America’s Book: The Rise and Decline of a Bible Civilization (Guest: Mark A. Noll)

Published October 31, 2022
Heartland’s Tim Benson is joined by Mark A. Noll, Professor of History Emeritus at the University of Notre Dame, to discuss his new book, America’s Book: The Rise and Decline of a Bible Civilization, 1794-1911. They chat about how the Bible decisively shaped American national history even as that history influenced the use of Scripture, and how a strongly Protestant Bible civilization was fractured by debates over slavery, contested by growing numbers of non-Protestants, and torn apart by the Civil War. They also talk about how the more religiously plural period from Reconstruction to the early 20th Century saw Scripture become a much more fragmented, though still significant, force in American culture.
Show Notes:
Wall Street Journal: D.G. Hart – “‘America’s Book’ Review: The Word Out of Season”
https://www.wsj.com/articles/americas-book-review-the-word-out-of-season-11651009649