The Theme Is Freedom: Religion, Politics, and the American Tradition [Paperback]

M. Stanton Evans (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 3, 1996

"Evans makes a powerful case for returning the nation to high moral ground for, he says, freedom cannot exist in the absence of morality based on religion. A profound scholar, he has probed the words of the Founders." Indianapolis Star

Product Details

• Paperback: 366 pages
• Publisher: Regnery Publishing (April 3, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0895267187
• ISBN-13: 978-0895267184
• Product Dimensions: 5.7 x 8.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #206,757 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Traces our founding principles back to the middle ages. May 15, 1998

By Cynthia Loyd

Format:Paperback

This book challenges the idea that the principles this country was founded on were derived from the Enlightenment philosophers. Evans describes the evolution of concepts like the rule of law, property rights and limits on the power of kings, and traces them back to medieval England even before Magna Carta and demonstrates that these ideas had been very thoroughly discussed, argued and implemented for centuries in England before the first colonies were formed, and written compacts and constitutions of the early colonies reflect this.

Evans convincingly argues that Christianity provided the fertile ground in which these ideas were able to take root and prosper, and provides plenty of quotes and footnotes to back it up. He also makes the point that Christian Europe was the only place in the history of the world where these ideas DID take root, and that even today, freedom is a fairly rare commodity elsewhere in the world.

It is his contention that the idea that all men are created equal was introduced to the world by Christianity, and that it was Christianity that gave feudal nobles the authority to challenge the power of kings.

I'm not a religious person, but am beginning to realize that I had a whole bunch of misguided preconceptions about what the Christian religion is and is not responsible for, and will never swallow the politically correct line again without a healthy dose of skepticism.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in the history of the individual liberties our constitution was intended to ensure.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful November 24, 2001

By Dave Huber

Format:Paperback

I was assigned this book to read for a master's class several years ago, and how glad I was for it. Evans thoroughly backs up his arguments -- and in my view, his most compelling stance is that the American Revolution was actually a *conservative* one, directly challenging modern "conventional wisdom." How so? In a nutshell, he says that by desiring to uphold decades and centuries of established legal foundations, the Founders were at odds with an England (Parliament) that was more and more acting without lawful permission. A must read for those interested in *true* liberalism ("classic" liberalism), not contemporary liberalism.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Evans combines great thinking with thorough research November 4, 1998

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

Stanton is one to the few authors that dares to question and rethink widely accepted assumptions on the roots of (America's) liberal tradition. Great thinking and interesting reading. A recommendation for everyone who values freedom and its Christian roots

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The theme is freedom... The title says it all! August 21, 2004

By R. Setliff

Format:Paperback

From the teachings of Jesus Christ and Saint Augustine, to the Magna Carta and Blackstone, and still onward to the Puritans and the American founding fathers, M. Stanton Evans traces the ascendancy of liberty in the West. Evans gives particular attention to the roots of Western liberty, which arose in the fertile soil of Christianity; added focus is given to the Anglo-American common law tradition. This is a prudent piece of scholarship that eschews the Enlightenment conception of history while explaining how religion-specifically the Christian faith-has helped fortify corporate liberty in the West and particularly in Anglo-American civilization. Liberty owes as much to the institutions that progressively developed as it does to political philosophy.

The chapter entitled the Age of Despots explores the collectivist and totalitarian movements whose progenitors Robbspierre and Rousseau helped to inspire countless revolutionaries. Evans makes light of the anti-Christian character of twentieth-century totalitarian ideologies, which are essentially millenarian religions. Hitler stated that Nazis hoped "to eradicate Christianity in Germany root and branch." Mussolini signaled a disdain for objective truth in declaring: "If relativism signifies contempt for fixed categories and men who claim to be bearers of an external objective truth, then there is nothing more relativistic than fascistic attitudes and activity..." For fascists and collectivists, truth was subjective and they were apt to affirm their will to power; they sought to tailor their own collectivist ideology, propel it into the limelight, and espouse it as the Gospel truth. Fascists embraced the sentiments of Thrysamachus in Plato's Republic who defined justice as the will of the strongest. Simply put, might makes right!... Evans asks a pressing question: in the absence or refutation of religious and ethical absolutes, who will define the truth and who will define right and wrong? The American Republic must refocus her sight on the first principles of her framers least she succumb to the totalitarian trap and morph into a totalist Enlightenment polity.

If Men were Angels is an exploration into human nature; this chapter drawing from a Madisonian proverb affirms the necessity of government owing itself to original sin and fallen man. A corollary to a mistrust of human nature is a mistrust of power, which is precisely why the framers of the Constitution sought to fortify checks and balances and decentralize power in the United States.

In contrast to pro-Enlightenment interpretations of history, which exalt the French Revolution and mystical belief in progress, Evans finds the ascendancy of Christianity as end to the absolutism of the pagan regimes. While the state exists to restrain evil (i.e. force and fraud), the state itself was to be retrained, because a mistrust of human nature and concentrated power. The Calvinist belief in man's depravity played no small role in the development of the Anglo-American polity. The proteges of Jean-Jacques Rousseau do not acknowledge sin, but rather characterize society as sick and men as being perfectable if freed from the shackles of sick society. M. Stanton Evans does a remarkable job at explaining the debt that Americans owe to Christianity in the political developments that made the West free. He offers prescriptive wisdom against Enlightenment ideologies promising absolute freedom, which usually results in an absolutist state. Likewise, he eschews the Byzantine symbiosis of church and state, in favor of Protestant conceptions of sphere sovereignty, which acknowledges the God ordained sovereignty of the ecclesiastical and civil governments in their respective sphere. All things considered, this book is an impressive contribution to political science by capturing the interplay of religion, politics and tradition in the last few centuries.

A special thanks to my former political science professor Dr. S.A. Samson for introducing me to Evans' book. Read more ›

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Avg Joe vs. M. Stanton Evans December 30, 2011

By Lea R. McMillan

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Hard to read unless you're a political history buff and know all the quotes from past leaders and commentators. But as an average Joe, if you can hang in there through the boring parts there are many great insights, ideas and revelations that he presents in a way that can be understood.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars On time and as described. August 15, 2010

By C. Collins

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Sadly, the people who need this book most, students of modern academia, won't read it. Also, I wish it had more writings from those who preceded Burke, Jefferson, et al. like Aquinas and Albertus Magnus, who first laid down many if not most of the ideas that illuminated the Age of Enlightenment.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Book with Lots of Solid Facts June 22, 2010

By Thomas L. Snyder

Format:Paperback

As noted in the title, this is a brilliant book with many solid facts that provide an excellent starting point in describing the American political system forming the basis of the United States Constitution. The author cuts through many misconceptions in a convincing fashion that should excite any objective or fair historian or lay reader. Though I think the author is correct, that doesn't mean, however, that further historical investigation would find no flaws whatsoever. That said, the book does seem to confirm my own personal research using other sources.

All in all, this book is essential reading for everyone, especially our political, judicial and educational leaders.