153. Richard Gamble on the Search for the City on a Hill

In this episode, we welcome Dr. Richard M. Gamble to the show to discuss his book In Search of the City on a Hill: The Making and Unmaking of an American Myth. How did the teaching of the Incarnate Lord, Christ Jesus – a warning to Christians, ministers and about the Church – become secularized and mythologized into a defining mission of the political kingdom of the USA? We start off discussing Civic Religion, and in particular the American Civil Religion. The claims of “secularism” notwithstanding, we go through how the American Civil Religion contains doctrines, creeds, hymns – and even has a patriotic form of “social gospel”, with both political right and left claiming a range of the form it takes. Though right and left claim competing narratives of the American Religion, they share a common framework within which they make religious appeals – often without explicit reference to the Christianity they distort. With that framing, Dr. Gamble takes us through the actual history of the reference “city on a hill”, and the story of how a teaching of Jesus became utilized by Governor John Winthrop in the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Richard then takes us through a tour of how it eventually became a defining creedal statement first utilized by the International Left, via President-elect John F. Kennedy – and then used as a rallying call and defining creedal statement for a Republican coalition by President Ronald Reagan. What’s at stake in the twisting of Scripture for contemporary politics, regardless of the political side who does it? This is “the story not of how the metaphor helped make America what it is today but the story of how America helped make the metaphor what it never was”.Book: In Search of the City on a Hill: The Making and Unmaking of an American MythAlso, Book TV: In Search of the City on a HillOther resources by Dr. Gamble:- The War for Righteousness: Progressive Christianity, the Great War, and the Rise of the Messianic Nation- A Fiery Gospel: The Battle Hymn of the Republic and the Road to Righteous War- “Gettysburg Gospel: How Lincoln forged a civil relgion of American nationalism”- “Breaking the Spell of American Civic Religion”- Review of Wolfe’s Case for Christian NationalismCSPAN Lectures:- “American Civil Religion during the Cold War”- “American Churches during WWI”Also check out this amazing resource: The Great Tradition: Classic Readings on What It Means to Be an Educated Human BeingOther resources:The Gospel of Matthew (NICNT) by R. T. FranceThe Eschatology of the Psalter by Geerhardus VosIn Defense of the Eschaton; "Dutch Neo-Calvinism and the Roots for Transformation: An Introductory Essay"; "Review of VanDrunen's Natural Law and the Two Kingdoms" (WTJ) by William DennisonRedeemer Nation: The Idea of America’s Millenial Role by Ernest Lee Tuveson“Civil Religion in America” by Robert BellahThe Royalist Revolution: Monarchy and the American Founding by Eric NelsonWoodrow Wilson: The Light Withdrawn by Christopher CoxCoolidge by Amity ShlaesTrump Administration statement, “100 Days in, Trump’s Golden Age puts American workers first”, on the U.S. Department of Labor Blog, by Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer: “We are witnessing a resurgence of the same grit, determination, and ingenuity that built our country into a shining city on a hill.”Clip 1: Barack Obama’s 2016 DNC speechClip 2: President Ronald Reagan’s Farewell SpeechClip 3: President Reagan Eulogy for Crew-members of USS Clip 4: President Lyndon B. Johnson Remarks on VietnamClip 5: President-elect John F. KennedyClip 6: President Trump at National Prayer BreakfastClip 7: Jeanine Pirro sworn in as interim US attorney for Washington, D.C.Clip 8: LDS Prophet-President Russell M. Nelson in General ConferenceI hope the listener can hear the flexibility of the use of this creedal statement; everything from hope, to ethical government, to pride - to justice, etc.For the LDS Prophet-President - the "creedal statement" is about stopping "contention" - something he, earlier as an LDS apostle claimed originated in the premortal "war in heaven" when people with bodies here now chose Jesus over Satan in regard to Heavenly Father's plan. (Christians should keep in mind that "Heavenly Father" and "Jesus" are "two separate beings and persons" in LDS theology.)