God of Liberty : A Religious History of the American Revolution

"Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God" : religion and the American Revolution -- "No king but Jesus" : the Great Awakening and the first American Revolution -- "The sacred property of every man" : radical Christians and the struggle for religious liberty in America -- "The Pope, the Devil, and all their emissaries" : the Bishop Controversy and Quebec Act -- "Victory over the Beast" : the evangelical roots of revolution -- "A Christian Sparta" : virtue and the American Revolution" -- "A time of war" : chaplains, virtue, and Providence -- "God has made of one blood all nations of men" : equality by creation -- "The bands of wickedness" : slavery and the American Revolution -- "One God, three gods, no god, or twenty gods" : disestablishing America's state churches -- "Saving this land" : revivals and the era of American Revolution -- -"If men were angels: : virtue, freedom, and the Constitution -- "Jefferson-- and no God!" : the Election of 1800 and the triumph of religious liberty -- "Freedom sees religion as its companion" : faith and American civil society.;In God of Liberty, historian Thomas S. Kidd argues that the improbable partnership of evangelicals and Deists saw America through the Revolutionary War, the ratification of the Constitution, and the election of Thomas Jefferson in 1800 --From publisher description. Before the Revolutionary War, America was a nation divided by different faiths. But when the war for independence sparked in 1776, colonists united under the banner of religious freedom. Evangelical frontiersmen and Deist intellectuals set aside their differences to defend a belief they shared, the right to worship freely. Inspiring an unlikely but powerful alliance, it was the idea of religious liberty that brought the colonists together in the battle against British tyranny. In God of Liberty , historian Thomas S. Kidd argues that the improbable partnership of evangelicals and Deists saw America through the Revolutionary War, the ratification of the Constitution, and the election of Thomas Jefferson in 1800. A thought-provoking reminder of the crucial role religion played in the Revolutionary era, God of Liberty represents both a timely appeal for spiritual diversity and a groundbreaking excavation of how faith powered the American Revolution. A "thought-provoking, meticulously researched" testament to evangelical Christians' crucial contribution to American independence and a timely appeal for the same spiritual vitality today ( Washington Times ). At the dawn of the Revolutionary War, America was already a nation of diverse faiths-the First Great Awakening and Enlightenment concepts such as deism and atheism had endowed the colonists with varying and often opposed religious beliefs. Despite their differences, however, Americans found common ground against British tyranny and formed an alliance that would power the American Revolution. In God of Liberty , historian Thomas S. Kidd offers the first comprehensive account of religion's role during this transformative period and how it gave form to our nation and sustained it through its tumultuous birth — and how it can be a force within our country during times of transition today. A top historian narrates the crucial role of religion in shaping the American Revolution and the formation of the Republic