Help your teens comprehend the decisive ways that Christianity shaped the founding of America! Beginning with the Reformation's role in advancing political and religious freedom, this colorfully formatted text chronicles the strong influence of Judeo-Christian thought on our nation's history, paying special attention to issues regarding the separation of church and state. Features eye-catching illustrations, sidebars, glossary, and index. 213 pages, hardcover from the Foundation for Thought and Ethics.
I graduated from a New Jersey public high school in the 1970s—leaving my U.S. history course with the vague sense that religion had a slight influence on America’s founding. The extent to which Christianity was a central and pervasive force in the development of this country was hush-hush. I understood the typical and curt point: People came to the colonies for religious reasons; the end. Yet these religious reasons also embodied the ideas that helped form our government.
Most students are taught that Greek, Roman, Renaissance, and Enlightenment sources figured equally in America’s development. The Christian contribution is remarkably understated. A closer look at our nation’s past reveals that Christianity had significant and vibrant things to say about justice, politics, social order, science, rights, law, reason, etc.—and, indeed, permeated every aspect of life in colonial times. This book shows that “the political principles enshrined in our Founding documents can
be directly traced” to the Christian beliefs of the Founders.
Never Before in History finished off our American history studies beautifully. With its presentation of ideas, I meant to give my children not a vague understanding of our beginnings but an accurate and richer one. (Note: Students using David Quine’s Starting Points write a host of essays using this book.) 213 pages, hardcover from Foundation for Thought and Ethics.
—Karen
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