A City Upon a Hill: How the Sermon Changed the Course of American History

A City Upon a Hill: How the Sermon Changed the Course of American History

From colonial times to the present, the sermon has shaped America’s self-understanding, been the dynamic medium where America conducts its most important debates, and sparked some of its most historic moments. Witham's highly readable history of the American sermon strongly bolsters the contention that words change minds and alter the course of events. He discusses the great sermons, from John Winthrop's "city on a hill" homily to the Gettysburg Address to Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech. He persuasively argues that sermons and religious rhetoric have accompanied turning points in American history and that the Bible is fundamental to understanding American culture. He discusses great preachers through the ages—Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, Henry Ward Beecher, Dwight L. Moody, Billy Graham—and their impact on America; the Great Awakening and subsequent religious revivals; presidential addresses; radio and TV preachers, such as Charles Coughlin, Fulton J. Sheen, and Norman Vincent Peale; and the present-day role of the sermon as a vehicle of American civil religion. Although church and state have gone their separate ways in the modern era, Witham asserts that the sermon continues to resonate with and to shape the nation today. Sawyers, June Journalist Witham narrates the history of preaching in America with good pacing and delicious detail. - Publishers Weekly “The sermon is America’s characteristic form of speech, and this book is a brilliant exposition of that form. From Winthrop to King and beyond, we speak and hear of our destiny as a nation in the voice of the sermon. This is an invaluable guide.” - Peter Gomes, author of The Good Book: Reading the Bible with Heart and Mind “A first-rate history of religion in America … More than a mere collection of sermons, this careful analysis weaves the sermon into the very fabric of America. Sometimes the sermons reflect what is going on in the broader culture; other times the sermons direct, shape, or goad that culture in specific and powerful ways. This excellent and provocative book will reward readers in ways they can hardly foresee.” - Edwin S. Gaustad, co-author of The Religious History of America “With an historian’s eye toward theological details and a journalist’s skill to weave a rich narrative tapestry, Larry Witham has composed a highly readable and insightful criticism of preachers and their sermons in A City Upon a Hill. Students and critics of religious rhetoric, as well as practitioners thereof, will find this synoptic history of the spoken word in American pulpits rewarding. Expect to encounter America’s leading pulpiteers.” - Halford Ryan, Professor of English and Public Speaking, Washington and Lee University, and author of Harry Emerson Fosdic: Persuasive Preacher. Award-winning religion writer Larry Witham says the pulpit has profoundly influenced crucial public debates over independence, abolition, prohibition, civil rights and much more. - American History One of the “Top Ten Books Every Preacher Should Read” - Preaching Magazine “[Witham] weaves the summaries into . . . a history of the theology contained in the American sermon.” - Wall Street Journal The Puritan founder John Winthrop preached about “a city upon a hill,” Abraham Lincoln’s two greatest speeches have been called “sermons on the mount,” and Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” oration is nothing if not a sermon. Not only can the history of the United States be told through its reflection in the landmark sermons preached from its pulpits and in front of its memorials, but in fact it was often the sermon that inspired and helped define American history. Between the colonization of America and the terrorist attacks of September 2001, the sermon has both shaped America’s self-understanding and reflected both sides of its most important social, political, military, and philosophical debates. That is the story of A City Upon a Hill: How the Sermon Made America, a narrative history of events, people, and ideas, showing us at our best--and sometimes at our worst. The book will cover American history from 1606 to 2001, building links between the pulpit and politics, between preachers and presidents, between sermons and historical events. Larry Witham is the author of The Measure of God, Where Darwin Meets the Bible and By Design: Science and the Search for God. As a journalist, he has won the Religion Communicators Council’s Wilbur Award three times, several prizes from the Religion Newswriters Association, and a Templeton Foundation award for his articles on science and religion. He has appeared on C SPAN, the CBN “700 Club” and Fox News. He lives in Burtonsville, Maryland.