Religion and Republic: Christian America from the Founding to the Civil War (American Theology Series)

“Religion & Republic is a history book first and foremost. Unlike some contemporary historians, Miles refrains from using history as a (rather obvious) Trojan horse for political and theological agendas. Miles wants to show us what was, not lay out a plan for what ought to be. And yet, if there is an implicit exhortation in the book, it is to consider again the wisdom of “Christian institutionalism.” In good conservative fashion, Miles reminds us that too often evangelicals have prioritized the individual or the nation-state, without giving much thought to the intermediate institutions that sustain human civilization. Christians can start by taking civil and social institutions seriously, not confusing them with the church or confusing the church’s mission with their mission, but taking them seriously nonetheless.”

“Much of the conversation about a Christian America has been marked by either ideological nonsense or historical superficiality — or worse. In this book Miles Smith offers a corrective that is both timely and deeply thoughtful. In Religion & Republic, Smith argues for a distinctively Protestant understanding that corrects much of the confusion that surrounds so many of the historical assertions made by evangelicals. This is a really important book that arrives at a critical moment in the American experience and will greatly illuminate many contemporary debates.”

“In this excellent book, Miles Smith demonstrates that America was a Christian nation from 1789 to at least 1860. He does so in a manner that will be persuasive to scholars and yet accessible to the general reading public. Moreover, he persuasively argues that contemporary Americans, especially Protestants, have much to learn from their predecessors.”

“The early American republic, Miles Smith argues persuasively in this learned study, was a nation of Christians who, notwithstanding commitments to nonestablishment and religious liberty, maintained social, political, legal, and educational institutions aligned with Protestant Christian traditions thought necessary to preserve social order and nourish the civic virtues required for republican government to succeed. Religion & Republic explores often overlooked chapters in American history and bristles with fresh insights that will inform and challenge scholars and polemicists inclined to see the early republic as the denouement of either Christian nationalism or secular liberalism.”

“In this study of American Protestants and public institutions before the Civil War, Miles Smith not only recovers the nooks and crannies of Christian influence on the new nation. He also makes an astute point about the Protestant character of the society that grew out of a founding that was neither formally Christian nor explicitly secular. Readers should not approach this book with hopes for finding a manual for Christian nationalism. What they may find, all the more important, is an appreciation of the myriad of institutions beyond the church and the state that are congenial to religious norms, flexible for outsiders, and necessary for well-functioning societies.”

“By any and every measure, Miles Smith’s first book, Religion and Republic: Christian America from the Founding to the Civil War, is a treat for the soul and a feast for the intellect.”