A couple of centuries of national pride and the gentle glow that history casts on winners have given today’s U.S. citizens a rather staid view of the radicals and revolutionaries who built a country from former colonies. Not only did they wage treasonous war against their king, but many of the crafters of our constitution were religious radicals. There were Quakers and Methodists and Christians who rejected the authority of the Bible.
There were also deists among the people who shaped our government. In his recent book, Nature’s God: The Heretical Origins of the American Republic, philosopher Matthew Stewart tells their story. He traces the strains of deism in Enlightenment thinking and shows how it shaped our country.
Related Links:
- Matthew Stewart's website
- Matthew Stewart on Wikipedia
- "Locke's Disguised Spinozism" by Wim Klever (pdf)
- "The Original Tea Partier Was an Atheist"
- "Hobby Lobby and the Separation of Church and Business"
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