God's Sacred Tongue: Hebrew & the American ImaginationIn a comprehensive examination of how Christian scholars in the United States received, interpreted, and understood Hebrew texts and the Jewish experience, Shalom Goldman explores Hebraism's relationship to American society. By linking history, theology, and literature from the colonial period through the twentieth century, Goldman illuminates the religious and cultural roots of American interest in the Middle East. God's Sacred Tongue is structured around a sequence of biographical and intellectual portraits of individuals including Jonathan Edwards, Isaac Nordheimer, Professor George Bush (an ancestor of President George W. Bush), and twentieth-century literary critic Edmund Wilson. Since the colonial period, America has been perceived as a western Promised Land with emotional, spiritual, and physical links to the Promised Land of biblical history. Goldman gives evidence from scholarship, diplomacy, journalism, the history of higher education, and the arts to show that this perception is linked to the role Hebrew and the Bible have played in American cultural history. The book's final section takes up the story of American Christian Zionism, among whose Protestant adherents political Zionism found much of its strongest support. Religious and cultural figures such as William Rainey Harper and Reinhold Niebuhr are among those who exemplify the centuries-old ties between America, the Land of Promise, and Israel, the Promised Land. |
What people are saying - Write a review
We haven't found any reviews in the usual places.
Contents
PART I | 3 |
Lost Tribes and Found Peoples | 15 |
Hebrew at Harvard | 31 |
Copyright | |
16 other sections not shown
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
American ancient Andover appointed became become Bible biblical Bush called century chapter Christian church claims College colonies conversion critical culture earlier early East Edwards engaged England English established European exploration Ezra Frey German Grammar Greek Harper Harvard Hebraic Hebraists Hebrew Hebrew language Holy Land ideas important included influence intellectual interest Israel issue Jerusalem Jewish Jews Judah Judaism knowledge language late later learning letter literature living Merrill missionary Monis Monis's Mormon Moses Niebuhr nineteenth century Nordheimer noted observer original Palestine period political present president Professor Protestant published question Rabbi readers religion religious remarkable Robinson sacred scholarly scholars Seixas Seminary served Smith Society Stiles Stuart teacher teaching Testament texts theological tion tradition translation Tribes understanding United University Wilson writings wrote York young
Bibliographic information
| Title | God's Sacred Tongue: Hebrew & the American Imagination |
| Author | Shalom Goldman |
| Edition | illustrated |
| Publisher | University of North Carolina Press, 2004 |
| Original from | the University of Virginia |
| Digitized | Sep 17, 2007 |
| ISBN | 0807828351, 9780807828359 |
| Length | 349 pages |
| Subjects | › › Biography & Autobiography / Religious Religion / Comparative Religion Religion / Judaism / History |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |