No book from the American founding era was more accessible or familiar than the English Bible, specifically the King James Version, and no book was more frequently alluded to or quoted from in the political discourse of the age. Widely respected and referenced by both pious and skeptical founders, the English Bible shaped significant aspects of public culture, including language, letters, arts, education, and law. It was also among the diverse intellectual and political influences--including English constitutionalism, republicanism, and Enlightenment liberalism--that informed the ideas of the American founding. These facts alone, however, reveal little about how and for what purposes the founding generation used the Bible in their political discourse and, more important, how the Bible influenced their political culture. Drawing on some of the most familiar rhetoric of the founding era, Reading the Bible with the Founding Fathers examines the founders' diverse uses of the Bible in political discourse, ranging from the essentially literary to the profoundly theological. Recognition of these distinct uses is important, says Daniel Dreisbach, as it is misleading to read spiritual meaning into primarily political or rhetorical uses of the Bible or vice versa. The founding generation looked to the Bible not only for its rich literary qualities but also for insights on human nature, civic virtue, political authority, and the rights and duties of citizens, as well as for political and legal models they sought to emulate in their polities. This exploration of the Bible's often neglected place in late-eighteenth-century political culture enriches our understanding of the ideas that contributed to the founding of the American constitutional tradition.

About the Author
Daniel L. Dreisbach is a professor at American University in Washington, D.C. He received a Doctor of Philosophy degree from Oxford University, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar, and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Virginia. He has written extensively on the intersection of religion, politics, and law in the American founding.

Reviews
Dreisbach easily accomplishes the stated goal of his book, which is to illustrate that "the Bible was featured prominently in the political discourse of the American founding." No one could read it and come away with the attitude that the Bible is irrelevant as a source for understanding the political ideas of the American founding... Hopefully, this book will prompt further investigations into a question whose importance it has clearly established. * Melissa Dow, University of Dallas, Religious Studies Review *
Dreisbach's work is an important contribution to the ongoing discussion of the role of religion in American public life and of the nature of the ideological heritage left to us by the founding fathers. Dreisbach writes clearly, and this work will serve as a helpful introduction for those who have never considered the pervasive influence of the Bible upon the American founding. * Gary Steward, Colorado Christian University, Anglican and Episcopal History *
With the contest over America's heritage intensifying since the election of Donald Trump, the need for better understanding of the relationship between religion and politics in the founding era of the United States has never been greater. As Americans enlist past events in partisan disputes, we are more painfully aware of the fractured nature of historical memory. In this fraught situation, Daniel Dreisbach's deeply researched investigation into how the founders imagined America's republican government is most welcome. * Amanda Porterfield, Journal of Church and State *
One of the many merits of Daniel Dreisbach's book is to show how misleading this picture [of the Founding Fathers as cool to religion] is. Against this popular image, the Bible was referenced more often than any other text, or even writer, during the Revolutionary period... Reading the Bible with the Founding Fathers is a scholarly book, drawing on an abundance of source material and demonstrating an admirable familiarity with the period and the Bible. * Church Times *



Book Information
ISBN 9780199987931
Author Daniel L. Dreisbach
Format Hardback
Page Count 344
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 612g
Dimensions(mm) 163mm * 239mm * 33mm