Christian nation? : the United States in popular perception and historical reality / T. Adams Upchurch.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 177-191) and index.

The church-state issue as historical entertainment -- The American "way" : fabricating a new creed for a nascent nation -- The American "Israel" : considering the Annuit Coeptis theory -- The American "pie" : considering the history of E Pluribus Unum -- The American "Magna Carta" : Congress shall make no law ... so neither should the Supreme Court -- The American "orthodoxy" : nonconformity among the founders -- The American "irrationalism" : the founders and the reasonableness of religion -- The American "exemplars" : founders who led by example -- the American "duality" : the art and science of equipoise -- A novus ordo seclorum?

This study examines America's complex and confusing history of arguing with itself over religion and secularism, God and politics, church and state. In 2009, President Barack Obama stated that the United States was most definitely not a "Christian Nation." In 1797, a representative of the John Adams administration proclaimed the same thing in the Treaty of Tripoli. Is there, or has there ever been, a definitive answer to this most basic, and perennially controversial, question? Unlike other studies, this examination asks questions, defines the terms of the debate, explores the widely diverging points of view with equal respect for all sides, and provides commentary and factual conclusions. The book begins with several questions: Is the United States a "Christian Nation?" Has it ever been? Was it ever meant to be? What did the Founding Fathers say? How has this issue been interpreted by various individuals and factions over the centuries? The author then surveys the vast literature on this topic, including the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence and the competing and/or complimentary views of various Founding Fathers to arrive at some definitive answers.