Meh.

tJon Meacham’s American Gospel: God, the Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation gives a very extensive account of the role of religion throughout the history of the United States of America. This covers all the way from when the English Puritans were aboard the Mayflower in 1620, making their journey over to what will later become America, to the founding of America, all the way to the mid 20th century. Within the chapters, different topics are split into subsections, which range from a few paragraphs to a few pages in length. With this comes many different arguments about the various aspects of religion. However, throughout all of his discussions, Meacham consistently decides to take the middle ground. For example, he states that “belief in God is central to the country’s experience, yet for the broad center, faith is a matter of choice, not coercion, and the legacy of the Founding is that the sensible center holds” (5).
tEven though Meacham makes various arguments in his book, there is one claim he continues to make from beginning to end: the benefits of religion throughout history have outweighed the costs. He extensively backs up this statement with a plethora of supporting evidence. In my opinion, one of Meacham’s strongest argument that helps strengthen his thesis is that humans naturally need someone to look up to when times get hard, which in this case, is God. This is an especially strong point since—according by Meacham—it is something that everybody can relate with. Additionally, it supplies a way that belief in God is able to improve the lives of the religious while not interfering with the nonbelievers. To make this point even stronger, Meacham follows up with a statement about the Founders’ belief: “religion, for all its faults, was an essential foundation for a people’s moral conduct and for American ideas about justice, decency, duty, and responsibility” (27). After discussing the Founders’ belief, he added in an opposing view, and went over how non-religious people still conducted themselves in a moral manner. This very well constructed argument in the Introduction Chapter, which included evidence and analysis, combined with the extensive 28-page bibliography included at the end of the book, leads the reader to believe that the rest of the book will also be filled with interesting arguments complete with an in-depth analysis for each. However, as I quickly found out, that is completely false.
tThe majority of American Gospel: God, The Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation is very poorly written in multiple aspects. One of the major flaws is an overuse of quotes and lack of analysis. This causes the book to be very boring in my opinion due to it just becoming a list of quotes. Very frequently, there is a new quote that is unrelated to Meacham’s almost non-existent argument after every two sentences, which leaves no room for analysis. There are even multiple quotes that take up more than a whole page, with little to no analysis afterwards.
tFurthermore, Meacham tends to be extremely disorganized in structuring the information within each of the subsections. He jumps around from topic to topic, rarely leaving any analysis or transition between them. For example, Meacham was discussing Article XVI of the Virginia Declaration of Rights under a subsection titled “Diabolical Persecution.” The main focus of that subsection was George Madison asking Patrick Henry to change a phrase in the document from “all men should enjoy the fullest toleration in the exercise of religion” to “all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion” (69). The vote occurred on Wednesday, June 12, 1776. This subsection seems to flow smoothly at first. However, at the end of the paragraph that mentioned the vote, Meacham’s only analysis to the quote he gave was “It was indeed” (70). The very first sentence of the following paragraph, with no transition nor additional analysis in between, is “The months between the autumn of 1775 and the spring of 1776 were dark ones for Jefferson” (70). This paragraph is unrelated to the rest of the subsection. In the entire part that comes before it, Meacham never mentions Jefferson even once, making the sudden change even more confusing.
tMeacham’s writing style takes away a lot of the persuasive power his arguments might have had. In addition to having holes in the analysis that is meant to support his claims, failure to analyse evidence against his claim hurts his assertion. Often, Meacham will supply an opposing person’s point of view and reasoning, like a good argument should include. However, the lack of analysis and a rebuttal to it causes Meacham to almost nullify the point he is trying to get across to the readers.
tIf his arguments weren’t already bad enough, many of them are based off of false assumptions about religion in the past. According to another reviewer of Meacham’s work, Gordon S. Wood, a Professor of History Emeritus at Brown University, Meacham incorrectly assumes that the Founders lived in a time similar to our own. Additionally, Wood states that Meacham “tends to ignore the fact that the First Amendment then applied to only the federal government and not to all the states.
tThrough reading this book, my knowledge of American history has grown by a decent amount. On the other hand, Meacham has not deepened my understanding of American history in any noticeable way. This is due to him covering many unrelated topics for short amounts of time without any analysis. It seemed more like a brief overview of events like the Founding of America and World War 2 as opposed to a history book.
tI would only recommend American Gospel: God, the Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation to people who either aren’t bothered by an overuse of quotes and lack of analysis, want to appear as an intellectual as a result of buying a history book written by a winner of the Pulitzer Prize, are rich enough to buy books for their collection without ever reading them, or people who have read every other history book that exists and have none left to read. Other than that, I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone.

This was one of the worse histories of religion and politics that I've read (and I have a lot to go on). The narrative meandered, evidence was unconvincing, and the argument was somewhat tortured. If you're interested in the subject, you're better off with books on religion and God that deal with specific periods.

In American Gospel, Jon Meacham spreads the good news that has always been at the very heart of the American experiment: Liberty. Freedom - as it’s invoked in the Declaration of Independence and the First Amendment - and our nation’s relationship with ‘Nature’s God,’ is something akin to the moralistic philosophy of free will. And as we’ve maintained a necessary separation of church and state, it has allowed diverse faiths to enjoy a healthy sustenance, while disallowing any type of religious coercion. This intentional balance, so cleverly created within the Constitution, simultaneously eliminates the possibility of a theocracy while enabling un-compromised religious faith to flourish.

If someone implies that our country is a “Christian nation,” that is false. If they mean to say that the majority of inhabitants are believers in Christianity, or that the country was founded by religious men - the majority of which were Christian - then that is closer to the mark. But it would also be untrue to say that the U.S. is a secular nation. We may be a nation that does not force belief, but we are certainly not unbelieving. The point that must not be overlooked is that our Constitution accepts the free practice of all religions or none, and this diversity actually helps protect both our religious and political activity, separate as they are.

Despite the difficulties in defining Providence and trying to explain what is referred to as the “public religion,” Meacham does a good job of showing the religious pulse of the nation during some of the most important epochs our country has known. The acts of invoking God and expressing faith are interwoven with the responsibility of governing the nation, and they have been since its inception. That commingling of faith and office can perturb a particular demographic, just as religious faithful are perturbed when laws or policies apparently conflict with a religious ideal. Thus, the perpetual tug-o-war goes on, and God-willing, the brilliant intent of the First Amendment which is the rope between us, will remain forever intact.

When it comes to some religions, and Christianity in particular, if you truly believe the tenets of the faith, you will feel an obligation to spread the reason for the hope that is in you - to proselytize, the basis for which is love for fellow man and the desire for the salvation of their souls. However, if this desire for proselytization is truly the result of love, it will also relent in the face of a freely chosen refusal to convert. After all, “If the Lord himself chose not to force obedience from those he created, then who are men to try?” And as was said by Madison, “we cannot deny an equal freedom to those whose minds haven’t yielded to the evidence which has convinced us.”

My personal beliefs have been formed in light of my own experience and study of history, science, philosophy and religion. Using reason, I’m like any other human being who weighs the probabilities inherent in what I’ve learned to reach conclusions about which beliefs I choose to hold and defend. But in doing so - and this is important - I understand that someone else’s reason might lead them to opposite conclusions, and to reject what I have accepted. But when it comes to the success of the United States of America, we as citizens can never be separated from the sacred declaration that was made on our behalf. Jefferson said that the God who gave us life gave us liberty at the same time, and that is the authority our independence appealed to. Meacham summarizes the same truth: “The principles of God-given life and God-given human rights are the two wings on which the nation rose, and on which it still depends.” Through observable reality and the human intellect, we may just as easily say that it’s best for society to consider all men equal, and that choosing to mention God is only an unnecessary matter of faith. But the Founding Fathers made that choice, linking the cause of liberty to the idea of God while avoiding sectarian imagery or associations. And I’m glad that they did, because if they were to declare that our freedom was a right of man endowed by man himself, then it wouldn’t have been long until another man came to take it away.

American Gospel looks at the history of religion in the US focusing particularly on the country's founders. The main theme of the book reinforces the fact that the founders never intended the US to be a christian (or any other religious denomination) nation, but that religion has always played a role in public life. He also discusses the idea of a wall of separation between church and state and that it is never perhaps as clear as we might like.

Unfortunately this analysis is not a terribly deep or insightful and the book degrades into a series of presidential speeches in which biblical text is prominently featured. Meacham often misrepresents the views of freethinkers and fails to examine whether religion has anything of value to add to public discourse. Given the fact that those who used the bible to support slavery were accurately representing scripture ... I think not.

Meacham does an incredible job of maintaining a very moderate, middle-of-the-road perspective and explanation of the place of religion in the United States. He uses a wide variety of historical records to show the founders, presidents, and others were complex individuals with regards to their political ideals and religious views. As the author writes, this is not really a history of religion in the United States or a history of its founding, but is really an essay covering vast periods of US history quickly to show that religion (whatever belief system it is) has its place in the United States and among the people, but it should not govern the government. Often, when reading history books, one can see the bias of the author very clearly, while other times it is there, but not as obvious. I found it very difficult to ascertain Meacham's personal political or religious view or belief, which I think is quite intriguing. Personally, as a Christian, a Democrat, and a history teacher, I have often had conversations discussing the extremes of the role of religion in the United States. This book will give me new material to use in my discussions and explanations of my own personal beliefs about government and religion and how the two can be interconnected. I am glad to see a moderate perspective that is offered throughout this book.

This was a tough book to rate and I am between 3 and 4.

I believe that the book is meant to start a discussion and not to be a definitive survey of religion and politics. Before reading, the reader also has to take into account that the author is from the Bible Belt of Tennessee.

I find Meacham to be fairly neutral in his biographical works. I have seen him lecture 3 times, so I picked up his earlier works.

He makes the argument that religion in America is part of how the country goes about its ways and that it is impossible to separate personal belief from civic duty, which is not a new argument by any means. He ends the work with Reagan and I'm wondering how the last 16 years would enter into his work.

He gets marked down here because he is completely dismissive of atheism. Non believers are apparently still a group that can be ignored and marginalized. The work is written on the premise that there is, without argument, a higher power. Non believers and agnostics are not as small of a group as Meacham assumes. The author also primarily only writes about Protestants and Catholics and rarely mentions non Judeo-Christian religions. How do they fit into this narrative? Several times Meacham agrees that the United States is not a Christian nation, but, from his tone, I feel he doesn't truly believe that statement.

American Gospelttby Jon Meachamtt12/04/2019t Paper

tFive stars to both Jon Meacham and the founding fathers for presenting logic and clarity in the complicated subject of religion and politics. The author takes us from the beginning of our nation and its roots, all the way to modern times, with an in-depth look at the writers of our constitution. Bravo to those intelligent men who so cleverly struck a balance between belief and the freedom to do so. So many of our founders were of very similar religious feelings it is truly amazing that they wrote a set of rules that forbade any imposition of their beliefs on others.

tOver the centuries, attempts have been made from the right and the left to abridge the separation between the secular and the spiritual but the none of the efforts has broken the wall between them. Yes, as the author tells us in numerous examples, religion has played a part in the decision making of our leaders as it continues to do so. But from Benjamin Franklin’s Public religion, that wonderful balance, gives us the freedom to believe or not believe as we personally see fit.

tI found it especially refreshing in these times of stark partisanship, to hear in detail how the writers of the constitution listened to each other and ultimately agree. This book presents lessons in history clearly set forth. I highly recommend reading it

Rational, wise, balanced, gracious, these are not words that often surround or explode from the subject. They are, however, fitting descriptors for the author's tone in this book. This is fitting, somehow, since he seems to take the same approach to his biographical subjects.

A well-researched, comprehensive, and easy to read exploration of religion and government from the 1600s to the 20th century. The focus is on the place of religion as embedded in American law and society beginning with the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and acts of Congress and the Supreme Court with some states’ perspectives and acts thrown in. The author speaks eloquently to the distinction between a public religion which is American and largely creator-acknowledging and respectful of each persons right to worship (or not) as they are convinced they must and the private practice of religions by individuals and communities that seek to force others to worship in only one way. It runs the gamut through colonial religions seeking to dominate the culture as America coalesced into one country through all the many religions—Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, etc.—that were and are part of the American milieu today. The intent of the Founders is analyzed here, from their own words and the documents that were the bedrock of the government they wanted and founded. Many original sources are in the footnotes and many pertinent excerpts are quoted throughout and in a fascinating epilogue. Given the pressures in 2021 to try to institutionalize within government particular religiously beliefs and overriding the notion and claiming of God-led principles and aims within the public religion of America, every citizen would do well to read this and consider the risks inherent in the movement that would create theocracy here in lieu of a democratic republic. It’s a good book!

I have owned this book for about two years and it kept finding its way to the middle of the stack of books waiting to be read. Then it was the selection for a book discussion group, so I pulled it out. Excellent book. Jon Meacham, the managing editor of Newsweek, takes an historical look at religion in the United States, especially the religious beliefs of many of the Founding Fathers to try to discover what place they believed religion should legitimately play in the Revolutionary period and in the new Republic. He concludes that faith has always held a major place in the evolution of the United States society and government, but the founders, who were the products of religious strife during the colonial period, made distinctions between private religion and public religion. Private religion is the personal religious beliefs of individuals and denominations or the lack of religious beliefs. Public religion consists of the belief in a higher power--although the Founding Fathers often referred to this power as the God of nature--and a belief that the United States is a chosen country with chosen people. Meacham sees the history of the United States as a balance between public and private religion and feels that the vast majority of Americans are comfortable, and has been comfortable, with the idea that government should not establish a national religion and force adherence to it, with the concept that religious freedom is one of the cornerstones of our republic, and with the concept that appeals to the blessings of a nondenominational God is an accepted part of the American political experience. An interesting book with lots of information that should lead to a spirited discussion.

From the anchoring of the Mayflower and settling of the Plymouth Colony, to the headlines of the modern mainstream media, the topic of religion has been ingrained in American culture. Indeed, the dialogue surrounding religious debate can lead to controversial and at times taboo discussion—though it can also be used otherwise as an enlightening and comforting perspective to understand and rationalize. Revered historian Jon Meacham takes the reader on a speedy chronicle of the beginnings and impacts of different religious sects and movements in North America, including both the people involved, and those whom had a powerful influence as a whole. While there are some interesting takeaways and a few rare and less-known facts that can be ideally used for a holiday dinner debate, the bulk of the book altogether is drafted to Meacham’s own musings and interpretations of past U.S. Presidents and Founders’ religious leanings and beliefs.

This is not necessarily a negative attribute for the reader, as Meacham is very moderate in his approach to America’s religious history and stances, where he uses a plentiful amount of quotes and sources to back up his overall argument in declaring that the United States is not simply a Christian or secular nation, nor does it lean heavily one way over the other. Relevant discussions are brought to the reader, ranging from the separation of Church and State, the varying degrees in which previous U.S. Presidents have used religious voice and agenda during times of war and hardship, to the concepts of “Nature’s God” and “public religion:”

Many committed secularists in our own age have largely made their peace with public religion. “Those of us who are Jeffersonian separatists live more or less easily with the accumulated chinks in the wall of separation like prayer at the beginning of legislative or judicial sessions, ‘In God We Trust’ on our money and as our nation’s motto,” wrote Kramnick and Moore in The Godless Constitution. “In remembering that Jefferson did in fact found human rights on a Creator’s intentions, we should pick fights carefully and not ever imagine that references to God will or should disappear from public rhetoric.”

As previously mentioned, the book runs relatively brief with almost half of it being dedicated to sources and bibliography—making for a quick and simple read to ease through and digest. American Gospel would go splendidly as a gift for the political or radical-minded sheep of the family, a topic-friendly ice breaker, or even as a “bathroom digest,” but there is nothing truly groundbreaking or earth-shattering in its approach. Nonetheless, the book both reveals and proves how truly vast and thriving the American melting pot has become throughout the centuries, and perhaps might remain so. Illustrations are scattered throughout, as well as two appendices included: with one in particular focusing on enlightening bible quotes used in presidential inaugurations beginning with Martin Van Buren’s term.

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