Founding Sins: How a Group of Anti-slavery Radicals Fought to Put Christ into the Constitution

Document Type

Book Review

Publication Date

10-2016

Keywords

Abolition, Slavery, Religion, Church and state

Abstract

"Joseph S. Moore’s new book is a reminder that history is at its best when it punctures our assumptions about both the present and the past. To do only one or the other makes history appear either overly presentist and preachy or purely antiquarian and irrelevant. Moore’s work calls into question the current claims of many “Christian America” advocates by pointing out that American is actually more overtly Christian today than it was at the founding. He also resurrects the story of a largely overlooked group of reformed radicals who were both highly Biblicist in their outlook, and very progressive in their racial politics, two views that were not often acknowledged as coexisting." [Excerpted from review]

Journal Title

American Historical Review

Volume

121

Issue

4

First Page

1281

Last Page

1282

Book Title

Founding Sins: How a Group of Anti-slavery Radicals Fought to Put Christ into the Constitution

Editor

Joseph S, Moore, author

Publisher

Oxford University Press

City

New York, NY

ISBN

9780190269241

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1093/ahr/121.4.1281

First Department

Church History

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