The Bible in American Law and Politics. John R. Vile

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СКАЧАТЬ course, court cases that specifically address the Bible, typically in public schools or in other public settings, but I have kept these to a minimum both because most do not directly quote the Bible and because I think they are much better treated in the Encyclopedia of the First Amendment, to which I contributed, and which is now accessible online (the First Amendment Encyclopedia). Proponents of numerous causes have associated them with biblical interpretations. Such causes include slavery, temperance, women’s rights, civil rights, and such issues as abortion, same-sex marriage, and the like.

      I have included essays on numerous speeches and documents in U.S. history (typically listed under either the speaker or a prominent analogy like the City upon a Hill) that either rely upon or cite biblical passages. I have also identified a number of key individuals whose writings and speeches are not only religious but distinctively biblical, but, in this respect, I fear that I have barely scratched the surface and that I have undoubtedly left out many such individuals whose lives and political views have been guided by biblical principles. In some cases, I have separate entries on speeches by the same individual because I think that readers might be more likely to look up a speech, for example, the Gettysburg Address or Lincoln’s second inaugural address, by its title than its author.

      There are so many denominations within the United States that it would be difficult to cover them all, but I have included some essays on denominations whose interpretations of the Bible have been most influential or whose interpretations have sometimes brought their adherents to court. Unlike the Encyclopedia of the First Amendment, to which I continue to contribute, this book does not address church/state issues, with which I remain fascinated, unless they specifically involve biblical interpretations.

      In contrast to some earlier volumes, however, this is not a book about the Bible and American culture per se, but it is specifically limited to the Bible in law and politics. Every Sunday, pastors generate thousands of sermons, most of which remain unpublished. As a general rule, I have not specifically referred to sermons unless they specifically related to issues of law and politics and unless they appear to have been more widely disseminated. As I approached the already generous word limit that my publisher provided, I further had to delete a number of entries that I had originally planned, but many of which, thankfully, are at least discussed in passing in existing essays. I am sure that there are many men and women of faith who have cited the Bible as they dealt with political and legal concerns that I have missed, but I continue to hope that this volume might provide at least a guide for those interested in similar scholarly endeavors.

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       Bible Translation

      Although the number of Bible translations has multiplied in recent years, unless the source I am quoting does otherwise, I almost always cite the language of the King James Version. I have done so not because I believe it is necessarily the most accurate (although it had the advantage of having been translated directly from original texts) but because it remains among the most lyrical and has certainly been the most pervasive in U.S. history. I recognize that it is ultimately a translation, which derives its authority from its ability to convey the original meanings of the biblical languages in which it was originally written.

      I know that there are religions that are active in the United States that have sacred texts other than, or in addition to, the Christian Bible, probably most notably the Koran, and there are some societies that can better be studied through the influence of that book (although it was itself influenced by the Bible) or religious texts other than the Christian Bible. If there were a volume that describes the influence of this text on American law and politics, I would most assuredly add it to my library, just as I would be delighted to find a volume similar to my own on the influence of the Bible in English law and politics. My research, however, indicates that the Bible has always had, and continues to have, a fairly unique place in American law and politics and although I do refer to a number of alternate texts (Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s The Woman’s Bible, the Jefferson Bible, the Book of Mormon, and others), they are not the primary subject of this volume.

       Audience for This Book

      I believe that this book will interest students of the Bible, students of American law and politics, historians, lawyers, theologians, and lay persons. As I think back on my own years as both an undergraduate and a graduate student, I wish there had been such a book available while I was seeking topics for term papers and for my own dissertation. I do not recall even thinking about writing my dissertation on some of the biblical topics that I have discovered while writing this book and that, in retrospect, might have proven to be better topics. I will consider this book to be a success if it might scout out the scholarly landscape for future studies relating law and politics to the Bible.

      As with my previous books, this should be of particular help to reference librarians and especially appropriate for high school and public libraries, for college and university libraries, and for more specialized collections on law, theology, and history. Like the Bible itself, it is my hope that the volume is understandable enough to be read with profit both by laypersons and by scholars and theologians.

       Acknowledgments

      I have consulted with numerous scholars on my campus about the subject of this volume and owe particular thanks to Dr. Rebekkah King, Dr. Philip Phillips, Dr. Ryan Korstange, Dr. Cheryl Torsney, and Dr. Fred Rolater. I owe even more to my xxxiiwife, who has endured more than her fair share of conversations on the subject over the past year. An undergraduate, Hailey Clark, further helped with proofing the manuscript. As always, I remain particularly indebted to the individuals at the Walker Library at the Middle Tennessee State University, and especially to those in the interlibrary loan office.

      I am especially grateful to have found a publisher who was willing to take a volume of this length and owe special thanks to acquisitions editor Jon Sisk. I would also like to thank copy editor Krishnaa Lakshmanan.

       For Reference and Further Reading

      Berens, John F. 1978. Providence & Patriotism in Early America, 1640–1815. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia.

Berlinerblau, Jacques. 2013. “The Bible in the Presidential Elections of 2012, 2008, 2004, and the Collapse of American Secularism.” Interested Reader: Essays on the Hebrew Bible in Honor of David J.A. Clines. Atlanta, GA: Society for Biblical Literature, pp. 197–218.

      Bielo, James. “Materializing the Bible.” https://www.materializingthebible.com/.

      Daniell, David. 2003. The Bible in English: Its History and Influence. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Driesbach, Daniel L. 2014. “The Bible and the Political Culture of the American Founding.” Faith and the Founders of the American Republic, ed. Daniel L. Dreisbach and Mark David Hall. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 144–73.

      Dreisbach, Daniel L. 2017. Reading the Bible with the Founding Fathers. New York: Oxford University Press.

      The First Amendment Encyclopedia. Middle Tennessee State University. https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/encyclopedia.

Gamble, Richard M. 2019. A Fiery Gospel: The Battle Hymn of the Republic and the Road to Righteous War. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

Griffith, Sidney H. 2013. The Bible in Arabic: The Scriptures of the “People of the Book” in the Language of Islam. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

      Hall, Mark David. 2013. Roger Sherman and the Creation of СКАЧАТЬ