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Americanism:The Fourth Great Western Religion
 
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Americanism:The Fourth Great Western Religion (Hardcover)

~ David Gelernter (Author)
3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)


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11 new from $24.76 23 used from $0.19 1 collectible from $24.95

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  Kindle Edition, June 19, 2007 $14.97 -- --
  Hardcover, June 18, 2007 -- $24.76 $0.19

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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

American Enterprise Institute fellow Gelernter argues that America is a biblical republic and Americanism a biblical religion encompassing an American Creed with three political ideals (liberty, equality, and democracy) and a doctrine, American Zionism, incorporating the biblically derived ideas of a chosen people in a promised land. Americanism is global. There's no need to be American, or to believe in God, to subscribe to it. Still, to understand Americanism, you need to understand America. Gelernter discusses the emergence of Americanism through several crucial events in American history: the Puritan exodus from England, the American Revolution, the Civil War, World War I, the cold war, and Islamic terrorism. He insists that his book is neither history nor group portrait but instead "an essay in folk philosophy." Not everyone will agree with Gelernter's conclusions (e.g., "If there is to be justice in the world, America must create it"), but he offers fascinating food for thought. Sawyers, June


Review

Advance Praise for Americanism

"David Gelernter is a national treasure, a patriot-scholar. In Americanism, he explains what America is to him—an idea, a belief, a religion. The City on a Hill has no greater or more powerful an advocate.”
—Bill Bennett, host of Bill Bennett's Morning in America and author of America: The Last Best Hope

“David Gelernter always has something fresh to say about any subject he touches, but never has he been so original as in this brilliant analysis of what is truly distinctive about America and in the new idea he propounds of the role played by the Bible—and especially the Old Testament—in the evolution of our special national character.”
—Norman Podhoretz, author of The Prophets and editor-at-large, Commentary magazine


From the Hardcover edition. --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 240 pages
  • Publisher: Doubleday; First Edition/First Printing edition (June 19, 2007)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0385513127
  • ISBN-13: 978-0385513128
  • Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #120,276 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category: (What's this?)

    #26 in  Books > Nonfiction > Current Events > International

More About the Author

David Hillel Gelernter
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Customer Reviews

9 Reviews
5 star:
 (4)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:
 (1)
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Average Customer Review
3.4 out of 5 stars (9 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
51 of 63 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating analysis of our American history, July 3, 2007
By Phebe Carlotta (Fort Wayne, IN USA) - See all my reviews
Wow was this a revelation to me! I felt as if I was in the beginning class and an expert professor was leading me through some fasinating connections. You might not agree with the good Professor's conclusions but you must read them and be tested on your previous views of the world of the Founders and those of us who have followed them. Based on previous articles I have read by the author and some blogger recommendations, I bought the book, couldn't put it down and will be chewing it over for several re-reads. This is what thinking leads to and I urge you to exercise your mind with this book. Plus it is beautiful.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating discussion, December 23, 2007
Riding on the heels of Dangerous Nation: America's Foreign Policy from Its Earliest Days to the Dawn of the Twentieth Century (Vintage) and Who Are We: The Challenges to America's National Identity this book tries to examine the culture of America and its uniqueness. His greatest quest is to discover the deep hidden and subconscious traits that have made America and Americans throughout the years since independence. He encourages readers to learn more about America through this prism rather than judging America based on simplistic views of 'conservative' and 'Fast food nation.'

THe only slight qualm is that the author describes something called 'American Zionism' when he should properly have called it American israelitism, which was the term for it in the 19th century. It is no secret that from the earliest pilgrims such as Winthrop through the present day America has been seen as a 'city on the hill' or the 'new Jerusalem'. Mormons took this a step further and created a religion where America literally became the new Zion.

This book examines the religious heritage of America, her Protestant origins and her insistance on freedom and individualism.

A very well written account that provides further understanding of American heritage, history and culture.

Seth J. Frantzman
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11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Americanism and it's effect on our culture, a clear distinction, August 23, 2007
By Paul S. Mccullough (Bremerton, Wa., USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
An excellent insight into the development of the religious context of American history. The religious underpinnings of the American culture are very well expressed and their historic significance makes clear a fundamental difference we have and will continue to have with Europe, necessitating, I believe, a better understanding of why we see the world and our role in it through a different lens.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, the truth about the U.S.A.!
This book is a must-read for all Americans. It exposes the left loonies'drivel that we have had to swallow the past 50 years. The truth is:The U.S.A. Read more
Published 19 months ago by B. Smith

4.0 out of 5 stars A very interesting approach to American history and American Exceptionalism
David Gelernter is passionate, intelligent, and a wonderful writer. I enjoyed reading this book a great deal. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Craig Matteson

1.0 out of 5 stars Some Call It Idolatry
Gelernter has a worshipful devotion to America. It goes beyond appreciation or support for the nation. The author is convinced that America is God's very own chosen nation. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Craig M. Watts

3.0 out of 5 stars Helpful for understanding neocon thought
Basically, this is where author David Gelernter wants to take us: George W. Bush and the neoconservative agenda he figureheads are the modern day embodiment of the Spirit of... Read more
Published 21 months ago by A. D. Handman

1.0 out of 5 stars Right-wing nonsense
This is a man with a ultraconservative agenda who again and again (and yet again) spouts the same religious nonsense about our nation and how and why it was founded. Read more
Published on October 30, 2007 by L. Murray

2.0 out of 5 stars A muddle-headed mess
Many of America's earliest European settlers, the Massachusetts Bay Puritans in particular, viewed America as a new Israel, and the Europe they'd escaped from as a new Egypt... Read more
Published on July 2, 2007 by a reader

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