Washington's God: Religion, Liberty, and the Father of Our Country

Be the first to write a review

All Available Formats + Editions

——

$10.50

NOOK Book

——

$10.50

Washington's God: Religion, Liberty, and the Father of Our Country (eBook) Pub. Date: 2/13/2007 Publisher: Basic Books
$0.22

$11.83

Paperback

$0.22

$11.83

Washington's God: Religion, Liberty, and the Father of Our Country Pub. Date: 2/12/2007 Publisher: Basic Books
$0.02

——

Hardcover

$0.02

——

Washington's God: Religion, Liberty, and the Father of Our Country Pub. Date: 3/6/2006 Publisher: Basic Books

Advertising

Overview

In Washington’s God Michael Novak-one of America’s leading neoconservative pundits-and his daughter, Jana, uncover George Washington’s religious life. Finally the record is set straight on the most thoroughly misunderstood aspect of Washington’s life. The Novaks focus on Washington’s strong trust in divine Providence and see this belief as providing the unifying narrative to his monumental life.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

Most modern historians have made three basic assumptions about the religious views of our nation's first president: he was a deist; he was only a marginal Christian who kept up appearances but had no depth of conviction; and he believed only in an impersonal force or destiny that he called "Providence." Michael Novak, the well-known conservative thinker and author of The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism, teams up with his daughter Jana to attempt to debunk all three of these notions about Washington's religious views. Written at the specific request of Mount Vernon and with the assistance of their archives, this book is carefully researched. It is most persuasive when the Novaks show that despite his natural reserve, a depth of religious feeling ran through Washington's public and private speeches and correspondence, disproving the portrait of a tepid, perfunctory Anglicanism. However, they don't succeed as well in disproving Washington's deist sensibility; the Novaks adopt the modern assumption that being a Christian and being a deist were mutually exclusive-a conclusion that few in the late 18th century would have shared. At times, the Novaks' starry-eyed admiration of the man pushes this book over the bounds of biography into hagiography. (Mar. 6) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Other historians are wrong: George Washington was no deist or secular humanist or atheist, he was an Anglican who kept Jesus in his heart but, for political reasons, out of virtually all of his public utterances. The authors (father and daughter) rest their argument on their belief that Washington was not a hypocrite; he meant what he wrote and said. The Novaks adore their subject. The beneficiary of several miraculous interventions, he looked like a Roman warrior and had a brow like Caesar's. "He was," they write, "like a rock." Washington loved his wife, his stepchildren, his army, his country, his God-and surely Jesus, too, though he never really said so, even on his deathbed. He believed the Supreme Being answered the prayers of his soldiers. (The Novaks do not much ponder the issue of why God neglected to answer the prayers of the Redcoats, many of whom were also Anglican.) The authors begin with a biographical sketch, then examine Washington's religious beliefs. They cull from his letters and papers just about everything he ever said about God, discuss in great detail what he meant by "Providence" and argue that most other historians have erred. The elder Novak, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, has written frequently on religious topics (The Catholic Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, 1993, etc.) and has published previously with his daughter (Tell Me Why, 1998, not reviewed). Their prose ranges from high dudgeon to just-plain-folks: Washington was "no dummy," they tell us, and he and Martha were "soulmates."A tendentious effort to keep our founding father firmly in the fold of Our Father (and His Son).

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780465051274
Publisher: Basic Books
Publication date: 2/12/2007
Pages: 304
Sales rank: 633,232
Product dimensions: 6.50 (w) x 8.86 (h) x 0.87 (d)

Meet the Author

Michael Novak, a former U.S. ambassador, has served under Democratic and Republican administrations. He is the author of Belief and Unbelief, The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism, and many other books. His essays and reviews have been published in the New York Times Magazine, National Review, and many others. He presently holds the George Frederick Jewett Chair in Religion, Philosophy, and Public Policy at the American Enterprise Institute. Mr. Novak lives with his family in Washington, D.C. Jana Novak is a writer and poet and is the co-author of Tell Me Why: A Father Answers His Daughter’s Questions About God. She lives in Washington, D.C.

	Preface : an October invitation from Mount Vernon
Pt. 1	The man
	George Washington, the man	3
	His life in outline	21
	The protection of Providence : heroism on the Monongahela	47
	1776 : a year of providential interpositions	63
	His beloved army	81
Pt. 2	The faith
	What's a Deist? : the Deist tendency	95
	Not Deist, but Judeo-Christian	119
	Washington's public prayers	143
	A very private Christian	161
Pt. 3	The fruit
	The smiles of heaven and the work of Providence	175
	To die like a Christian	197
	A Christian? : pro and con	211
App. 1	Selected writings of George Washington	229
App. II	Washington's names for Providence	243

Customer Reviews

Be the first to write a review

( 0 )

Rating Distribution

5 Star

(0)

4 Star

(0)

3 Star

(0)

2 Star

(0)

1 Star

(0)

Your Rating:

Review Guidelines

Tell the world what you think of this product.

Add Recommendations

Your Name: Create a Pen Name or Leave Anonymously

Barnes & Noble.com Review Rules

Our reader reviews allow you to share your comments on titles you liked, or didn't, with others. By submitting an online review, you are representing to Barnes & Noble.com that all information contained in your review is original and accurate in all respects, and that the submission of such content by you and the posting of such content by Barnes & Noble.com does not and will not violate the rights of any third party. Please follow the rules below to help ensure that your review can be posted.

Reviews by Our Customers Under the Age of 13

We highly value and respect everyone's opinion concerning the titles we offer. However, we cannot allow persons under the age of 13 to have accounts at BN.com or to post customer reviews. Please see our Terms of Use for more details.

What to exclude from your review:

Please do not write about reviews, commentary, or information posted on the product page. If you see any errors in the information on the product page, please send us an email.

Reviews should not contain any of the following:

- HTML tags, profanity, obscenities, vulgarities, or comments that defame anyone
- Time-sensitive information such as tour dates, signings, lectures, etc.
- Single-word reviews. Other people will read your review to discover why you liked or didn't like the title. Be descriptive.
- Comments focusing on the author or that may ruin the ending for others
- Phone numbers, addresses, URLs
- Pricing and availability information or alternative ordering information
- Advertisements or commercial solicitation

Reminder:

- By submitting a review, you grant to Barnes & Noble.com and its sublicensees the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable right and license to use the review in accordance with the Barnes & Noble.com Terms of Use.
- Barnes & Noble.com reserves the right not to post any review -- particularly those that do not follow the terms and conditions of these Rules. Barnes & Noble.com also reserves the right to remove any review at any time without notice.
- See Terms of Use for other conditions and disclaimers.

If you find inappropriate content, please report it to Barnes & Noble