Title

On two wings : humble faith and common sense at the American founding

Description

Michael Novak's work on the religious conviction of Washington, Jefferson, and Madison and its relation to the founding if the United States.

Identifier

992206

1893554341

Creator

Novak, Michael

Format

1st ed.

Source

Brian Lamb Booknotes Collection

Gift of Brian Lamb, 2011.

Catalog record

Language

eng

Date

2002

Program air date: March 17, 2002

Publisher

Encounter Books

George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections & Archives

Subject

"United States. Constitution--Signers--Religious life."

"Church and state--United States--History--18th century."

"Religion and politics--United States--History--18th century."

"Statesmen--Religious life--United States."

Relation

Original Booknotes interview

Rights

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Text

Transcription of Annotations
Notes from front endpapers: "Providence. - John Locke; Tocqueville; Thomas Aquinas. - First official prayer in Cont. Congress, 1774. - Book idea germinated in 1964; 1987: Notre Dame - 6 lectures in Phil.; Catholic U.: 4 lectures, 2000; AEI since 1978. - Most religiously detached was Jefferson. - Reason and Faith - two wings at founding. - Adams; no mention of McCullough; Jefferson - Madison intellectual and legal bankruptcy on position on church and state has been exposed, p. 155. - 89 signers of Dec. and Const.: home state constitutions required them to be Christian Protestants. - 'God Bless America' ends most political speeches. - Signers of Declaration gave 4 names to God (56): Creator, Law giver, Judge, Providence." -- Annotations by Brian Lamb in the margins and underlining of pertinent phrases throughout the book. -- Examples: p. 19: "The men of the Continental Army must secure God's blessing on their efforts every day, by every means within their power." -- p. 29: "America's founders believed that the Bible is the best book on republican principles ever written." -- p. 32: "In France I had seen the spirits of religion and of freedom almost always marching in opposite directions. In America I found them intimately linked together in joint reign over the same land." -- p. 66: "One of the central ironies of American history is that many today boast of our being a nation of individuals, whereas a crucial reality for which our ancestors fought and died was a large community, the Union." -- p. 89: "It is the great merit of the Protestant Christian religion (which in this is remarkable close to Orthodox Judaism) that it emphasizes both religious and personal responsibility and self-mastery".