Prodigal Nation: Moral Decline and Divine Punishment from New England to 9/11"Original and wide-ranging, Murphy's discerning and important study is another reminder that America is 'the nation with the soul of a church.'"-Journal of American History"A wide-ranging and thoughtful meditation on how the theo-political stories we Americans tell ourselves resonate with and sometimes even create the communities we inhabit. This book deserves an honored place among the oeuvre of work by political scientists and historians on the jeremiad."-- Politics and Religion"A significant contribution to the historical account of the role of religion in American politics."--Perspectives on Politics"Prodigal Nation is a careful account of how theologies function politically and deserves attention from political scientists, political theologians, American historians, and others interested in the interface of religion and culture."--Religious Studies Review"This highly original and wonderfully written analysis will be invaluable to anyone interested in the meaning of America." --Harry S. Stout, author of The New England Soul and Upon the Altar of the Nation"A brilliant analysis of the American jeremiad. Elegant, powerful, hopeful, and wise - Prodigal Nation is required reading for anyone who wishes to understand the fitful history of the American spirit." --James A. Morone, author of Hellfire Nation and The Democratic Wish |
Contents
The American Jeremiad | 3 |
THREE AMERICAN JEREMIADS | 15 |
THE JEREMIAD IN AMERICAN CULTURE | 107 |
Notes | 173 |
| 199 | |
| 223 | |
Other editions - View all
Prodigal Nation: Moral Decline and Divine Punishment from New England to 9/11 Andrew R. Murphy No preview available - 2010 |
Common terms and phrases
African-Americans agenda American culture American jeremiad American past American politics argued audience Beecher Bercovitch Bible Buchanan century chap chapter chosen nation Christian Right Christian Right jeremiad church Civil claim clergy Constitution Court covenant crisis critique culture wars Discourse divine election elites England England Jeremiahs evangelical example Exhortation faith founders Frederick Douglass fundamental fundamentalist future Gilbert Haven God’s purposes godly golden age Haven Henry Ward Beecher ideals immigration Increase Mather Israel issues Jerry Falwell John Judeo-Christian King’s lamented liberty Lincoln ment moral decline movement Moyers narrative nation’s nation’s founding National Sermons Neuhaus New-England nostalgia Pat Buchanan Pat Robertson piety prayer preached present principles progressive jeremiad promise Protestant Puritan Ralph Reed reform religion religious repentance Republican responsibility revolution rhetoric Righteous Armies Robertson role Schempp school prayer secular sexual sins slave slave power slavery social Southern speech spiritual story tion traditional traditionalist jeremiad vision war’s William