The Old Faith in a New Nation

Paul Gutacker's wide-ranging research has demonstrated what other historians (including myself) have ignored or misconstrued: 'religious memory' in fact meant a very great deal to antebellum American Protestants. Although references to history worked differently for different groups, women, Blacks, proslavery advocates, abolitionists, defenders of denominational distinctives, and others-all industriously appealed to the past as they sought to persuade the public. This book represents the best kind of insightful corrective. * Mark Noll, author of America's Book: The Rise and Decline of a Bible Civilization, 1794-1911 * Gutacker has written a groundbreaking reassessment of how American Protestants struggled with religious authority. Just as important, however, this book also reminds us that history matters in ways that we do not always acknowledge. * James P. Byrd, author of A Holy Baptism of Fire and Blood: The Bible and the American Civil War * In his well-researched study of the antebellum American Protestant uses of Christian history, Gutacker lucidly demonstrates that despite their reputation for placing authority in the Bible alone, American believers often relied on church history and tradition. The Old Faith in a New Nation is essential reading for those looking to understand how nineteenth-century American Protestants imagined church history and how this historical imagining undergirded their commitments and deepened their divisions, particularly when it came to slavery. * Molly Oshatz, Senior Fellow, Zephyr Institute * History matters. But the study of history is not enough. Paul Gutacker, in this piercingly insightful study of how Christian history was received by Americans before the Civil War, shows the profound effects that the present can have on how humans make sense of the past. History is a study of change over time, but the contested ways which the past is received by generations located in later contexts also changes over time. Gutacker deftly demonstrates the significance of reading history. And he shows the indispensability of prudent historical thinking. The way we think about history matters, too. * John D. Wilsey, Associate Professor of Church History, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary * American evangelicals have always been people of the good book, but they have also relied heavily upon the past to shape their convictions. In this fascinating study of the historical consciousness of evangelicals in the early national United States, historian Paul Gutacker complicates prevailing narratives of evangelical anti-intellectualism and primitivism by showing that born-again believers regularly employed Christian history to make sense of the most pressing social and political issues of the day. * John Fea, Distinguished Professor of American History, Messiah University * It is unrealistic to believe that we, as historical creatures, can abstract ourselves entirely from history, even bad history, much as we might wish we could. The great virtue of Gutacker's book is its effectiveness in underscoring that very point. * Wilfred M. McClay, Action Institute * Paul Gutacker's The Old Faith in a New Nation: American Protestants and the Christian Past is a remarkable book. * Glenn A. Moots, Professor of Political Science and Philosophy at Northwood University *