具体描述
The culture wars have distorted the dramatic story of how Americans came to worship freely. Many activists on the right maintain that the United States was founded as a “Christian nation.” Many on the left contend that the Founders were secular or Deist and that the First Amendment was designed to boldly separate church and state throughout the land. None of these claims are true, argues Beliefnet.com editor in chief Steven Waldman. With refreshing objectivity, Waldman narrates the real story of how our nation’s Founders forged a new approach to religious liberty, a revolutionary formula that promoted faith . . . by leaving it alone.
This fast-paced narrative begins with earlier settlers’ stunningly unsuccessful efforts to create a Christian paradise, and concludes with the presidencies of Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and Madison, during which the men who had devised lofty principles regarding the proper relationship between church and state struggled to practice what they’d preached. We see how religion helped cause, and fuel, the Revolutionary War, and how the surprising alliance between Enlightenment philosophers such as Jefferson and Madison and evangelical Christians resulted in separation of church and state.
As the drama unfolds, Founding Faith vividly describes the religious development of five Founders. Benjamin Franklin melded the morality-focused Puritan theology of his youth and the reason-based Enlightenment philosophy of
his adulthood. John Adams’s pungent views on religion–hatred of the Church of England and Roman Catholics–stoked his revolutionary fervor and shaped his political strategy. George Washington came to view religious tolerance as a military necessity. Thomas Jefferson pursued a dramatic quest to “rescue” Jesus, in part by editing the Bible. Finally, it was James Madison–the tactical leader of the battle for religious freedom–who crafted an integrated vision of how to prevent tyranny while encouraging religious vibrancy.
The spiritual custody battle over the Founding Fathers and the role of religion in America continues today. Waldman provocatively argues that neither side in the culture war has accurately depicted the true origins of the First Amendment. He sets the record straight, revealing the real history of religious freedom to be dramatic, unexpected, paradoxical, and inspiring.
An interactive library of the key writings by the Founding Father, on separation of church and state, personal faith, and religious liberty can be found at www.beliefnet.com/foundingfaith.
<u>Praise for Founding Faith
</u>"Steven Waldman's enlightening new book, "Founding Faith," is wise and engaging on many levels, but Waldman has done a particular service in detailing Madison's role in creating a culture of religious freedom that has served America so well for so long…."Founding Faith" is an excellent book about an important subject: the inescapable—but manageable—intersection of religious belief and public life. With a grasp of history and an understanding of the exigencies of the moment, Waldman finds a middle ground between those who think of the Founders as apostles in powdered wigs and those who assert, equally inaccurately, that the Founders believed religion had no place in politics."–Newsweek
"Well-wrought, well-written and well-reasoned—a welcome infusion of calm good sense into a perennially controversial and relevant subject."–Kirkus
"Founding Faith takes up two central questions about religion in early America. First, what did such Founding Fathers as <u>Benjamin Franklin</u>, <u>John Adams</u>, <u>George Washington</u>, <u>Thomas Jefferson</u> and James Madison usually believe? And second, how did it come about that the First Amendment to the Constitution guarantees that "Congress shall make no laws respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof"? The answers to these questions carry implications for our lives today, since at stake is the flash-point principle of the separation of church and state." –Washington Post
“There is a fierce custody battle going on out there for ownership of the Founding Fathers. Founding Faith strikes me as a major contribution to that debate, a sensible and sophisticated argument that the Founders’ religious convictions defy our current categories.”
–Joseph Ellis, author of American Creation
“Steven Waldman does a great job describing the nuances of the Founders’ beliefs and the balances they struck, thus rescuing them from those on both sides who would oversimplify their ideas.”
–Walter Isaacson, president of the Aspen Institute and author of Benjamin Franklin: An American Life.
“This is a history every American should know, and Waldman masterfully tells it.”
–Jim Wallis, author of The Great Awakening
“Steven Waldman recovers the founders’ true beliefs with an insightful and truly original argument. It will change the way you think about the separation of church and state.”
–George Stephanopoulos, chief Washington correspondent, ABC News, and anchor of This Week
“Steve Waldman makes the strong case that the culture wars have distorted how and why we have religious freedom in America. Americans can be inspired by this story–the extraordinary birth story of freedom of religion.”
–William J. Bennett, author of America: The Last Best Hope
“An unusually well-balanced book on an unusually controversial subject. Not every reader will agree with Waldman that, of the Founding Fathers, James Madison’s conclusions about religion and society were best. But all should be grateful for the way Waldman replaces myths with facts, clarifies the complexity in making the Founders speak to present-day problems, and allows the Founders who differed with Madison a full and sympathetic hearing. An exceptionally fair, well-researched, and insightful book.”
–Mark A. Noll, University of Notre Dame, author of America’s God
作者简介
目录信息
读后感
用户评价
哇，我最近读到的这本《Founding Faith》简直是让我惊艳！这本书的作者，其文字功底可以说是炉火纯青，将那些宏大的历史事件和复杂的人物情感描绘得栩栩如生，仿佛我亲身置于那个时代，感受着他们的喜怒哀乐。从开篇的某个具体场景切入，就瞬间抓住了我的眼球，让我无法自拔地想要知道接下来会发生什么。书中对细节的刻画更是令人称道，无论是当时的社会风貌、人物的服饰装扮，还是日常生活中的细枝末节，都被描绘得细致入微，极大地增强了故事的真实感和沉浸感。更让我印象深刻的是，作者在叙事节奏的把握上非常到位，有张有弛，时而紧张激烈，时而舒缓悠长，总能恰到好处地牵动读者的情绪，让人随着故事的发展而心潮起伏。那种身临其境的感觉，是在很多书中都很难获得的。读到某些情节时，我会不由自主地屏住呼吸，生怕错过任何一个细微之处，直到故事发展到新的转折点，才敢长舒一口气。它不仅仅是一本书，更像是一场穿越时空的盛宴，让我得以窥见历史的真实肌理，品味人性的复杂与光辉。
《Founding Faith》这本书，给我带来了前所未有的冲击和启发。作者的叙事方式非常独特，他不是按部就班地讲述历史，而是通过一些意想不到的切入点，将读者带入故事的核心。这种非线性叙事，反而更加引人入胜，让我充满了探究的欲望。书中对人物心理的描绘达到了一个新的高度，那些隐藏在表面之下的情感暗流，那些难以启齿的欲望和挣扎，都被作者毫不留情地揭示出来，让人不禁为之震撼。我不得不说，作者的洞察力是惊人的，他能够捕捉到那些普通人可能忽略的细节，并将其放大，从而揭示出更深层次的意义。这本书让我意识到，历史的进程，往往是由无数个看似微不足道的个人选择所累积而成的。它不仅是一部历史读物，更是一部关于人性的深刻探讨。每次读完一章，我都会被深深地吸引，迫不及待地想知道接下来会发生什么，但同时又会放慢速度，希望这份阅读的乐趣能持续得更久一些。
我最近阅读的这本《Founding Faith》，绝对是一次难忘的文学之旅。作者以其独特的视角，重新解读了一个我以为自己已经足够了解的时代，却在翻开书页的那一刻，发现自己对过往的认知是多么的浅薄。书中所展现的人物关系网错综复杂，但作者却能游刃有余地梳理清楚，每一个人物的出现都恰到好处，推动着故事的发展，也展现着那个时代的社会图景。我特别喜欢书中对一些关键时刻的描写，那种紧张感、危机感，以及人物在其中所做的艰难抉择，都让我为之动容。作者的文字，仿佛带着一种魔力，能够轻易地将我带入那个氛围，让我感同身受。它不是那种一眼就能看透的书，需要你静下心来，细细品味，每一次阅读都会有新的发现和感悟。这本书让我看到了历史的另一面，也让我对“信仰”这个词有了更深刻的理解。我甚至会在阅读的间隙，停下来思考书中人物的处境，设身处地地去体会他们的感受，这种沉浸式的阅读体验，实在太棒了。
这次的阅读体验，可以说是惊喜连连，也充满了独特的思考。作者在《Founding Faith》中，巧妙地将历史的洪流与个体的命运紧密地交织在一起，展现了在时代巨变下，不同人物的选择与挣扎。书中那些鲜活的人物形象，并非是简单的符号，而是有血有肉，有缺点也有闪光点，他们的动机和行为逻辑都得到了细致的剖析，让读者能够深入理解他们的内心世界。尤其是某些人物的成长轨迹，那种从迷茫到坚定，或者从理想主义到现实主义的转变，都刻画得极其真实，引人深思。作者的语言风格也很有特色，时而如涓涓细流，娓娓道来，时而又如惊涛拍岸，气势磅礴，两种风格的切换自如，为作品增添了丰富的层次感。它让我开始重新审视一些历史事件的根源，以及那些看似微不足道的决定如何最终汇聚成改变世界的力量。这本书不仅仅是讲述一个故事，更是在引导读者去思考“为什么”，去探究事件背后的深层原因，以及那些被历史尘埃掩埋的真相。《Founding Faith》给我带来的，是一种对历史更深层次的理解和敬畏。
我得说，《Founding Faith》这本书，绝对是我近年来读过最令人印象深刻的作品之一。作者的写作风格非常具有辨识度，他能够用一种既朴实又充满力量的语言，讲述那些宏大而复杂的历史事件。这本书最让我着迷的地方在于，它不仅仅是陈述事实，更是充满了情感的温度。书中那些人物，无论大小，都如同活生生的人一般，他们的喜怒哀乐，他们的坚持与放弃，都深深地打动了我。我被书中某些情节的真实性所震撼，那种在逆境中不屈不挠的精神，那种为了信念而付出的代价，都让我肃然起敬。作者在构建故事时，对于细节的把握可以说是到了极致，每一个场景，每一次对话，都仿佛经过精心打磨，没有丝毫的冗余。它让我在阅读的过程中，不断地产生共鸣，甚至会时不时地思考，如果是我处于同样的环境，我会做出怎样的选择？这本书不仅仅填补了我对某个历史时期的认知空白，更重要的是，它激起了我对人性深处力量的探索，让我对“信仰”这个概念有了更全面的理解。
