Okay, maybe you won’t be reading all of these books today. (If it weren’t for ebooks you wouldn’t have the option to read any of these books today, since this post is dropping on the 4th.) But if you’re looking for a place to start thinking about being a Christian and an American (or for you from around the world, a snapshot of the ways Americans approach the intersection of faith, politics, and history), here are a few starters for you:
- Did America Have a Christian Founding? by Mark David Hall. There are several books like this, but Hall’s is recent, fair, and written in an engaging style.
- Christianity and Politics by Richard Nelson. If you’re looking for something a little more devotional that doubles as a quick read (and triples as a memoir), this short book is a good one to pick up.
- Religion and Republic by Miles Smith. Slightly more academic than the other books on this list, Religion and Republic is still a good read and one worth having under your belt.
- We the Fallen People by Robert McKenzie. Again, a more academic book, but one that you should read if you want to think carefully and well about religion, the Founding, and how our ideas of it have changed over time.
- Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville. Why not go full nerd and read the greatest book ever written about America? Don’t worry, I’ve linked John Wilsey’s abridged version rather than the full four-part beast that we are all unlikely to read.
So there you have it–four good starting points to reflect on America on the 4th of July. Happy reading!
Dr. Coyle Neal is co-host of the City of Man Podcast an Amazon Associate (which is linked in this blog), and an Associate Professor of Political Science at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, MO
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