USA forms a superb chapter.
The other excellent chapters include the Pilgrims, the Statue of Liberty,
Hollywood and the Ten Commandments, and Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights movement. All of these narratives provide very readable as well as very sound history in support of the book's title and thesis: Moses is America's Prophet and the Exodus story is America's story.
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.BTomberlin
Posted December 28, 2009
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I have been wanting to read this book for a while and it met my expectations. I particularly enjoyed the chapters on the Underground Railroad and Martin Luther King, Jr. The entire book was very informative and well organized. With a book on the theme of Moses and Promised Land, it could tend to be a little repetitive, but this did not take away from the sense of the book. I thought the author did a good job of defending his ideas. I particularly liked his courage at the end to look for lessons and to advocate for action. I do feel that America, as a nation, is divided. We need a national dialogue of some kind that helps us reconnect as a people. I'm sure that this book will develop a lot of discussion. Thank You, Mr. Feiler, for sharing your ideas with us and being willing to investigate such a intellectually curious subject.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.I know most of you know the story of Moses and the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt into the land of milk and honey. But did you ever stop and think just how that story still relates to America?
Do you see the correlation in the Pilgrims fleeing their ruling King James of England in search of the New Land? Or how many of our past presidents have made reference to the story of Moses and his life, the instruction from God, the giving of the 10 Commandments, and thus failure to follow God.
Moses was commanded to follow God's instruction to the T, and every time he didn't he was punished. He never got to see the fulfillment of the Promised Land to the people he led for 40 years in the desert.
In the book, America's Prophet, How The Story of Moses Shaped America by Bruce Feiler, you are taken back to the story of Moses and see how many times this very man and his life is repeated through our own history in America. I can honestly tell you as someone who loves history and faith in God, this book spoke to my heart and soul. I absolutely loved seeing God's hand in the creation of this once blessed nation and how He continues to mold and shape us through the retelling of the story.
You'll learn about the history and creation of the liberty bell and learn how God was involved.
What the actual inscription means that is molded into the bell.
You'll learn how valuable the Bible was that Washington used, what scripture was open when he took his oath of office and what the connection was to September 11, 2001.
You'll learn what the original seal was supposed to be, and how we got to the eagle and one-eye pyramid, and so much more. I think I interrupted my husband so much with each new tidbit I learned and couldn't wait to share it.
This is a must read for those that love history, especially American History and how God really worked in this great nation even to the present day.
I received this book compliments of TLC Book Tours for my honest review and must say it's a permanent fixture in our library now for our kids to learn about as we study history. Any parent would benefit from teaching their kids a little bit more about what's missing from our traditional history books.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.TimDonaldson
Posted May 5, 2010
That Moses has been a key figure in American history is an idea that seems at first misplaced and wrong. When I skipped the book on my Kindle, that was my basic thinking. But I got it for Christmas, so I gave it a shot, and. it is one of the best books I have read in a very long time.
Bruce Feiler explains that the Bible spends one book (Genesis) getting to Moses, and then it spends 4 books on Moses. The history of the world, from the beginning until the Exodus from Egypt, including the Creation, the Flood, the patriarchs, Joseph, 2000 years worth, that all gets 1 book.. For the people of the Reformation, who for the first time could read the Bible in their language and have it in their possession, the Bible had some shocking and revolutionary points to make. The Bible speaks against the divine right of kings, a theory or doctrine that has been seen in almost every society of human history, one so powerful that it keeps the people down, and one so useful to rulers that they build it up. The basic idea behind the divine right is the same in Asian lands, many to this day, simply called the Mandate of Heaven.
The Bible is a radical political document because monarchy is simply unbiblical. The Bible brings the Pharaohs, Emperors, Ceasars, and Kings claims to heavenly sanction crashing down to Earth. The Bible is full of prophets criticizing, judging, and condemning kings, from Moses and the Pharaoh to Samuel and Saul to Nathan and David. This is a revolutionary idea, "a veritable call to revolution." That kings rule can become slavery, a yoke of bondage that violates the freedom God gave to all of his children, is another, connected, revolutionary idea. Humans have rights, heaven doesn't write a blank check to those in power, it places moral limits on them.
As late as Columbus, the Bible was not widely read in Europe. "Throughout the Middle Ages, the Roman Catholic Church, eager to monopolize its power, insisted that the Bible was so sacred it must be read only in Latin, could be interpreted only by its clergy, and had to be kept only in church. The penalty for violating these edicts could be death." Most churches didn't have a Bible, and reproducing one by hand would take 2 monks 4 years to do, working full time side by side.
But once the hold that the Roman Catholic Church held on the West was broken, once there was a printing press reproducing Bibles and lowering the costs dramatically, and the scriptures were left the realm of the mystery rituals, mental revolutions began. When Bibles became owned by most families and read and spoken about as the common currency of the culture, revolutions began to happen. By 1650 1.4 million Bibles had been printed in England alone. The people could debate what the scriptures said about Henry the 8th's marriages. By the 19th Century, Americans were nearly universal in deep Biblical literacy, something lost in recent decades.
The Exodus story was used as explicit inspiration for the people who left the Egypt of the Old World and came to the Promised Land, a wilderness that God would make flow with milk and honey. The Pilgrims believed they were casting off the toke of their Pharaoh, King James, and building a new Zion in the Promised Land. Their leader, William Bradford, said in 1620, when they had arrived on Cape Cod after 66 days in the stormy Atlantic, that they should thank God for their safe passage through their own Red Sea. Cotton Mather said in 1702 that any leader of a peop
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted September 21, 2010
Oh, the things they fail to teach us in school. A must read.
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Overview
The pilgrims quoted his story. Franklin and Jefferson proposed he appear on the U.S. seal. Washington and Lincoln were called his incarnations. The Statue of Liberty and Superman were molded in his image. Martin Luther King, Jr., invoked him the night before he died. Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama cited him as inspiration. For four hundred years, one figure inspired more Americans than any other. His name is Moses.
In this ...