Research On Religion » French Revolution

Daniel Dreisbach on Biblical Rhetoric in the Founding Era

tonygill — Sun, 15 Jan 2017 09:00:18 +0000

The Bible was the most common book to be found in houses throughout the United States in the late 18th century, and it is no surprise that the Founders would rely upon passages from Scripture to inform the dialogue around the building of a new nation and governmental system. Prof. Daniel Dreisbach, a professor in the School of Public Affairs at American University, elaborates on how the Bible was used to frame political ideas during this revolutionary era. Our conversation begins with how religious symbolism manifested itself in the first presidential inauguration of George Washington, and how the choices made back then still echo throughout the ages and up to the present. We also discover that despite all the thoughtful planning that went into the pageantry of the first inauguration, the planners almost forgot one crucial thing. (You will have to listen to the audio to find out what that was.) We then turn to a discussion of the role of literacy, religion, and the King James Bible in the British American colonies and how this impacted how political leaders would frame their arguments for the new republic and communicate with the citizens. Irrespective of the religiosity of any given Founder, the presence of the Bible in American education meant that it was a references point for all people and a literary source for speaking a unified language in a new nation. Daniel notes that the King James version had a certain rhythm and poetry to it that lent itself to rhetorical uses. He also points out how Protestantism’s “dangerous idea” about a “priesthood of all people” also became a crucial component of justifying a democratic republic placing sovereignty in the common person as opposed to a monarch. We then discuss how the Bible was used rhetorically, with Daniel emphasizing its importance in crafting metaphors, providing weight and authority to political language, modeling new precedents that were being established with this revolutionary form of government, and promoting the notion of Providence at work in American history. Prof. Dreisbach provides specific examples of how this plays out and gives reference to a couple critical biblical passages including Micah 6:8 (on the role of government by covenant), Proverbs 14:34 (the need for an informed and virtuous citizenry), and Proverbs 29:2 (on the character of the magistrate). Daniel points out that while the Founders desired a virtuous political class, the Calvinist emphasis on original sin made it necessary to create institutions that built in a “Plan B” to contain the worst desires and actions of are all-too-human leaders. We finish off with Daniel providing his personal thoughts on what all this means for our contemporary period, what he learned over the decades of studying this era, and promising to come back later in the year to talk about the role of religious rhetoric in justifying the notion of liberty within the American experiment. Recorded: December 19,2016.

Reading the Bible with the Founding Fathers, by Daniel Dreisbach.

Thomas Jefferson and the Wall of Separation between Church and State, by Daniel Dreisbach.

Faith and the Founders of the American Republic, edited by Daniel Dreisbach and Mark David Hall.

The Sacred Rights of Conscience, edited by Daniel Dreisbach and Mark David Hall.

The Forgotten Founders on Religion and Public Life, by Daniel Dreisbach, Mark David Hall, and Jeffry Morrison.

The Founders on God and Government, edited by Daniel Dreisbach, Mark David Hall, and Jeffry Morrison.

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Daniel Dreisbach on Abe Lincoln’s Religious Rhetoric.

Mark David Hall on Religion and the Founding Fathers.

John Fea on Religion and the American Founding.

Mark David Hall on Roger Sherman, American Patriot.

Mark David Hall on Religious Accommodations and the Common Good.

Mark David Hall on Religious Minorities in the U.S. Founding.

Chris Beneke on Religion, Markets, and the Founding Era.

Kyle Swan on Christianity and (Classical) Liberalism.

John Fea on the American Bible Society.

Jonathan den Hartog on Patriotism and Piety.

Jonathan den Hartog on the Spiritual and Political Life of John Jay.

Gary Scott Smith on Presidential Faith.

Pamela Edwards on Samuel Taylor Coleridge

tonygill — Sun, 22 Feb 2015 09:00:50 +0000

While best known for his poems The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla Khan, Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) also was a philosopher, historian, and theologian who had a great deal to say about the politics of his day. Dr. Pamela Edwards, an expert on Coleridge’s thought and the director of academic programs at the Jack Miller Center, discusses the life and times of this interesting figure.

Our conversation begins with a biography of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, including his youth as one of 13 children to an Anglican minister and his education in Christ’s Hospital, a school dispossessed children of clergy. We follow him through a period of turbulence at Cambridge University, where he never completed his degree and toyed around with a number of different theological and political ideas. Dr. Edwards then explains how Coleridge made his living after leaving Cambridge, finding friends and patrons that would sponsor his work and serving as a writer in various formats including poetry, journalism, and pamphlet writing. We discuss his various influences, including Edmund Burke, and how the unfolding of events of the era, namely the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars, had an impact on him. As the podcast progresses, we note his unique historical position of straddling the very tail end of the feudal aristocratic period and the emergence of the Industrial Revolution.

Pamela then walks us through the development of Coleridge’s thinking on politics and how it blended his philosophical thoughts on Christianity and history. This journey begins with The Statemen’s Manual; or The Bible, the Best Guide to Political Skill and Foresight. Pamela makes note that the full titles of all his work are very important to understanding the content of his writing. This Lay Sermon, was aimed at educating politicians and diplomats about good governance. We discuss how much of this was rooted in the ideas of covenant and contracts in the Old Testament.

Our discussion then takes a look at On the Constitution of Church and State According to the Idea of Each. Again, Pamela notes the importance of the full title of the work and how it mattered that the term “Idea” was capitalized throughout the work. Here we dip into Coleridge’s view of history as an emanation of the divine and the living memory of the nation. Coleridge argues that the Church is a fulcrum point in history balancing the permanence of history (represented by the landed gentry) and progress (the coming commercial age). Coleridge’s political philosophy was to infuse an aristocratic spirit into an increasingly democratic world.

The interview finishes with some of Pamela’s reflections on how Coleridge would view our world today, noting that the fragmentation that we tend to have amongst specialized departments in modern universities would be unsettling to him, as he saw things in a much more holistic light. Dr. Edwards also discusses the importance of having a moral foundation for both “experts and amateurs” that helps to anchor our increasingly technical world. Recorded: February 11, 2015.

The Statesman’s Science: History, Nature, and Law in the Political Thought of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, by Pamela Edwards.

The Oxford Handbook on Samuel Taylor Coleridge, edited by Frederick Burwick.

The Bourgeois Virtues: Ethics for an Age of Commerce, by Deidre McCloskey (mentioned in podcast).

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John Mark Reynolds on Dickens and “A Christmas Carol.”

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Jonathan den Hartog on Patriotism & Piety

tonygill — Sun, 25 Jan 2015 09:00:08 +0000

While many pundits will claim that our contemporary era of politics is one of the most bipartisan and vitriolic on record, and that the blending of religion and politics is making this so, historians are quick to point out such turmoil is common throughout time. To this end, we invite Prof. Jonathan den Hartog, associate professor and chair of history at The University of Northwestern (St. Paul, MN), to discuss his new book Patriotism & Piety: Federalist Politics and Religious Struggle in the New American Nation. Prof. den Hartog dissects the first several decades following the ratification of the U.S. Constitution and argues that this was a time of intense national debate that drew heavily on religious themes and has affected the way we govern ourselves unto this day.

Prof. den Hartog has appeared a few times before on our podcast so we begin with a bit of reminiscing of days gone by and his interest in the topic of post-revolutionary era America. Tony then describes the cover of Jonathan’s book, which is a cartoon depicting Thomas Paine attempting to tear down the foundational columns of the American republic with the help of none other than the devil! Jonathan notes that although a discussion of this cartoon is not included in the book, it epitomizes the struggle that was going on during the day and how infused the rhetoric was with religious themes. He fills us in on some background of the era by explaining who the Federalists were and what they were struggling against, revealing some interesting trajectories about the likes of revolutionary heroes Paine and Ethan Allen, both who became enamored with the unfolding events of the French Revolution.

The French Revolution forms an important backdrop for the events in the U.S. in the 1790s and early 1800s. While the American nation is still trying to find its own identify, radical attacks by Jacobins against religion inform how arguments are being made about the role of religion in the new North American republic. This reveals the “patriotism” aspect of his book, wherein many Federalists were fearing a movement towards a “de-Christianized” nation with all the trappings of the “Cult of Reason” that infused France at the time. This brings us to a discussion of the religious struggle at the time that was characterized by a great deal of change and competition among older and emerging denominations. This struggle also dealt with how churches would relate to the government. Whereas a national establishment was off the table with the passage of the First Amendment, several states such as Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Hampshire continued to support state-sponsored churches into the 19th century.

Jonathan talks about how the position of the Federalists, a political party/movement that favored a stronger central government, evolved over time on this matter. While starting with a republican (small “r”) view of religion left free in the 1770s, the events of the French Revolution prompted many Federalists to argue for a more robust presence of faith in American life. As the Federalists begin to lose more elections in the 1800s, there is a further shift towards the promotion of strong associational life and civic culture that relies on voluntary organizations such as the American Bible Society, presided over by the likes of Elias Boudinot and John Jay. We chat about the role that these two individuals played in influencing the national landscape and how their influence reverberated through the writings of Alexis de Tocqueville. Prof. den Hartog explains how this relates to his phrase “the federalization of American Christianity,” which is a play on Nathan Hatch’s famous work on the democratization of American Christianity.

Our discussion also covers other political issues of the time including slavery, with Jonathan detailing how are the first major political movement to stand against the practice. Federalists such as John Jay even went so far as to outlaw it early in some states (e.g., New York). Nonetheless, the slavery issue was universally accepted by all Federalists and it does help to fracture the party over time. We also discuss the concern over secret societies, most notably the Illuminati (a particular fascination with contemporary singer Katy Perry). Jonathan details how two preachers in particular — Jonathan Dwight and Jedidiah Morse — wrote passionately about the possible corrupting influence of the Bavarian Illuminati and we are even regaled with an impassioned reading of one of Dwight’s sermons (wherein Tony learns that a dragoon is not a synthesis between a dragon and a doubloon). Jonathan also tells the tale of Elias Boudinot who writes to his daughter from the floor of Congress worrying about the state of her soul, which is also representative of his concern over the soul of the nation.

We conclude with a number of take-aways that Jonathan had in the process of researching and writing this book. He notes that debates on religion and politics are nothing new and that, indeed, this topic is really baked into the nature of the American republic. Prof. den Hartog also strengthened his beliefs about the important role of mediating institutions (civil society) that act as a buffer between the individual and the powerful institutions of the state. Finally, he explains how culture generally tends to be upstream from politics and how our culture is defined has an important role to play in how we are governed. Recorded: January 19, 2015 (the day after the NFC Championship game, explaining Tony’s somewhat hoarse sound).

Patriotism & Piety: Federalist Politics and Religious Struggle in the New American Nation by Jonathan den Hartog.

Prof. den Hartog’s blog Historical Conversations.

Prof. den Hartog’s twitter feed. Also check out Research on Religion on Twitter.

The Democratization of American Christianity, by Nathan Hatch (mentioned in the podcast).

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Jonathan den Hartog on the Spiritual & Political Life of John Jay.

Should Christians Have Fought in the US War of Independence?

Mark David Hall on Religion and the Founding Fathers.

Mark David Hall on Roger Sherman, Puritan Patriot.

Mark David Hall on Religious Minorities during the Time of the Founding.

Robert Delahunty on Alexis de Tocqueville and Religion

tonygill — Sun, 25 Aug 2013 08:00:51 +0000

Back in the 1830s, a young Frenchman by the name of Alexis de Tocqueville travelled to the United States to write a report about its prison system. Although he did write such a report, the trip became more notable when Tocqueville put pen to paper and generated a two-volume set of observations about American political and social life known as Democracy in America. While the book contains many profound observations, we invite Prof. Robert Delahunty (University of St. Thomas) to discuss Tocqueville’s thoughts on the importance of religion in a democratic society based on a series of posts he recently wrote on the Center for Law & Religion Forum hosted by St. John’s University Law School (see below).

Our discussion begins with an examination of the historical setting for Democracy in America, namely the Jacksonian era of U.S. history. Prof. Delahunty reviews the many social, economic, political, and religious changes taking place in this fledgling nation. He then reviews the personal background of Alexis de Tocqueville, who was only in his mid-20s when he journeyed to America. His early life as a Catholic is covered as well as his “deconversion” at about age 16. Interestingly, though harboring doubts about his Catholic faith, Alexis continued to participate in the Catholic Church throughout most of his adult life. Robert notes how these personal experiences come to shape Tocqueville’s views of American relgion, most notably the more mainstream form of Protestantism typical of the northern US at the time, and also how he understands the growing Catholic presence in America during the 1830s. Robert makes an interesting historical observation that Tocqueville seems to have overlooked the dynamic ferment that was the Second Great Awakening in America. We also cover Tocqueville’s political outlook, noting how his parents had been persecuted during the French Revolution and how Alexis was also influenced by various French Enlightenment thinkers.

We then plunge fully into Tocqueville’s thinking on church-state relations and the role of religion in society more generally. Robert connects Tocqueville to a long tradition of Western political thought about religion dating back to Niccolo Machiavelli. This dialogue with previous philosophers, and Machiavelli in particular, helps to anchor our conversation. Robert notes that religion has been seen as being connected to governance in three ways. First, religion has historically been used to sacralize or legitimize secular authority and the state. Second, religion serves to moralize the population in ways that are beneficial to a smooth-functioning society. Finally, he notes that religious groups and leaders have served a “prophetic role” of challenging abuses of state authority. It is the latter two functions, Delahunty argues, that Tocqueville comes to increasingly see as the important aspect of religion in a democratic republic. Tocqueville is concerned that American Protestantism may not be sufficiently prophetic enough in the era in which he observed the nation. Nonetheless, we explore how important religion is, and could be, in limiting what Prof. Delahunty calls the “political immagination.” Religion, as a force in civil society, helps to restrict the options before democratic political leaders preventing it from devolving to mob rule. We close with Prof. Delahunty’s thoughts about how Tocqueville’s philosophy could be useful for understanding church-state relations and the role of religion in America over the past half century. Recorded: August 23, 2013.

RELATED LINKS

Prof. Robert Delahunty’s bio at St. Thomas University.

Prof. Delahunty’s short blog articles on religion and Tocqueville at the Center for Law & Religion Forum.

“Russell Moore: From Moral Majority to ‘Prophetic Minority’,” by Naomi Schaeffer Riley in Wall Street Journal (mentioned in podcast; subscription required for access).

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Joe Fuiten on Clergy and Politics.

Jonathan den Hartog on the Spiritual & Political Life of John Jay

tonygill — Sun, 30 Jun 2013 08:00:57 +0000

With Independence Day quickly approaching, we once again take a look at the role of religion in shaping America’s Founding. Prof. Jonathan den Hartog, associate professor of history at Northwestern College (St. Paul, MN), surveys the life, times and influence of John Jay, one of the “forgotten Founding Fathers.” A few folks will recognize John Jay as one of the three authors of The Federalist Papers and as the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, but not very many individuals can elaborate the extensive role that religion played in his life.

We start the interview off with a general overview of Jay’s public life, noting the significant roles he played during the Revolutionary Era, then during the process of establishing the governmental framework we have today, and finally to his final three decades as a champion of civil society. Prof. den Hartog then takes us back more deeply into Jay’s history and points out two influential religious strands that are interwoven in his political thought and actions, namely his French Huguenot ancestry and his experience with orthodox Anglicanism. We then break down Jay’s life into three phases: the republican era, the Federalist era, and his voluntarist period.

Jay’s “republican phase” marks the period leading up to the Revolutionary War and its immediate aftermath when the nation was tasked with the mission of crafting a government. We learn that Jay had some mixed feelings about going to war with Britain, being a supporter of the Olive Branch Petition, but quickly came to support the war once it began in earnest. Jonathan reveals how much of Jay’s theology motivated his political views, with particular attention to the role of Providence, as well as communal guilt, repentance, and blessing. Jay’s concern over the poor treatment of the Indians reflects this religious stream of thought. Jay played little direct role in the construction of the new national government, but his doubts regarding the weakness of the Articles of Confederation, and his view of Providence working in American history, push him to advocate for a more centralized federal government.

Upon ratification of the Constitution, we enter into Jay’s “federalist period,” wherein he plays an active role in shaping the various components of the nation’s new government, including as the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, an important ambassadorial role, and then as governor of New York. The radicalization of the French Revolution plays a significant role in shaping Jay’s thought during this period as he witnesses the “de-Christianization” efforts of the Jacobins. We bring up a concern over the so-called “Bavarian Illuminati” as one of the early conspiracy theories that informs the thought of the age. Both Jonathan and Tony note how the decade of the 1790s was a very turbulent period in American history and that many of the themes arising then have echoes throughout the next two centuries. Due to Jay’s concern over this socio-political turbulence, he advocates as a governing figure for a stronger presence of religion in the public arena, including the call for a public day of thanksgiving.

John Jay’s “federalist era” comes to an end with his retirement from politics in 1801 and issues in the “volutarist period.” Although he didn’t believe he would live much longer, in part brought about by the death of his wife shortly after his political retirement, he does live nearly three more decades. It is during this time that he continues to advocate for the strong presence of religion in American culture via civil society. In addition to a number of voluntary organizations that includes missionary groups and clergy training groups, he eventually comes to head the American Bible Society (ABS). We learn what the ABS, an organization that still exists today, is all about. Prof. den Hartog makes the case that this phase of Jay’s life is really a more private expression of his previous federalist period, once again emphasizing the role of God’s Providence on the imprint of human history and America’s role in that plan.

We finish with Jonathan’s thoughts on what John Jay would think about our political scene today as well as Jay’s last words — “The Lord is better than we deserve.” Recorded: June 18, 2013.

RELATED LINKS

Prof. Jonathan den Hartog’s biography at Northwestern College.

Historical Conversations, Jonathan den Hartog’s blog.

James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions (Princeton University).

The Forgotten Founders on Religion and Public Life, edited by Daniel Driesbach, Mark David Hall, and Jeffry Morrison (with chapter by Jonathan den Hartog).

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Mark David Hall on Roger Sherman, Puritan Patriot.

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Mark David Hall on Religion & the Founding Fathers.

Chris Beneke on Religion, Markets, and the Founding Era.

Tracy McKenzie on The First Thanksgiving.

Hunter Baker on Secularism

tonygill — Mon, 28 May 2012 08:00:15 +0000

What role should religion be allowed to play in the public square? With a presidential election heating up, this question will undoubtedly be debated time and time again. Research on Religion jumps headfirst into this debate with Prof. Hunter Baker, an associate professor of political science and the associate dean of Arts & Sciences at Union University. Prof. Baker discusses his recent book, The End of Secularism.

We start with a bit of revealing banter about the cover of that book but quickly turn our attention to more academic discussion of secularization theory and its ideological outgrowth, “secularism.” Hunter defines “secularism” as an ideological position wherein religious practice and discourse must be removed from public visibility, either physically in terms of the display of religious symbols (e.g., creche scenes) or rhetorically in terms of how religious ideas influence policy. He argues that while many people feel that a secular public square provides a neutral ground for persons of all different creeds, in reality such a view privileges this specific ideology of secularism and thereby excluding alternative voices from being heard. Hunger further notes that secularism is often applied selectively depending on what political or economic issue is at stake. This is aptly illustrated with a comparison of how Judge Roy Moore was vilified when he tried to display the Ten Commandments in a courthouse, whereas the efforts of Susan Pace Hamill and Governor Bob Riley explicitly used religious justifications for implementing a progressive tax structure in Alabama.

When pressed as to whether secularism as an ideology is gaining an upper hand in America, Prof. Baker acknowledges that it may be in terms of displaying Nativity scenes on public property, but that attitudes towards rhetoric are changing so as to consider religiously-influenced speech to be more acceptable today than compared to the past few decades. A spirited discussion over whether city hall should display a creche around Christmas reveals some interesting insights, with the conversation then veering into the realm of public education, John Stuart Mill, and school choice.

Prof. Baker then reviews and critiques a number of arguments that have been advanced for supporting a secularist vision of governance over one that has religious mixed in, including ideas that religious conflict gives rise to violence, that science is a much better guide for life than religious faith, and whether or not secularism can generate its own moral code of behavior without relying upon Christian foundations. This leads to a discussion of moral relativism and Prof. Baker noting that those who claim relativism are not as relativistic as they seem. Tony then asks Hunter what a world without secularism as a guiding principle looks like and he answers that we already have a working model of that world here in the United States, which in turn generates an interesting comparison with other nations, most notably Sweden. We discuss education policy and health care mandates along the way to our concluding segment wherein Prof. Baker gives his prognostication about the future of secularism and religious liberty in the U.S. Recorded: May 9, 2012.

RELATED LINKS

Hunter Baker’s biography at academia.edu, Union University.

The End of Secularism, by Hunter Baker. Click on this site to see the cover, which we talk about early in the interview.

“Reflections on the Spirit of the Age,” a blog by Hunter Baker.

Political Thought: A Student’s Guide, by Hunter Baker (available July 2012).

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Daniel Philpott on Religious Resurgence & Democratization

tonygill — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 08:00:21 +0000

Over the past four decades, there have been two global trends that have caught the attention of social scientists — the public resurgence of global religiosity and the increasing movement towards democratic governance. Daniel Philpott — associate professor of political science at Notre Dame and fellow at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies — discusses both of these trends and his latest book, God’s Century (co-authored with Monica Duffy Toft and Timothy Samuel Shah). We begin the interview with a historical survey of how church-state relations have changed over the past two or three millenia, a broad sweep of history indeed, but one that is crucial to understanding why religion has made such a strong comeback in recent decades. Prof. Philpott shows how early in human history religious and secular authority split apart and how both types of leadership existed in a situation of mutual dependence — secular leaders required the legitimating endorsement of religious leaders, whereas religious leaders relied upon the material support of secular rulers. During the early modern period (c. 1450-1750) this mutual balance began to tip in favor of secular rulers who exercised greater control over religious groups in a paternalistic manner. Interestingly, this was a global trend. Beginning in the late 1700s, particularly with the French Revolution, we witness a global trend where religion is subjugated (and sometimes decimated) by secular rulers, particular in communist and socialist nations. Ironically, this subjugation gave religious organizations a greater degree of independence from secular government in some parts of the world that allowed new political theologies to develop and the institutional ability to organize against secular rulers. We discuss the formation, nature and influence of these political theologies, from the ideas promoted at Vatican Council II to Hindu and Buddhist nationalism to Islamic fundamentalism. In some areas such as Latin America, Indonesia, and parts of Asia these new political theologies and resurgent religious organizations helped to promote democracy, whereas in other parts of the world (e.g., the Middle East) it has led to less sanguine outcomes. Our discussion also touches upon the role of ideas in motivating human events, and we finish the discussion with some thoughts on the 2011 “Arab Spring” and whether or not that this will result in more democratic nations. This is the first part of a discussion of the book God’s Century: Resurgent Religion and Global Politics. We will be focusing on the issue of religious violence with one of the other authors of the book in an upcoming episode. Stay tuned. Recorded: July 7, 2011.

RELATED LINKS

Prof. Daniel Philpott’s website at the University of Notre Dame.

Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at Notre Dame.

God’s Century: Resurgent Religion and Global Politics, by Monica Duffy Toft, Daniel Philpott, and Timoth Samuel Shah.

Revolutions in Sovereignty: How Ideas Shaped Modern International Relations, by Daniel Philpott.

Just and Unjust Peace: An Ethic of Political Reconciliation, by Daniel Philpott (forthcoming).

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Karrie Koesel on House Churches in China.

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