Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Pages: 678
•
Trim: 7¼ x 10
978-1-5381-4166-3 • Hardback • September 2020 • $132.00 • (£102.00)
978-1-5381-4167-0 • eBook • September 2020 • $125.00 • (£96.00)
John R. Vile (Ph.D. University of Virginia) is a Professor of Political Science and Dean of the University Honors College at Middle Tennessee State University. He is the author and editor of numerous other works on constitutional law and U.S. history, and such basic American documents and symbols as the Declaration of Independence, the Constitutional Convention of 1787, the U.S. Constitution and Its Amendments, the American Flag, the Liberty Bell, and the National Anthem.
The Bible in American Law and Politics: A Reference Guide, by John R. Vile, is a welcomed resource for surveying and exploring the Bible’s contributions to American political and legal cultures. . . Professor Vile is both academically rigorous in his assessment of the subject matter and respectful of the faith claims he examines. . . . The Bible in American Law and Politics makes a compelling case that the Bible has been a wellspring of principles, themes, values, symbols, and narratives that have informed—for good and ill—diverse aspects of American politics and law. It offers insights into the people, ideas, and events, shaped by a biblical culture, that have influenced the nation’s civic life. It also serves as a reminder and a warning that the widespread biblical illiteracy of our own age will inevitably distort the conception Americans have of themselves as a people, their history, and their political endeavors.
— Providence Magazine
The Bible in American Law and Politics by John R. Vile provides relatively short and immensely useful entries surveying and distilling scholarship on a tremendous array of subjects. Students of American history, biblical interpretation, and political rhetoric, as well as all those seeking a fuller appreciation of the immeasurable impact the Bible has had, and continues to have, on the American story, stand to gain much from Vile’s exhaustive and engaging work.
— The Straus Center
- Approximately 300 entries on topics on the Bible in American law and politics from Christopher Columbus and the Puritans to the present.
- Extensive cross references.
- An extensive bibliography of more than 1100 sources.
- Both a regular index and an index to biblical references.
- An extensive timeline