American Covenant: A History of Civil Religion from the Puritans to the Present

An authoritative account of the long battle between exclusionary and inclusive versions of the American story

Was the United States founded as a Christian nation or a secular democracy? Neither, argues Philip Gorski in American Covenant. What the founders actually envisioned was a prophetic republic that would weave together the ethical vision of the Hebrew prophets and the Western political heritage of civic republicanism. In this ambitious book, Gorski shows why this civil religious tradit...