God's New Israel: Religious Interpretations of American Destiny

by Conrad Cherry

The belief that America has been providentially chosen for a
special destiny has deep roots in the country's past. As both a
stimulus of creative American energy and a source of American
self-righteousness, this notion has long served as a motivating
national mythology.

God's New Israel is a collection of thirty-one readings that trace the theme of American destiny under God through major developments in U.S. history. First published in 1971 and now thoroughly updated to reflect contemporary events, it features the words of such prominent and diverse Americans as Jonathan Edwards, Thomas Jefferson, Brigham Young, Chief Seattle, Abraham Lincoln, Frances Willard, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Ralph Reed, and Rosemary Radford Ruether. Neither a history of American religious denominations nor a history of American theology, this book is instead an illuminating look at how religion has helped shape Americans' understanding of themselves as a people.

Genres: Religion, Nonfiction, History

448 pages, Paperback

First published November 28, 1971

Reviews

[Andrew Dionne · Rating 1 out of 5]

Comprehensive anthology of American thought on national destiny spanning the course of several centuries. Mostly bad theology. Good for historiography.

[Marvin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of readings with introductions that I originally read in grad school & more recently used for my adult ed class at church on religion & politics.

[Melissa McDonald]

p. 343-355; p. 356-371

[MsChris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kind of a dry book. Some if the included pieces were good but the general essays were hard to read.