Reflections on Religion, the Divine, and the Constitution
By (author) George Anastaplo author of Abraham Lincoln: A Constitutional Biography
Publication date:
28 August 2013Length of book:
354 pagesPublisher
Lexington BooksDimensions:
235x162mm6x9"
ISBN-13: 9780739173565
In Part One, the uses of divine revelation in the Western world are reviewed by recalling authors that include Euripides, Sophocles, Aristophanes, Plato, Maimonides, Cervantes, Hobbes, and Milton. The challenges posed by such monstrosities as Aztec human sacrifices and the Second World War Holocaust are recalled.
In Part Two, the challenges of religion for and by Americans are examined. Documents such as the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of 1787, and Presidential Farewell Addresses are recalled. The lives and thought of eminent Americans are also recalled (including George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln). Recalled as well are such movements as that of the Mormons and that of the “I Am” sect. The implications both for religious developments and for religious orthodox of modern science are investigated.
The Appendices reinforce these inquiries by providing reminders of how distinguished commentators and others have tried to deal with critical questions noticed in the Essays of this book.
In Part Two, the challenges of religion for and by Americans are examined. Documents such as the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of 1787, and Presidential Farewell Addresses are recalled. The lives and thought of eminent Americans are also recalled (including George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln). Recalled as well are such movements as that of the Mormons and that of the “I Am” sect. The implications both for religious developments and for religious orthodox of modern science are investigated.
The Appendices reinforce these inquiries by providing reminders of how distinguished commentators and others have tried to deal with critical questions noticed in the Essays of this book.
This work is the fifth in a proposed ten-volume set of essays that Anastaplo seeks to author. The previous volumes are Reflections on Constitutional Law (2007), Reflections on Freedom of Speech and the First Amendment (2007), Reflections on Life and Death and the Constitution (2009), and Reflections on Slavery and the Constitution (2012). The first half of the current work consists of 13 essays that run the gamut from Euripedes to Socrates and El Greco to Hobbes, with a concluding chapter on the human sacrifices by the Aztecs and Mayans. The second half examines unorthodox religious movements in the US such as the Mormons and the 'I Am' movement. Thirteen appendixes include the Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution, and a number of lesser-known essays and reflections by Anastaplo and others. Although the breadth of coverage in this work is expansive, the author ties all the topics together with religion and the divine by asking, as did Hamlet, 'Who's there?' Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students and research faculty.