God's New Israel: Religious Interpretations of American Destiny

by Conrad Cherry (Editor)

Overview

The belief that America has been providentially chosen for a
special destiny has deep roots in the country's past. As both a
stimulus of creative American energy and a source of American
self-righteousness, this notion has long served as a motivating
national mythology.

God's New Israel is a collection of thirty-one readings that trace the theme of American destiny under God through major developments in U.S. history. First published in 1971 and now thoroughly updated to reflect contemporary events, it features the words of such prominent and diverse Americans as Jonathan Edwards, Thomas Jefferson, Brigham Young, Chief Seattle, Abraham Lincoln, Frances Willard, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Ralph Reed, and Rosemary Radford Ruether. Neither a history of American religious denominations nor a history of American theology, this book is instead an illuminating look at how religion has helped shape Americans' understanding of themselves as a people.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807866580
Publisher:	The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date:	02/01/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	448
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Conrad Cherry is Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies and Director of the Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture at Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis. His books include The Theology of Jonathan Edwards and Hurrying Toward Zion.

Table of Contents

Contents

Preface to the Revised and Updated Edition
Introduction

Part I. The Colonial Errand into the Wilderness
Alexander Whitaker / Good Newes from Virginia
John Winthrop / A Modell of Christian Charity
Michael Wigglesworth / God's Controversy with New England
Jonathan Edwards / The Latter-Day Glory Is Probably to Begin in America

Part II. Revolution, Constitution, and a New Nation's Destiny
Nicholas Street / The American States Acting Over the Part of the Children of Israel in the Wilderness
Ezra Stiles / The United States Elevated to Glory and Honour
Samuel Langdon / The Republic of the Israelites an Example to the American States
Thomas Jefferson / First Inaugural Address

Part III. Westward the Course of Destiny
Lyman Beecher / A Plea for the West
Brigham Young / Discourses
Chief Seattle / Oration
Walt Whitman / Passage to India
Albert J. Beveridge / The Star of Empire

Part IV. Civil War and National Destiny
Henry Ward Beecher / The Battle Set in Array
Benjamin M. Palmer / National Responsibility before God
Abraham Lincoln / Second Inaugural Address
Horace Bushnell / Our Obligations to the Dead

Part V. National Progress and Wealth
Isaac M. Wise / Our Country's Place in History
Henry Ward Beecher / The Tendencies of American Progress
William Lawrence / The Relation of Wealth to Morals
Frances Willard / A White Life for Two

Part VI. American Destiny and World War
C. F. Thomas / Patriotism
Woodrow Wilson / Presenting the Treaty for Ratification
Franklin D. Roosevelt / Annual Message to Congress
Reinhold Niebuhr / Anglo-Saxon Destiny and Responsibility

Part VII. Challenges since Mid-Century
America's World Role
John Foster Dulles / Freedom's New Task
William Fulbright / The Arrogance of Power
The Black American
Martin Luther King, Jr. / Letter from Birmingham Jail
Malcolm X / The Ballot or the Bullet
National Morals
Ralph Reed / Separation of Church and State: "Christian Nation" and Other Heresies
Rosemary Radford Ruether / Creating a Healed World: Spirituality and Politics
Index

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Ensures that this anthology should remain a standard work for scholars and students of American religious history.—Religious Studies Review



God's New Israel was an invaluable resource for decades. This new edition is a thorough revision which brings the story up to date and shows the continuing importance of the religious understanding of America. It deserves wide usage in college classrooms as well as in churches and community associations.—Robert N. Bellah, coauthor of Habits of the Heart



This new edition is long overdue and very welcome indeed!—Catherine L. Albanese, University of California, Santa Barbara



Religious interpretations of American destiny continue to affect the ways in which many citizens understand their nation, its past, and its future. For teachers who wish to confront the meaning of this historical reality, Cherry's book is an invaluable source for discussion of the major issues.—Donald G. Mathews, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill



Scholars and students everywhere will rejoice in the reissuing of this volume. It has been long recognized as a classic, offering a superb collection of primary readings on the subject of religion and American nationality. It is now available again, updated for the 1990s.—Robert Bruce Mullin, General Theological Seminary

Editorial Reviews

For teachers who wish to confront the meaning of this historical reality, Cherry's book is an invaluable source .

Donald G. Mathews, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

It deserves wide usage in college classrooms as well as in churches and community associations.

Robert N. Bellah, coauthor of "Habits of the Heart"

Scholars and students everywhere will rejoice in the reissuing of this volume.

Robert Bruce Mullin, General Theological Seminary

This new edition is long overdue and very welcome indeed!

Catherine L. Albanese, University of California, Santa Barbara

"For teachers who wish to confront the meaning of this historical reality, Cherry's book is an invaluable source .

Donald G. Mathews, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill"

"It deserves wide usage in college classrooms as well as in churches and community associations.

Robert N. Bellah, coauthor of "Habits of the Heart""

"Scholars and students everywhere will rejoice in the reissuing of this volume.

Robert Bruce Mullin, General Theological Seminary"

"This new edition is long overdue and very welcome indeed!

Catherine L. Albanese, University of California, Santa Barbara"

Ensures that this anthology should remain a standard work for scholars and students of American religious history.

"Religious Studies Review"

From the Publisher