Articles for tag: Civil Religion

October 8, 2016

Christian Standard

Patriotism, Idolatry, and Evangelism

By Rubel Shelly In my opinion, the United States of America is a wonderful, though imperfect, country. One could even call it exceptional in many ways among all the nations of the world, but I refuse the designation “American exceptionalist.” An American woman can love her country and be deeply patriotic because she appreciates its uniqueness and marvelous history. She might point to such things as its abundant natural resources and favorable climate. More likely, she would talk even more about the freedoms of speech, press, and religion. There is the protection under law its citizens enjoy. She could reference its

October 7, 2016

Christian Standard

Culture, Country, & Christ

Books to shed light on conventional notions of God and country By Jim Tune “Is the United States an exceptional nation? Of course it is. . . . Though not everyone may like the way the United States has used its exceptional status over the course of the last two centuries, it is hard to deny that it has been . . . extraordinary.” So says John Fea in his foreword to John D. Wilsey”s American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion. Personally, I”m inclined to agree. In my research, the authors of the books I surveyed are, for the most part, in agreement

July 4, 2016

Christian Standard

Is There a Christian Nation?

By Robert F. Hull Jr. God of our fathers, known of old”” Lord of our far-flung battle line”” Beneath whose awful hand we hold Dominion over palm and pine”” Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet, Lest we forget””lest we forget! This is the first stanza of the poem “Recessional,” written by Rudyard Kipling for Queen Victoria”s Diamond Jubilee in 1897. Although British might was still so “far-flung” that it was said “the sun never sets on the British Empire,” in his poem Kipling worried that the nation might become “drunk with sight of power” and forget the God

Secret Link