Authors

Michael Reich

Type

Text

Type

Thesis

Advisor

Spector, Stephen | Newman, Andrew

Date

2014-12-01

Keywords

American Religious History, Bible, Bible and Law, Law, Religion, Religion and Law | Literature

Department

Department of English.

Language

en_US

Source

This work is sponsored by the Stony Brook University Graduate School in compliance with the requirements for completion of degree.

Identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/11401/77581

Publisher

The Graduate School, Stony Brook University: Stony Brook, NY.

Format

application/pdf

Abstract

There are myriad ways God has been included in modern American politics, but where does that inclusion stem from? The parallels between the Bible, American history, and modern day American politics are numerous. Once it can be seen that God has always been essential to America, and God has always been necessary to most Americans, we can find more avenues to identify God's roots in American political discourse and political activism, and legal literature. God is foremost necessary in the Bible and that idea was brought forth into the realm of American politics. He means everything and is everything to the characters of Biblical Narrative, and that attitude, although it became less weighted over time in America, was still important to the framers of the US Constitution. Biblical kings and citizens could not see themselves diverting from God's path with freedom or without fear, and in many cases American politicians and citizens face the same issues because Biblical rhetoric of freedom and fear is such an integral part of American culture and legal process. By looking at how different presidents, actions groups, and legal literature reference the Bible, and then delve into the Bible itself to see the similarities and prove the connection, we will see how America's forefathers secured an inclusion of the Biblical God that the majority of the American people would find acceptable, and that still exists today. | 101 pages

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