A Nation With The Soul Of A Church

"As Canadian as the maple leaf" is how one observer summed up the United Church of Canada after its founding in 1925. But was this Canadian-made church flawed in its design, as critics have charged? A Church with the Soul of a Nation explores this question by weaving together the history of the United Church with a provocative analysis of religion and cultural change.

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.

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.

A revelatory look at the separation of church and state in America—from the New York Times bestselling author of The Great Influenza For four hundred years, Americans have fought over the proper relationships between church and state and between a free individual and the state. This is the story of the first battle in that war of ideas, a battle that led to the writing of the First Amendment and that continues to define the issue of the separation of church and state today. It began with religious persecution and ended in revolution, and along the way it defined the nature of America and of individual liberty. Acclaimed historian John M. Barry explores the development of these fundamental ideas through the story of Roger Williams, who was the first to link religious freedom to individual liberty, and who created in America the first government and society on earth informed by those beliefs. This book is essential to understanding the continuing debate over the role of religion and political power in modern life.

What makes us all Americans--whatever our differences--is adherence to a creed, a creed based upon cornerstone truths the founders believed "self-evident." From the earliest days, the survival of the new republic hinged not merely upon the expression of these grand principles of liberty and equality but upon their spiritual underpinnings. Freedom and faith were intertwined. America, as a foreign observer once put it, is a nation with the soul of a church. In this stirring and timely book, Forrest Church charts the progress of this creed from the America's beginnings to the present day by evoking those whose words-whether in declarations, songs, inaugural addresses, speeches, or prayers-have expressed its letter and captured its spirit. What emerges is our shared destiny. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s dream that this country might someday "rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed," echoes Thomas Jefferson's belief that "equal and exact justice to all" is the "creed of our political faith." Our connection with the past represents our commitment to the future and vice versa. A "spiritual and patriotic primer," The American Creed distills the essence of American history while also matching its sweep. Church lets the story of the Declaration of Independence unfold before our eyes, giving us both the big picture and the details that place it into brilliant focus. Those steeped in our nation's heritage will find fresh insight and renewed purpose. Those still discovering its riches could have no finer introduction. In its scope and embrace, this is a book for us all.

By examinng education, charity, community discipline, the relationship between clergy and congregations, and working-class religion, the contributors shift the field of religious history into the realm of the socio-cultural. This novel perspective reveals that the Christian churches remained dynamic and popular in English and French Canada, as well as among immigrants, well into the twentieth century.

Fighting to Preserve a Nation’s Soul examines the relationship between religion, race, and the War on Poverty that President Lyndon Johnson initiated in 1964 and that continues into the present. It studies the efforts by churches, synagogues, and ecumenical religious organizations to join and fight the war on poverty as begun in 1964 by the Office of Economic Opportunity. The book also explores the evolving role of religion in relation to the power balance between church and state and how this dynamic resonates in today’s political situation. Robert Bauman surveys all aspects of religion’s role in this struggle and substantially discusses the Roman Catholic Church, mainline Protestant churches, Jewish groups, and ecumenical organizations such as the National Council of Churches. In addition, he pays particular attention to race, showing how activist priests and other religious leaders connected religion with the antipoverty efforts of the civil rights movement. For example, he shows how the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO) exemplifies the move toward ecumenism among American religious organizations and the significance of black power to the evolving War on Poverty. Indeed, the Black Manifesto, issued by civil rights and black power activist James Forman in 1969, challenged American churches and synagogues to donate resources to the IFCO as reparations for those institutions’ participation in slavery and racial segregation. Bauman, then, explores the intricate and fundamental connection between religious organizations, social movements, and community antipoverty agencies and expands the argument for a long War on Poverty.