Early Americans have long been considered "A People of the Book" Because the nickname was coined primarily to invoke close associations between Americans and the Bible, it is easy to overlook the central fact that it was a book-not a geographic location, a monarch, or even a shared language-that has served as a cornerstone in countless investigations into the formation and fragmentation of early American culture. Few books can lay claim to such powers of civilization-altering influence. Among those which can are sacred books, and for Americans principal among such books stands the Bible. This Handbook is designed to address a noticeable void in resources focused on analyzing the Bible in America in various historical moments and in relationship to specific institutions and cultural expressions. It takes seriously the fact that the Bible is both a physical object that has exercised considerable totemic power, as well as a text with a powerful intellectual design that has inspired everything from national religious and educational practices to a wide spectrum of artistic endeavors to our nation's politics and foreign policy. This Handbook brings together a number of established scholars, as well as younger scholars on the rise, to provide a scholarly overview--rich with bibliographic resources--to those interested in the Bible's role in American cultural formation.

About the Author
Paul C. Gutjahr is Ruth Halls Professor of English at Indiana University. Among his numerous books and articles, he is the author of An American Bible: The History of the Good Book in the United States, 1777-1881 (1999), Charles Hodge: Guardian of American Orthodoxy (2011), and The Book of Mormon: A Biography (2012).

Reviews
It is one of the finest Christian reference books to be published in this decade. * Justus D. Doenecke, Anglican and Episcopal History *
In this comprehensive anthology, Paul C. Gutjahr seeks to com press the entire story of the Bible's role in America into under seven hundred pages. In his task, the professor of English at Indiana University has succeeded admirably ... It is one of the finest Christian reference books to be published in this decade. * Justus D. Doenecke, Anglican and Episcopal History *
The Oxford Handbook of the Bible in America...is an invaluable resource on the reception of the world's best-seller in the United States. * Rabbi Dr. Stu Halpern, The Zahava and Moshael Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought *
there is much here to enlighten and entertain * Deborah W. Rooke, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament *
This is a useful reference book that will inform. It shows the shifts and turns in relation to the Bible over centuries along with those who sought to defend or to reimage Bible teaching. * Rev E T Kirkland, English Churchman *
Scholars of religion in America, the Bible, American culture, lived religion, or material religion should make room on their shelves for this book. * Lydia Willsky-Ciollo, Reading Religion *
Taken together, these essays offer a useful, informed, multidisciplinary examination of the Bible in the contemporary US...Recommended. * P.L. Redditt, CHOICE *



Book Information
ISBN 9780190258849
Author Paul C. Gutjahr
Format Hardback
Page Count 736
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 1g
Dimensions(mm) 178mm * 249mm * 51mm