Christians in the American Revolution

'Blending a commanding knowledge of the fi eld with a rare gift for synthesis and lucidexpression, Mark Noll brings to life what it meant for Christians in a diff erent time andplace to wrestle with the political implications of their faith.'Nathan O. Hatch, University of Notre Dame'His study . . . should provoke us afresh to a reexamination of the interpretation ofbelief and culture in our own time.'David F. Wells, Gordon-Conwell Theological SeminaryWhen Christians understand the religious history of the United States, withits close connection to political history, they are better prepared to makeknowledgable contributions to the current discussion of national values, priorities andpurposes.Christians in the American Revolution begins with a brief survey of the politicaland religious background of the pre-Revolutionary years. Th e author then examinesthe influence of various religious convictions on the movement for independenceand, conversely, the eff ect of the Revolution on colonial church bodies and theirunderstanding of Christian truth. Colonial Christians responded in four major waysto the Revolution: they supported complete freedom in politics and religion; theyadvocated social and political reform; they called for submission to English authority;and they argued against involvement of Christians in the war eff ort. Whether Patriot,Reformer, Loyalist or Pacifi st, American Christian colonials infl uenced not only thefledgling nation, but the development of religious thought to the present.This revised edition includes a new bibliographic essay detailing contributions to thisfield since the first edition was published in 1977.MARK A. NOLL (PhD, Vanderbilt University) is McManis Professor of ChristianTh ought at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. In recent years he has been avisiting professor at Harvard Divinity School, University of Chicago Divinity School,Westminster Th eological Seminary and Regent College (Vancouver, British Columbia).A widely recognized expert in American religious history, he has written numerousbooks, including America’s God, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind and A History ofChristianity in the United States and Canada.