Sacred Scripture, Sacred War

The Bible and the American Revolution

De: James P. Byrd

Narrado por: Sean Runnette

Duración: 8 h y 4 m

Resumen del Editor

On January 17, 1776, one week after Thomas Paine published his incendiary pamphlet "Common Sense", Connecticut minister Samuel Sherwood preached an equally patriotic sermon. "God Almighty, with all the powers of heaven, are on our side," Sherwood said, voicing a sacred justification for war that Americans would invoke repeatedly throughout the struggle for independence.

In Sacred Scripture, Sacred War, James Byrd offers the first comprehensive analysis of how American revolutionaries defended their patriotic convictions through scripture. Byrd shows that the Bible was a key text of the American Revolution. Indeed, many colonists saw the Bible as primarily a book about war. They viewed God as not merely sanctioning violence but actively participating in combat, playing a decisive role on the battlefield. When war came, preachers and patriots alike turned to scripture not only for solace but for exhortations to fight. Such scripture helped amateur soldiers overcome their natural aversion to killing, conferred on those who died for the Revolution the halo of martyrdom, and gave Americans a sense of the divine providence of their cause.

Many histories of the Revolution have noted the connection between religion and war, but Sacred Scripture, Sacred War is the first to provide a detailed analysis of specific biblical texts and how they were used, especially in making the patriotic case for war. Combing through more than 500 wartime sources, which include more than 17,000 biblical citations, Byrd shows precisely how the Bible shaped American war, and how war in turn shaped Americans' view of the Bible.

Brilliantly researched and cogently argued, Sacred Scripture, Sacred War sheds new light on the American Revolution.

©2013 Oxford University Press (P)2014 Audible Inc.

Objective and detailed analysis.

Corrects some erroneous claims by historians about the role of millenarianism in the American colonies, while exploring the nuanced and contradictory ways in which believers interpreted the scriptures to support of their assumptions about politics and justifications for war.

Well researched book

I loved this book.
In my opinion, this is the ultimate proof that your God is only as strong as you are. Weak nations don't have strong Gods.
It also proves that God only says and does what we want him to say and do.
Finaly, this books confirms to me that, believers have always possessed more power than none believers.

Well balanced

great listen. The book was not overly religious nor was it a antiamerica book worth the time to listen.

Excellent!

this was just what I was looking for. It's a real eye opener about the difference in modern and past theology. It seems that all the theological battles of the revolution have been forgotten.This has been my most bookmarked audiobook and I will definitely read again.

Good Book

This was a really good book. it helped me understand the relationship between American wars and religion better.