Synopses & Reviews
The Puritan founder John Winthrop preached about a city upon a hill, Abraham Lincoln's two greatest speeches have been called sermons on the mount, and Martin Luther King's I Have A Dream oration is nothing if not a sermon. Not only can the history of the United States be told through its reflection in the landmark sermons preached from its pulpits and in front of its memorials, but in fact it was often the sermon that inspired and helped define American history.
Between the colonization of America and the terrorist attacks of September 2001, the sermon has both shaped America's self-understanding and reflected both sides of its most important social, political, military, and philosophical debates. That is the story of A City Upon a Hill: How the Sermon Made America, a narrative history of events, people, and ideas, showing us at our best--and sometimes at our worst. The book will cover American history from 1606 to 2001, building links between the pulpit and politics, between preachers and presidents, between sermons and historical events.
A City Upon a Hill will elaborate on two unifying themes. The first and central theme will be the idea of America as a chosen nation (raised as recently as the second inaugural of President Bush in 2005). A second underlying theme will be the perennial debate in America between liberty and order. In addition, the role of the sermon as the first mass media will be examined.
As a narrative history, A City Upon a Hillwill ask about, for example, the role of religion in the American Revolution and slavery, whether religious affiliation has grown or declined in various centuries, and how much ideas and beliefs affected policies, andvice versa. The sermon offers a uniquely compelling vehicle to tell the national story. The sermon shows that what America says and believes can often be better than what it does, serving as a national conscience amid centuries of triumphalist claims. The sermon gathers together four centuries of disparate strands and provides a solid grip for defining a nation.
Review
One of the “Top Ten Books Every Preacher Should Read” Preaching Magazine
Review
Journalist Witham narrates the history of preaching in America with good pacing and delicious detail. Publishers Weekly
Review
“[Witham] weaves the summaries into . . . a history of the theology contained in the American sermon.” Wall Street Journal
Review
Award-winning religion writer Larry Witham says the pulpit has profoundly influenced crucial public debates over independence, abolition, prohibition, civil rights and much more. American History
Synopsis
A City Upon a Hill: How the Sermon Made America shows the United States at its best - and sometimes at its worst. The sermon can serve as a national conscience, and can also be viewed as the first form of mass media. Not only can the nation's history be traced in the landmark sermons preached from its pulpits and in front of its memorials, but in fact it was often the sermon that inspired and helped define America.
Larry Witham presents the first serious examination of religious rhetoric and how it both reflected and inspired public opinion and policy throughout American history. Witham analyses the influence of religion on the Founding Fathers, Abraham Lincoln, John Brown, Martin Luther King, Jr., and many other eminent figures. A City Upon a Hill also features a timeline connecting famous sermons and inspirational speeches to important events in American history.
Larry Witham is the author of The Measure of God, Where Darwin Meets the Bible and By Design: Science and the Search for God. As a journalist, he has won the Religion Communicators Council's Wilbur Award three times, several prizes from the Religion Newswriters Association, and a Templeton Foundation award for his articles on science and religion. He has appeared on C SPAN, the CBN "700 Club" and Fox News. He lives in Burtonsville, Maryland.
"The sermon is America's characteristic form of speech, and this book is a brilliant exposition of that form. From Winthrop to King and beyond, we speak and hear of our destiny as a nation in the voice of the sermon. This is an invaluable guide." -- Peter Gomes, author of The Good Book: Reading the Bible with Heart and Mind
--Preaching Magazine
Synopsis
The Words That Stirred a Nation
From colonial times to the present, from Abraham Lincoln to Billy Graham, the sermon has been the dynamic medium through which America conducts its most important debates, motivating us to fight wars as well as fight for peace and ultimately defining the course of our history. A City Upon a Hill tells the American story through these powerful words, showing us at our best—and sometimes at our worst.
About the Author
Larry Witham is the author of The Measure of God, Where Darwin Meets the Bible, and By Design: Science and the Search for God. As a journalist, he has won the Religion Communicators Council's Wilbur Award three times and has received several prizes from the Religion Newswriters Association as well as a Templeton Foundation award for his articles on science and religion.