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American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D. Wilsey - EXCERPT
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Transcript
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
PO Box 983089983092983088983088 Downers Grove IL 983094983088983093983089983093-983089983092983090983094
ivpresscom
emailivpresscom
copy983090983088983089983093 by John D Wilsey
All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission fromInterVarsity Press
InterVarsity Pressreg is the book-publishing division of InterVarsity Christian FellowshipUSAreg a movement of
students and faculty active on campus at hundreds of universities colleges and schools of nursing in the United
States of America and a member movement of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students For
information about local and regional activities visit intervarsityorg
Scripture quotations unless otherwise noted are from Te Holy Bible English Standard Version copyright copy 983090983088983088983089
by Crossway Bibles a division of Good News Publishers Used by permission All rights reserved
While any stories in this book are true some names and identifying information may have been changed to protect
the privacy of individuals
Cover design Cindy Kiple
Interior design Beth McGill
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ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983092983088983097983092-983094 (print)
ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983097983097983090983097-983094 (digital)
Printed in the United States of America
As a member of the Green Press Initiative InterVarsity Press is committed to protectingthe environment and to the responsible use of natural resources o learn more visit
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wilsey John D
American exceptionalism and civil religion reassessing the history of an idea John D Wilsey foreword by John
Fea
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index
ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983092983088983097983092-983094 (pbk alk paper)
983089 Christianity and politicsmdashUnited States 983090 ExceptionalismmdashUnited States 983091 NationalismmdashUnited States
I983150 M983137983161 983089983096983093983094 983156983144983141 983137983140983149983145983150983145983155983156983154983137983156983145983151983150 of President Franklin Pierce
extended diplomatic recognition to the newly established government
of the Republic of Nicaragua Tis would seem a rather ordinary turn of
events except for the fact that the government of the new republic was
headed by an American by the name of William Walker (104862510486321048626852020ndash104862510486321048630983088)
Walkerrsquos followers dubbed him ldquothe grey-eyed man of destinyrdquo1 He wasone of several ldquofilibustersrdquo a term used to describe American soldiers of
fortune in the 10486251048632852021983088s who attempted to seize lands in Central America
and the Caribbean through revolution and subsequently transform them
into slaveholding states modeled aer those of the South Walker with a
private army of sixty men intervened in a Nicaraguan civil war and suc-
cessfully took over its government in 10486251048632852021852021 As president of Nicaragua
Walker repudiated an 104862510486321048626852020 edict emancipating slaves intending to set upa new slave republic south of the Rio Grande He also encouraged Amer-
icans to settle there as colonists in the same way Americans were invited
by Mexico to settle in exas in the 104862510486321048626983088s
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
though in differing ways American exceptionalismrsquos theological roots
are found in the Puritan worldview and in particular those Puritans
who settled and flourished in the New England colonies during theseventeenth and eighteenth centuries
It is important to acknowledge here that the Puritans represent but one
religious group among several in the colonial period Religious diversity
within the Christian tradition in the British North American colonies was
a given since a variety of religious groups were involved in most of the
thirteen coloniesrsquo founding And as the Great Awakening got underway
in the early to middle 10486251048631983088983088s that diversity became even more pronouncedas evangelical groups such as the Baptists and Presbyterians became more
populous But the Puritans were perhaps the most influential intellectual
group during the colonial period In 10486251048632852019852021 ocqueville went as far as to say
that ldquoI see the destiny of America embodied in the first Puritan who
landed on these shores just as the whole human race was represented by
the first manrdquo2 Trough the enormous volume of Puritan writings in the
form of sermons books pamphlets newspapers letters and so on Pu-ritan thought spread from New England to the Middle and Southern
Colonies as well as to the western hinterlands George McKenna wrote
that the Puritans were more than any other religious group behind ldquoan
emerging sense of American nationhood a realization that America was
something more than a patchwork of villages towns and regionsrdquo3
Te history of the Puritans in England and America while fascinating
is beyond the scope of this study Suffice it to say here that many Puritans
in England aer failing to reform the state church from within migrated
to America and established colonies in what became known as New
England in the first part of the 10486251048630983088983088s Teir theological positions were
defined largely by Calvinism and they sought to integrate theology into
a worldview encompassing every aspect of life and thought4 McKenna
noted that Puritan thought provided what became a coherent framework
or scaffolding around which American self-identification was con-
structed It is my contention that three theological ideas in particular
shaped that framework the Puritan understanding of covenant typology
and millennialism
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
mind that every single thing that happens (or does not happen) down
to the minutest of details is directly attributable to Godrsquos intentional
activity in his world A famine a disease a drought or an Indian raidmdashthe Puritans habitually thought God used natural events like these to
directly respond to their backsliding their sinful neglect of their cov-
enant with him
During the second half of the 10486251048630983088983088s the jeremiad arose as an inimi-
table Puritanmdashand by extension Americanmdashliterary genre It took on
new efficacy in the wake of the disaster of King Philiprsquos War (104862510486301048631852021ndash1048625104863010486311048632)
in which the Puritan colonists and their Indian allies fought against theWampanoag tribe under Metacom (King Philip to the English) Both
sides were devastated Te native population was reduced from a quarter
of all inhabitants in New England to a tenth and one in sixteen English
settlers were killed7 Larry Witham wrote ldquoAer King Philip was killed
in August 1048625104863010486311048630 and his severed head stuck on a pike in Plymouth min-
isters poured out their Jeremiah-like interpretations through the printing
pressesrdquo8 Te first drop in a flood of jeremiads was likely Michael Wig-glesworthrsquos 1048625104863010486301048626 poem ldquoGodrsquos Controversy with New Englandrdquo written
in response to a drought Jonathan Mitchel wrote ldquoNehemiah on the Wall
in roublesome imesrdquo a 1048625104863010486301048631 election-day sermon In 104862510486301048631983088 Samuel
Danforth preached his ldquoBrief Recognition of New Englandrsquos Errand into
the Wildernessrdquo which provided one of the first lists of Puritan sins And
in 104862510486319830881048626 Cotton Mather published his monumental Magnalia Christi
Americana which was a providential history of the New England col-
onies Witham called Magnalia ldquoa sustained jeremiadrdquo9
Tis Puritan conception of covenant entailed a special calling on them
as Godrsquos chosen people with a divinely ordained mission Even though
they believed they existed as the people of God they were always cog-
nizant of the enormous responsibility that came with that privileged
position As they read the Old estament they saw not only the ancient
Israelites existing in covenant relationship to God they saw themselves
Typology In the Christian tradition of biblical interpretation ty-
pology has served as a consistent method in demonstrating the sym-
biotic relationship of the Old estament and the New Christian biblical
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 852020852021
Lord much as John the Baptist was to fulfill Isaiah 852020983088852019-852021 when he went
into the wilderness to prepare Israel for the coming of the Christ As
Bercovitch wrote ldquoTe remnant that fled Babylon in 10486251048630852019983088 set sail for thenew promised land especially reserved by God for them Unmis-
takably the New World was part of the history of salvationrdquo14
Millennialism Te third aspect of the Puritan theological structure I
am identifying is the notion that history is progressing toward a Christian
utopia that God is using nations to bring about his kingdom on earthmdash
and as Ernest Lee uveson wrote ldquoTe finger of Providence had pointed
to the young republic of the Westrdquo15 Te millennium is the biblicalthousand-year reign of Christ described in Revelation 1048626983088 to begin aer
the second advent Satan will be bound and imprisoned Christ will per-
sonally reign on the earth and his church will reign with him Te mil-
lennium precedes the final and absolute defeat of Satan the creation of
the new heaven and the new earth and the ushering in of the eternal age
Millennialism is a view of history that sees humankind progressing
toward the second coming and the personal reign of the glorified ChristAccording to this view humans actually take part in laying the
groundwork for the millennial kingdom through obedience spreading
the gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth and establishing the
Christian ethical ideal through the expansion of Christian civilization
Further Godrsquos agents in preparing the world for the millennium are the
nations and particularly those nations that represent him faithfully o
the Puritans and later the American colonists as a whole America was
the millennial nation
Prior to the Reformation Western civilization had not understood
history to be progressing toward any particular telos through the active
agency of human beings During the Middle Ages and through the Ren-
aissance Augustine of Hippo (AD 852019852021852020ndash852020852019983088) provided the West with the
prevailing view of history in his work Te City of God Augustine cast
civilization in terms of two groups or cities one was the city of man the
other the city of God Te city of man for Augustine consisted of the
empires established by human strength and greatness like the Roman
Empire Human empires while powerful were bound up in time and
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
ultimately doomed to fall But the city of God consisted of those who
were faithful to Christ that is the church which for Augustine equated
to the kingdom of God on earth Te city of God would be persecutedby the city of man but ultimately will prevail when Christ returns and
judges the living and the dead at the great white throne (Revelation 104862698308810486251048625-
1048625852021) Te millennium described in Revelation according to Augustine is
not to be taken literally but allegorically Te thousand years in Reve-
lation 1048626983088 denote a long and indefinite period of timemdashthus Augustinersquos
eschatological position is termed amillennialism (ldquono millenniumrdquo no
ldquothousand yearsrdquo) Since his resurrection Christ reigns over his peoplethe church and Satanrsquos binding takes place from Christrsquos resurrection
until the second advent At that time Satan will be released only to meet
his final destruction in the lake of fire Te city of man is doomed to
follow him there16
Te upshot of Augustinersquos view of history is that even though Satan is
bound during the age of the church ills resulting from Adamrsquos fall still
persist Tis condition is not going to change at least not until Christrsquosreturn at the end of the age If evils can still wreak their desolations upon
humans even while Satanrsquos power is muted then surely nothing can be
done by mere mortals to improve their lot It is vain for humans to try
and effect hope in this transitory and decaying world Te only answer
is to wait for a better world in the aerlife Tis was the prevailing view
of things in western Europe during the roughly thousand-year period
from the fall of Rome to the sixteenth century
Te Augustinian view of history was supplanted by a new view one
that came about as a result of the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth
century A general reconsideration of the meaning and authority of the
Bible was central to the project of the Reformation Included in this re-
consideration was a new interpretation of the book of Revelation and
with it the meaning of the millennium Perhaps Revelation pointed to
an actual thousand-year period in the not-too-distant future when true
Christian civilization would reign triumphantly over the forces of the
devil and the Antichrist Could it be possible that God would actively
use the nations to bring about this triumph If so then it would seem
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520201048631
that humanity could bring about the culmination of history aer all In-
stead of forlornly waiting around for Jesus to return humans could effect
the glorious reign of Christ by their own efforts of cooperating withdivine providence as God actively and purposefully brought about the
culmination of history
Many Protestants saw the Reformation as the major turning point in
Godrsquos program for history Te Reformation struck a death blow to the
Roman papacy which English Protestants in particular considered to be
the Antichrist And what a mystery was revealed when America was
discovered in 104862585202010486331048626 a land hidden by providence until the very eve of theReformation Te discovery of America and the dawn of the Refor-
mation occurring at roughly the same time appeared to many Protes-
tants as the beginning of the end of an old order uveson described it
this way ldquoMankind might be over the hump at last Tus the Refor-
mation became the assurance that the long era of superstition injustice
and poverty was ending and that light was breaking over the world A
great age of achievement had begunrdquo17
In the millennial view of history as opposed to the Augustinian view
progress was the defining factor in the human experience18 Te events
of Revelation were not allegories but were literal events taking place at
a future date but nevertheless in real time Tis notion comes through
in the apostle Johnrsquos recounting of Jesusrsquo command to write down every-
thing in his apocalyptic visionmdashldquothe things that you have seen those
that are and those that are to take place aer thisrdquo (Revelation 104862510486251048633) If
anything Jesus seems to be referring to literal ldquothingsrdquo to be ldquoseenrdquo with
the eyesmdashthings in the past present and future time It hardly seemed
possible especially to Protestant thinkers that we will consider shortly
that Jesus could be referring to an allegorized set of circumstances
As the Reformation opened and developed in the sixteenth century
the New England colonies were established in the seventeenth and the
colonial wars in America culminated in the mid-eighteenth the lines
were clearly drawn Te New England Puritans (and most of English
Protestantism) considered the French Roman Catholic kingdom to be
the physical manifestation of the forces of the Antichrist Specifically the
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
Te theological roots of the tree of American exceptionalism go deeper
and are more intricate than the other roots supporting it You mightsay that theology is the taproot of the tree anchoring it firmly to the
ground But exceptionalism is supported by a system of roots Let us
move on from theology and now consider the political roots of the
concept of exceptionalism
Te United States originated in the Revolution as a political union of
independent states Tis union coalesced into a federal republic under
the Constitution which was signed in 1048625104863110486321048631 and went into effect in 1048625104863110486321048633But the union of the thirteen original states did not emerge out of thin
air Te states joined together around the common cause of indepen-
dence from Britain and that cause was undergirded by the liberal ideas
expressed in the Declaration of Independence And the ideas expressed
in the Declaration had their origins even further back Te Western
philosophical tradition has included liberal ideas for a long time but for
our purposes here let us trace those liberal ideas back to England during
its tempestuous seventeenth century
Te English Civil War (104862510486308520201048626ndash104862510486308520211048625) and the Glorious Revolution (1048625104863010486321048632)
were two crucibles in English history that ultimately helped shape that
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
Aer Charles was executed the monarchy was replaced by the Pro-
tectorate under Cromwell until just aer his death In 104862510486301048630983088 the English
monarchy was restored with the coronation of Charles II who ruleduntil 104862510486301048632852021 When Charlesrsquos son James II ascended the throne it was said
that his desire was to return England to Roman Catholicism and rule as
an absolute monarch Parliament was in no mood to take chances with
James and the body invited William of Orange and his wife Mary
(Jamesrsquos Protestant daughter) to cross the Channel land in England and
replace James Te catch was that as monarchs they would have to
recognize the supremacy of Parliament Tey agreed and landed inEngland with fourteen thousand soldiers on November 852021 1048625104863010486321048632 James
having little support and thus no real ability to control events fled for
his life to France Te ascension of William and Mary to the throne in
1048625104863010486321048632 is known as the Glorious Revolutionmdasha bloodless affair unlike the
Civil War
John Locke (104862510486308520191048626ndash10486251048631983088852020) wrote his famous wo reatises on Civil Gov-
ernment which was published in 104862510486301048633983088 largely to bring credibility to theactions of Parliament particularly in inviting the rule of William and
Mary Locke said that governments ruled by the consent of the people
Rulers possessed political power but they possessed it in trust from the
people and they maintained their power by protecting the basic rights
bestowed on them by nature at birth Tus rulers do not have the power
to rule arbitrarily Rulers may only legitimately exercise their power in
such as way as to protect the natural rights of the individual Locke wrote
ldquo[Power] can have no other end or measure when in the hands of the
Magistrate but to preserve the Members of that Society in their Lives
Liberties and Possessions and so cannot be an Absolute Arbitrary power
over their Lives and Fortunes which are as much as possible to be pre-
servedrdquo21 Locke also penned his famous Letter Concerning oleration
which advocated for religious toleration According to Locke the state
only possessed power over temporal affairs It had no jurisdiction over
the individual conscience
Events in England leading up to the Glorious Revolution led to the
formation of two strong political parties oriented around the liberal
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520211048625
ideas articulated by Locke in his wo reatises namely the ories and
the Whigs Te ories were conservatives who favored aristocratic priv-
ilege a strong bond between ecclesiastical and civil authority and thepassive obedience of subjects to the politicalecclesiastical order Te
Whigs were firmly against these positions Teir liberalism won the day
in the Glorious Revolution of 1048625104863010486321048632 Seventeenth-century thinkers such
as John Locke Algernon Sidney John Milton and James Harrington ar-
ticulated liberal views such as religious toleration liberty of the press
parliamentary supremacy and rule by consent Later thinkers influenced
by these and other earlier figures sharpened and focused liberal ideas inthe face of what they saw as overreach by George IIrsquos prime minister
Robert Walpole in the 104862510486311048626983088s In particular John renchard and Tomas
Gordon advocated for religious freedom and individual rights in their
104862510486311048626983088ndash104862510486311048626852019 collection of essays titled Catorsquos Letters Tey represented well
the ideas of Real Whig ideology a body of thought that stressed the most
sweeping liberalism yet seen Real Whig thought as expressed by
renchard and Gordon was popular not only in England but also inAmerica especially during the 104862510486311048630983088s and 104862510486311048631983088s During these years Real
Whig thought became the driving intellectual force of the Revolution
Te Real Whigs took Lockersquos views on toleration to their logical terminus
advocating for complete religious freedom Religious freedom became a
hallmark of the writings of renchard and Gordon for example Pauline
Maier wrote of Real Whig political philosophy that ldquothe [American]
revolutionary movement takes on consistency and form only against the
backdrop of English revolutionary traditionrdquo22 And the writings of
renchard and Gordon were those that were among the most influential
Real Whig writings on this side of the Atlantic
How does Real Whig ideology fit into American exceptionalism Te
answer is simplemdashit is manifested through what Mark Noll called
ldquoChristian republicanismrdquo23 Christian republicanism is an amalgamation
of Real Whig ideology and Protestant theology occurring in American
literature and rhetoric in the years leading up to and during the Revo-
lution Te unifying themes between these two strands of thought are
freedom of religious dissension a reaction against ecclesiastical privilege
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
and a millennialism that saw America as Godrsquos chosen nation to bring
about the final defeat of the forces of the Antichrist
Christian republicans in America like Jonathan Mayhew of Bostonsought to biblically justify rebellion against the mother country May-
hewrsquos sermon ldquoA Discourse Concerning Unlimited Submissionrdquo which
he gave on January 852019983088 10486251048631852021983088 (the 10486259830881048625st anniversary of the execution of
Charles I) defended the justice of the Puritansrsquo overthrow of Charles I
Romans 10486258520191048625-852021 served as Mayhewrsquos text and he preached that Charlesrsquos
overthrow was entirely just In his letter to the Romans Paul was not
writing about submitting to a government that was evil but a gov-ernment that was a ldquoservant for your goodrdquo (Romans 1048625852019852020) Just as it is
entirely right for a child or a servant to disobey a parent or a master who
rules them unjustly a people who resist the rule of a tyrant are innocent
of wrongdoing Mayhew appealed to the principle of self-defense heremdasha
people have the right even the responsibility to protect themselves
against a tyrant just as the people did in 104862510486308520201048633 when they executed
Charles I Mayhew thundered
A PEOPLE really oppressed to a great degree by their sovereign cannot
well be insensible when they are so oppressed Nor would they have
any reason to mourn if some HERCULES should appear to dispatch
himmdashFor a nation thus abused to arise unanimously and to resist their
prince even to the dethroning him is not criminal but a reasonable use
of the means and the only means which God has put in their power for
mutual and self-defence24
Mayhew serves as an important figure in the years leading up to the
Revolution for several reasons First Mayhew was a New England
preacher heavily influenced by Real Whig political thought like the idea
that rulers rule by the peoplersquos consent Second he was a Christian who
accepted republican ideas despite the fact that as Mark Noll has pointed
out republicanism is at odds with key aspects of Christian theological
doctrine25 And third Mayhew like many others in his generation bap-
tized Real Whig ideas in the waters of biblical theology Mayhew is rep-
resentative of a Christian republicanism that began occurring in the
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520211048631
resented a turning point in history and was destined to advance human
civilization to the millennial reign of Christ as the eighteenth century
progressed Abraham Keteltas preaching in 1048625104863110486311048631 to the Presbyterians inNewburyport Massachusetts equated the cause of America with the
cause of God Americarsquos cause against Great Britain was the cause of
liberty justice rule of law and individual rightsmdashnot only for those who
were living but also for those generations yet to be born
Americarsquos cause for Keteltas was the cause of good against evil As
such it was Godrsquos own cause And Americans could take comfort in the
fact that God will be faithful to champion the American cause becausein doing so he was safeguarding his own cause Keteltas did not envision
the struggle with Britain as merely a political struggle He saw it as part
of the struggle of good against evil that had been going on since the fall
in the Garden of Eden Not only that he saw the Revolution as part of
the same cosmic struggle that Christ himself engaged in with the devil
in his Passion ldquoOur causerdquo wrote Keteltas ldquois not only good but it has
been prudently conducted it is the cause of truth against error andfalsehood the cause of righteousness against iniquity It is the cause
of reformation against popery In short it is the cause of heaven
against hellmdashof the kind Parent of the universe against the prince of
darkness and the destroyer of the human racerdquo31
Keteltas preached this sermon from Psalm 104863185202010486261048626mdashldquoArise O God
plead thine own causerdquo (983147983146983158) His sermon clearly reveals a particular
exegetical method guided by millennialism He envisioned the American
colonies as being engaged in the apocalyptic struggle of the forces of
Christ against the forces of the devil Samuel Sherwood is yet another
example of a preacher reading Scripture and the events of his time in this
way His 1048625104863110486311048630 sermon ldquoTe Churchrsquos Flight into the Wildernessrdquo is one
of the most strikingly millenarian sermons of the time His text was
Revelation 104862510486261048625852020-1048625104863132 and his exegesis is strongly typological Sherwoodrsquos
typology not surprisingly is informed by millenarianism And what is
further interesting about Sherwoodrsquos exegesis of the text is how he con-
flated the church with the American colonies For instance Sherwood
preached that God brought the church into North America a land of
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
o sum up the ideology of American exceptionalism has a multistruc-
tured intellectual root system theological political exegetical and his-
toriographical By the early nineteenth century Americans largely took
it for granted that their nation represented a break from the past and a
decisive turn toward a future defined by progress and advancement And
millions of people emigrated to the United States in the nineteenthcentury to tie their own personal destinies to that of America whose
destiny seemed poised to advance from triumph to triumph
A civil religion with exceptionalism as one of its essential aspects
developed aer the Revolution Te Declaration of Independence was
one of the foundational documents in a civil religious canon that was
taking shape Te Declaration made objective transcendent authori-
tative statements about the nature of humanity the role of the gov-ernment in relation to the people it represented and Godrsquos having estab-
lished a particular order that could not be thwarted or overturned Te
Declaration was followed by other documents that formed the civil reli-
gious canon the Constitution the Bill of Rights Washingtonrsquos Farewell
Address and others
As the nation grew in numbers and in territorial size between the Lou-
isiana Purchase of 10486251048632983088852019 and the Mexican War ending in 104862510486328520201048632 Americanexceptionalism divided into two articulations One of these articulations
was more strongly religious and more certain of Godrsquos providence con-
cerning the future of the United States and its status alongside other na-
tions It was also decidedly racist Te other articulation was more ag-
nostic concerning the providence of God but was nonetheless certain
that God had set it apart to be a moral example to the rest of the world
America could show other nations what a nation conceived in liberty
might look like how it might behave and what ideals it might pursue for
the benefit in theory if not in practice of all humanity
Americans struggled to figure out their place in the nineteenth century
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 1048630852019
aer their break with their mother country Great Britain Tey looked
for their place not only in the world doing ldquoall other Acts and Tings
which Independent States may of right dordquo as the Declaration of Inde-pendence suggested but also their place in human history As they
struggled they did many things that seem strange to us in the twenty-
first century William Walker is an example of such a person But
someone who most Americans have come to admire and acknowledge
as the greatest president ever to hold the officemdashAbraham Lincolnmdashwas
motivated by the idea of American exceptionalism as Walker was Te
tree of American exceptionalism fed by its roots was taking its shape inthe antebellum period during the nineteenth century It continued to
grow and flourish well into the twentieth and into our own century It
has yet to cease growing and developing as a civil religious idea that
Americans continually look to for guidance as they try and make sense
of their significance in space and time
F983151983154 F983157983154983156983144983141983154 R983141983137983140983145983150983143Bercovitch Sacvan Te Puritan Origins of the American Self 104862510486331048631852021 Reprint New
Haven Yale University Press 104862698308810486251048625
Gamble Richard M In Search of the City on a Hill Te Making and Unmaking
of an American Myth London Continuum 104862698308810486251048626
Greene Jack P Te Intellectual Construction of America Exceptionalism and
Identity from 1048625104862810486331048626 to 1048625104863210486241048624 Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press
104862510486331048633852019McKenna George Te Puritan Origins of American Patriotism New Haven
Yale University Press 10486269830889830881048631
Stout Harry S Te New England Soul Preaching and Religious Culture in Co-
lonial New England 1048625104863310486321048630 Reprint Oxford Oxford University Press 104862698308810486251048626
uveson Ernest Lee Redeemer Nation Te Idea of Americarsquos Millennial Role
Chicago University of Chicago Press 1048625104863310486301048632
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
PO Box 983089983092983088983088 Downers Grove IL 983094983088983093983089983093-983089983092983090983094
ivpresscom
emailivpresscom
copy983090983088983089983093 by John D Wilsey
All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission fromInterVarsity Press
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students and faculty active on campus at hundreds of universities colleges and schools of nursing in the United
States of America and a member movement of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students For
information about local and regional activities visit intervarsityorg
Scripture quotations unless otherwise noted are from Te Holy Bible English Standard Version copyright copy 983090983088983088983089
by Crossway Bibles a division of Good News Publishers Used by permission All rights reserved
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Cover design Cindy Kiple
Interior design Beth McGill
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ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983092983088983097983092-983094 (print)
ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983097983097983090983097-983094 (digital)
Printed in the United States of America
As a member of the Green Press Initiative InterVarsity Press is committed to protectingthe environment and to the responsible use of natural resources o learn more visit
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wilsey John D
American exceptionalism and civil religion reassessing the history of an idea John D Wilsey foreword by John
Fea
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index
ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983092983088983097983092-983094 (pbk alk paper)
983089 Christianity and politicsmdashUnited States 983090 ExceptionalismmdashUnited States 983091 NationalismmdashUnited States
I983150 M983137983161 983089983096983093983094 983156983144983141 983137983140983149983145983150983145983155983156983154983137983156983145983151983150 of President Franklin Pierce
extended diplomatic recognition to the newly established government
of the Republic of Nicaragua Tis would seem a rather ordinary turn of
events except for the fact that the government of the new republic was
headed by an American by the name of William Walker (104862510486321048626852020ndash104862510486321048630983088)
Walkerrsquos followers dubbed him ldquothe grey-eyed man of destinyrdquo1 He wasone of several ldquofilibustersrdquo a term used to describe American soldiers of
fortune in the 10486251048632852021983088s who attempted to seize lands in Central America
and the Caribbean through revolution and subsequently transform them
into slaveholding states modeled aer those of the South Walker with a
private army of sixty men intervened in a Nicaraguan civil war and suc-
cessfully took over its government in 10486251048632852021852021 As president of Nicaragua
Walker repudiated an 104862510486321048626852020 edict emancipating slaves intending to set upa new slave republic south of the Rio Grande He also encouraged Amer-
icans to settle there as colonists in the same way Americans were invited
by Mexico to settle in exas in the 104862510486321048626983088s
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
though in differing ways American exceptionalismrsquos theological roots
are found in the Puritan worldview and in particular those Puritans
who settled and flourished in the New England colonies during theseventeenth and eighteenth centuries
It is important to acknowledge here that the Puritans represent but one
religious group among several in the colonial period Religious diversity
within the Christian tradition in the British North American colonies was
a given since a variety of religious groups were involved in most of the
thirteen coloniesrsquo founding And as the Great Awakening got underway
in the early to middle 10486251048631983088983088s that diversity became even more pronouncedas evangelical groups such as the Baptists and Presbyterians became more
populous But the Puritans were perhaps the most influential intellectual
group during the colonial period In 10486251048632852019852021 ocqueville went as far as to say
that ldquoI see the destiny of America embodied in the first Puritan who
landed on these shores just as the whole human race was represented by
the first manrdquo2 Trough the enormous volume of Puritan writings in the
form of sermons books pamphlets newspapers letters and so on Pu-ritan thought spread from New England to the Middle and Southern
Colonies as well as to the western hinterlands George McKenna wrote
that the Puritans were more than any other religious group behind ldquoan
emerging sense of American nationhood a realization that America was
something more than a patchwork of villages towns and regionsrdquo3
Te history of the Puritans in England and America while fascinating
is beyond the scope of this study Suffice it to say here that many Puritans
in England aer failing to reform the state church from within migrated
to America and established colonies in what became known as New
England in the first part of the 10486251048630983088983088s Teir theological positions were
defined largely by Calvinism and they sought to integrate theology into
a worldview encompassing every aspect of life and thought4 McKenna
noted that Puritan thought provided what became a coherent framework
or scaffolding around which American self-identification was con-
structed It is my contention that three theological ideas in particular
shaped that framework the Puritan understanding of covenant typology
and millennialism
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
mind that every single thing that happens (or does not happen) down
to the minutest of details is directly attributable to Godrsquos intentional
activity in his world A famine a disease a drought or an Indian raidmdashthe Puritans habitually thought God used natural events like these to
directly respond to their backsliding their sinful neglect of their cov-
enant with him
During the second half of the 10486251048630983088983088s the jeremiad arose as an inimi-
table Puritanmdashand by extension Americanmdashliterary genre It took on
new efficacy in the wake of the disaster of King Philiprsquos War (104862510486301048631852021ndash1048625104863010486311048632)
in which the Puritan colonists and their Indian allies fought against theWampanoag tribe under Metacom (King Philip to the English) Both
sides were devastated Te native population was reduced from a quarter
of all inhabitants in New England to a tenth and one in sixteen English
settlers were killed7 Larry Witham wrote ldquoAer King Philip was killed
in August 1048625104863010486311048630 and his severed head stuck on a pike in Plymouth min-
isters poured out their Jeremiah-like interpretations through the printing
pressesrdquo8 Te first drop in a flood of jeremiads was likely Michael Wig-glesworthrsquos 1048625104863010486301048626 poem ldquoGodrsquos Controversy with New Englandrdquo written
in response to a drought Jonathan Mitchel wrote ldquoNehemiah on the Wall
in roublesome imesrdquo a 1048625104863010486301048631 election-day sermon In 104862510486301048631983088 Samuel
Danforth preached his ldquoBrief Recognition of New Englandrsquos Errand into
the Wildernessrdquo which provided one of the first lists of Puritan sins And
in 104862510486319830881048626 Cotton Mather published his monumental Magnalia Christi
Americana which was a providential history of the New England col-
onies Witham called Magnalia ldquoa sustained jeremiadrdquo9
Tis Puritan conception of covenant entailed a special calling on them
as Godrsquos chosen people with a divinely ordained mission Even though
they believed they existed as the people of God they were always cog-
nizant of the enormous responsibility that came with that privileged
position As they read the Old estament they saw not only the ancient
Israelites existing in covenant relationship to God they saw themselves
Typology In the Christian tradition of biblical interpretation ty-
pology has served as a consistent method in demonstrating the sym-
biotic relationship of the Old estament and the New Christian biblical
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 852020852021
Lord much as John the Baptist was to fulfill Isaiah 852020983088852019-852021 when he went
into the wilderness to prepare Israel for the coming of the Christ As
Bercovitch wrote ldquoTe remnant that fled Babylon in 10486251048630852019983088 set sail for thenew promised land especially reserved by God for them Unmis-
takably the New World was part of the history of salvationrdquo14
Millennialism Te third aspect of the Puritan theological structure I
am identifying is the notion that history is progressing toward a Christian
utopia that God is using nations to bring about his kingdom on earthmdash
and as Ernest Lee uveson wrote ldquoTe finger of Providence had pointed
to the young republic of the Westrdquo15 Te millennium is the biblicalthousand-year reign of Christ described in Revelation 1048626983088 to begin aer
the second advent Satan will be bound and imprisoned Christ will per-
sonally reign on the earth and his church will reign with him Te mil-
lennium precedes the final and absolute defeat of Satan the creation of
the new heaven and the new earth and the ushering in of the eternal age
Millennialism is a view of history that sees humankind progressing
toward the second coming and the personal reign of the glorified ChristAccording to this view humans actually take part in laying the
groundwork for the millennial kingdom through obedience spreading
the gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth and establishing the
Christian ethical ideal through the expansion of Christian civilization
Further Godrsquos agents in preparing the world for the millennium are the
nations and particularly those nations that represent him faithfully o
the Puritans and later the American colonists as a whole America was
the millennial nation
Prior to the Reformation Western civilization had not understood
history to be progressing toward any particular telos through the active
agency of human beings During the Middle Ages and through the Ren-
aissance Augustine of Hippo (AD 852019852021852020ndash852020852019983088) provided the West with the
prevailing view of history in his work Te City of God Augustine cast
civilization in terms of two groups or cities one was the city of man the
other the city of God Te city of man for Augustine consisted of the
empires established by human strength and greatness like the Roman
Empire Human empires while powerful were bound up in time and
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
ultimately doomed to fall But the city of God consisted of those who
were faithful to Christ that is the church which for Augustine equated
to the kingdom of God on earth Te city of God would be persecutedby the city of man but ultimately will prevail when Christ returns and
judges the living and the dead at the great white throne (Revelation 104862698308810486251048625-
1048625852021) Te millennium described in Revelation according to Augustine is
not to be taken literally but allegorically Te thousand years in Reve-
lation 1048626983088 denote a long and indefinite period of timemdashthus Augustinersquos
eschatological position is termed amillennialism (ldquono millenniumrdquo no
ldquothousand yearsrdquo) Since his resurrection Christ reigns over his peoplethe church and Satanrsquos binding takes place from Christrsquos resurrection
until the second advent At that time Satan will be released only to meet
his final destruction in the lake of fire Te city of man is doomed to
follow him there16
Te upshot of Augustinersquos view of history is that even though Satan is
bound during the age of the church ills resulting from Adamrsquos fall still
persist Tis condition is not going to change at least not until Christrsquosreturn at the end of the age If evils can still wreak their desolations upon
humans even while Satanrsquos power is muted then surely nothing can be
done by mere mortals to improve their lot It is vain for humans to try
and effect hope in this transitory and decaying world Te only answer
is to wait for a better world in the aerlife Tis was the prevailing view
of things in western Europe during the roughly thousand-year period
from the fall of Rome to the sixteenth century
Te Augustinian view of history was supplanted by a new view one
that came about as a result of the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth
century A general reconsideration of the meaning and authority of the
Bible was central to the project of the Reformation Included in this re-
consideration was a new interpretation of the book of Revelation and
with it the meaning of the millennium Perhaps Revelation pointed to
an actual thousand-year period in the not-too-distant future when true
Christian civilization would reign triumphantly over the forces of the
devil and the Antichrist Could it be possible that God would actively
use the nations to bring about this triumph If so then it would seem
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520201048631
that humanity could bring about the culmination of history aer all In-
stead of forlornly waiting around for Jesus to return humans could effect
the glorious reign of Christ by their own efforts of cooperating withdivine providence as God actively and purposefully brought about the
culmination of history
Many Protestants saw the Reformation as the major turning point in
Godrsquos program for history Te Reformation struck a death blow to the
Roman papacy which English Protestants in particular considered to be
the Antichrist And what a mystery was revealed when America was
discovered in 104862585202010486331048626 a land hidden by providence until the very eve of theReformation Te discovery of America and the dawn of the Refor-
mation occurring at roughly the same time appeared to many Protes-
tants as the beginning of the end of an old order uveson described it
this way ldquoMankind might be over the hump at last Tus the Refor-
mation became the assurance that the long era of superstition injustice
and poverty was ending and that light was breaking over the world A
great age of achievement had begunrdquo17
In the millennial view of history as opposed to the Augustinian view
progress was the defining factor in the human experience18 Te events
of Revelation were not allegories but were literal events taking place at
a future date but nevertheless in real time Tis notion comes through
in the apostle Johnrsquos recounting of Jesusrsquo command to write down every-
thing in his apocalyptic visionmdashldquothe things that you have seen those
that are and those that are to take place aer thisrdquo (Revelation 104862510486251048633) If
anything Jesus seems to be referring to literal ldquothingsrdquo to be ldquoseenrdquo with
the eyesmdashthings in the past present and future time It hardly seemed
possible especially to Protestant thinkers that we will consider shortly
that Jesus could be referring to an allegorized set of circumstances
As the Reformation opened and developed in the sixteenth century
the New England colonies were established in the seventeenth and the
colonial wars in America culminated in the mid-eighteenth the lines
were clearly drawn Te New England Puritans (and most of English
Protestantism) considered the French Roman Catholic kingdom to be
the physical manifestation of the forces of the Antichrist Specifically the
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
Te theological roots of the tree of American exceptionalism go deeper
and are more intricate than the other roots supporting it You mightsay that theology is the taproot of the tree anchoring it firmly to the
ground But exceptionalism is supported by a system of roots Let us
move on from theology and now consider the political roots of the
concept of exceptionalism
Te United States originated in the Revolution as a political union of
independent states Tis union coalesced into a federal republic under
the Constitution which was signed in 1048625104863110486321048631 and went into effect in 1048625104863110486321048633But the union of the thirteen original states did not emerge out of thin
air Te states joined together around the common cause of indepen-
dence from Britain and that cause was undergirded by the liberal ideas
expressed in the Declaration of Independence And the ideas expressed
in the Declaration had their origins even further back Te Western
philosophical tradition has included liberal ideas for a long time but for
our purposes here let us trace those liberal ideas back to England during
its tempestuous seventeenth century
Te English Civil War (104862510486308520201048626ndash104862510486308520211048625) and the Glorious Revolution (1048625104863010486321048632)
were two crucibles in English history that ultimately helped shape that
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
Aer Charles was executed the monarchy was replaced by the Pro-
tectorate under Cromwell until just aer his death In 104862510486301048630983088 the English
monarchy was restored with the coronation of Charles II who ruleduntil 104862510486301048632852021 When Charlesrsquos son James II ascended the throne it was said
that his desire was to return England to Roman Catholicism and rule as
an absolute monarch Parliament was in no mood to take chances with
James and the body invited William of Orange and his wife Mary
(Jamesrsquos Protestant daughter) to cross the Channel land in England and
replace James Te catch was that as monarchs they would have to
recognize the supremacy of Parliament Tey agreed and landed inEngland with fourteen thousand soldiers on November 852021 1048625104863010486321048632 James
having little support and thus no real ability to control events fled for
his life to France Te ascension of William and Mary to the throne in
1048625104863010486321048632 is known as the Glorious Revolutionmdasha bloodless affair unlike the
Civil War
John Locke (104862510486308520191048626ndash10486251048631983088852020) wrote his famous wo reatises on Civil Gov-
ernment which was published in 104862510486301048633983088 largely to bring credibility to theactions of Parliament particularly in inviting the rule of William and
Mary Locke said that governments ruled by the consent of the people
Rulers possessed political power but they possessed it in trust from the
people and they maintained their power by protecting the basic rights
bestowed on them by nature at birth Tus rulers do not have the power
to rule arbitrarily Rulers may only legitimately exercise their power in
such as way as to protect the natural rights of the individual Locke wrote
ldquo[Power] can have no other end or measure when in the hands of the
Magistrate but to preserve the Members of that Society in their Lives
Liberties and Possessions and so cannot be an Absolute Arbitrary power
over their Lives and Fortunes which are as much as possible to be pre-
servedrdquo21 Locke also penned his famous Letter Concerning oleration
which advocated for religious toleration According to Locke the state
only possessed power over temporal affairs It had no jurisdiction over
the individual conscience
Events in England leading up to the Glorious Revolution led to the
formation of two strong political parties oriented around the liberal
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520211048625
ideas articulated by Locke in his wo reatises namely the ories and
the Whigs Te ories were conservatives who favored aristocratic priv-
ilege a strong bond between ecclesiastical and civil authority and thepassive obedience of subjects to the politicalecclesiastical order Te
Whigs were firmly against these positions Teir liberalism won the day
in the Glorious Revolution of 1048625104863010486321048632 Seventeenth-century thinkers such
as John Locke Algernon Sidney John Milton and James Harrington ar-
ticulated liberal views such as religious toleration liberty of the press
parliamentary supremacy and rule by consent Later thinkers influenced
by these and other earlier figures sharpened and focused liberal ideas inthe face of what they saw as overreach by George IIrsquos prime minister
Robert Walpole in the 104862510486311048626983088s In particular John renchard and Tomas
Gordon advocated for religious freedom and individual rights in their
104862510486311048626983088ndash104862510486311048626852019 collection of essays titled Catorsquos Letters Tey represented well
the ideas of Real Whig ideology a body of thought that stressed the most
sweeping liberalism yet seen Real Whig thought as expressed by
renchard and Gordon was popular not only in England but also inAmerica especially during the 104862510486311048630983088s and 104862510486311048631983088s During these years Real
Whig thought became the driving intellectual force of the Revolution
Te Real Whigs took Lockersquos views on toleration to their logical terminus
advocating for complete religious freedom Religious freedom became a
hallmark of the writings of renchard and Gordon for example Pauline
Maier wrote of Real Whig political philosophy that ldquothe [American]
revolutionary movement takes on consistency and form only against the
backdrop of English revolutionary traditionrdquo22 And the writings of
renchard and Gordon were those that were among the most influential
Real Whig writings on this side of the Atlantic
How does Real Whig ideology fit into American exceptionalism Te
answer is simplemdashit is manifested through what Mark Noll called
ldquoChristian republicanismrdquo23 Christian republicanism is an amalgamation
of Real Whig ideology and Protestant theology occurring in American
literature and rhetoric in the years leading up to and during the Revo-
lution Te unifying themes between these two strands of thought are
freedom of religious dissension a reaction against ecclesiastical privilege
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
and a millennialism that saw America as Godrsquos chosen nation to bring
about the final defeat of the forces of the Antichrist
Christian republicans in America like Jonathan Mayhew of Bostonsought to biblically justify rebellion against the mother country May-
hewrsquos sermon ldquoA Discourse Concerning Unlimited Submissionrdquo which
he gave on January 852019983088 10486251048631852021983088 (the 10486259830881048625st anniversary of the execution of
Charles I) defended the justice of the Puritansrsquo overthrow of Charles I
Romans 10486258520191048625-852021 served as Mayhewrsquos text and he preached that Charlesrsquos
overthrow was entirely just In his letter to the Romans Paul was not
writing about submitting to a government that was evil but a gov-ernment that was a ldquoservant for your goodrdquo (Romans 1048625852019852020) Just as it is
entirely right for a child or a servant to disobey a parent or a master who
rules them unjustly a people who resist the rule of a tyrant are innocent
of wrongdoing Mayhew appealed to the principle of self-defense heremdasha
people have the right even the responsibility to protect themselves
against a tyrant just as the people did in 104862510486308520201048633 when they executed
Charles I Mayhew thundered
A PEOPLE really oppressed to a great degree by their sovereign cannot
well be insensible when they are so oppressed Nor would they have
any reason to mourn if some HERCULES should appear to dispatch
himmdashFor a nation thus abused to arise unanimously and to resist their
prince even to the dethroning him is not criminal but a reasonable use
of the means and the only means which God has put in their power for
mutual and self-defence24
Mayhew serves as an important figure in the years leading up to the
Revolution for several reasons First Mayhew was a New England
preacher heavily influenced by Real Whig political thought like the idea
that rulers rule by the peoplersquos consent Second he was a Christian who
accepted republican ideas despite the fact that as Mark Noll has pointed
out republicanism is at odds with key aspects of Christian theological
doctrine25 And third Mayhew like many others in his generation bap-
tized Real Whig ideas in the waters of biblical theology Mayhew is rep-
resentative of a Christian republicanism that began occurring in the
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520211048631
resented a turning point in history and was destined to advance human
civilization to the millennial reign of Christ as the eighteenth century
progressed Abraham Keteltas preaching in 1048625104863110486311048631 to the Presbyterians inNewburyport Massachusetts equated the cause of America with the
cause of God Americarsquos cause against Great Britain was the cause of
liberty justice rule of law and individual rightsmdashnot only for those who
were living but also for those generations yet to be born
Americarsquos cause for Keteltas was the cause of good against evil As
such it was Godrsquos own cause And Americans could take comfort in the
fact that God will be faithful to champion the American cause becausein doing so he was safeguarding his own cause Keteltas did not envision
the struggle with Britain as merely a political struggle He saw it as part
of the struggle of good against evil that had been going on since the fall
in the Garden of Eden Not only that he saw the Revolution as part of
the same cosmic struggle that Christ himself engaged in with the devil
in his Passion ldquoOur causerdquo wrote Keteltas ldquois not only good but it has
been prudently conducted it is the cause of truth against error andfalsehood the cause of righteousness against iniquity It is the cause
of reformation against popery In short it is the cause of heaven
against hellmdashof the kind Parent of the universe against the prince of
darkness and the destroyer of the human racerdquo31
Keteltas preached this sermon from Psalm 104863185202010486261048626mdashldquoArise O God
plead thine own causerdquo (983147983146983158) His sermon clearly reveals a particular
exegetical method guided by millennialism He envisioned the American
colonies as being engaged in the apocalyptic struggle of the forces of
Christ against the forces of the devil Samuel Sherwood is yet another
example of a preacher reading Scripture and the events of his time in this
way His 1048625104863110486311048630 sermon ldquoTe Churchrsquos Flight into the Wildernessrdquo is one
of the most strikingly millenarian sermons of the time His text was
Revelation 104862510486261048625852020-1048625104863132 and his exegesis is strongly typological Sherwoodrsquos
typology not surprisingly is informed by millenarianism And what is
further interesting about Sherwoodrsquos exegesis of the text is how he con-
flated the church with the American colonies For instance Sherwood
preached that God brought the church into North America a land of
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
o sum up the ideology of American exceptionalism has a multistruc-
tured intellectual root system theological political exegetical and his-
toriographical By the early nineteenth century Americans largely took
it for granted that their nation represented a break from the past and a
decisive turn toward a future defined by progress and advancement And
millions of people emigrated to the United States in the nineteenthcentury to tie their own personal destinies to that of America whose
destiny seemed poised to advance from triumph to triumph
A civil religion with exceptionalism as one of its essential aspects
developed aer the Revolution Te Declaration of Independence was
one of the foundational documents in a civil religious canon that was
taking shape Te Declaration made objective transcendent authori-
tative statements about the nature of humanity the role of the gov-ernment in relation to the people it represented and Godrsquos having estab-
lished a particular order that could not be thwarted or overturned Te
Declaration was followed by other documents that formed the civil reli-
gious canon the Constitution the Bill of Rights Washingtonrsquos Farewell
Address and others
As the nation grew in numbers and in territorial size between the Lou-
isiana Purchase of 10486251048632983088852019 and the Mexican War ending in 104862510486328520201048632 Americanexceptionalism divided into two articulations One of these articulations
was more strongly religious and more certain of Godrsquos providence con-
cerning the future of the United States and its status alongside other na-
tions It was also decidedly racist Te other articulation was more ag-
nostic concerning the providence of God but was nonetheless certain
that God had set it apart to be a moral example to the rest of the world
America could show other nations what a nation conceived in liberty
might look like how it might behave and what ideals it might pursue for
the benefit in theory if not in practice of all humanity
Americans struggled to figure out their place in the nineteenth century
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 1048630852019
aer their break with their mother country Great Britain Tey looked
for their place not only in the world doing ldquoall other Acts and Tings
which Independent States may of right dordquo as the Declaration of Inde-pendence suggested but also their place in human history As they
struggled they did many things that seem strange to us in the twenty-
first century William Walker is an example of such a person But
someone who most Americans have come to admire and acknowledge
as the greatest president ever to hold the officemdashAbraham Lincolnmdashwas
motivated by the idea of American exceptionalism as Walker was Te
tree of American exceptionalism fed by its roots was taking its shape inthe antebellum period during the nineteenth century It continued to
grow and flourish well into the twentieth and into our own century It
has yet to cease growing and developing as a civil religious idea that
Americans continually look to for guidance as they try and make sense
of their significance in space and time
F983151983154 F983157983154983156983144983141983154 R983141983137983140983145983150983143Bercovitch Sacvan Te Puritan Origins of the American Self 104862510486331048631852021 Reprint New
Haven Yale University Press 104862698308810486251048625
Gamble Richard M In Search of the City on a Hill Te Making and Unmaking
of an American Myth London Continuum 104862698308810486251048626
Greene Jack P Te Intellectual Construction of America Exceptionalism and
Identity from 1048625104862810486331048626 to 1048625104863210486241048624 Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press
104862510486331048633852019McKenna George Te Puritan Origins of American Patriotism New Haven
Yale University Press 10486269830889830881048631
Stout Harry S Te New England Soul Preaching and Religious Culture in Co-
lonial New England 1048625104863310486321048630 Reprint Oxford Oxford University Press 104862698308810486251048626
uveson Ernest Lee Redeemer Nation Te Idea of Americarsquos Millennial Role
Chicago University of Chicago Press 1048625104863310486301048632
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
PO Box 983089983092983088983088 Downers Grove IL 983094983088983093983089983093-983089983092983090983094
ivpresscom
emailivpresscom
copy983090983088983089983093 by John D Wilsey
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students and faculty active on campus at hundreds of universities colleges and schools of nursing in the United
States of America and a member movement of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students For
information about local and regional activities visit intervarsityorg
Scripture quotations unless otherwise noted are from Te Holy Bible English Standard Version copyright copy 983090983088983088983089
by Crossway Bibles a division of Good News Publishers Used by permission All rights reserved
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Cover design Cindy Kiple
Interior design Beth McGill
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ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983092983088983097983092-983094 (print)
ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983097983097983090983097-983094 (digital)
Printed in the United States of America
As a member of the Green Press Initiative InterVarsity Press is committed to protectingthe environment and to the responsible use of natural resources o learn more visit
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wilsey John D
American exceptionalism and civil religion reassessing the history of an idea John D Wilsey foreword by John
Fea
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index
ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983092983088983097983092-983094 (pbk alk paper)
983089 Christianity and politicsmdashUnited States 983090 ExceptionalismmdashUnited States 983091 NationalismmdashUnited States
I983150 M983137983161 983089983096983093983094 983156983144983141 983137983140983149983145983150983145983155983156983154983137983156983145983151983150 of President Franklin Pierce
extended diplomatic recognition to the newly established government
of the Republic of Nicaragua Tis would seem a rather ordinary turn of
events except for the fact that the government of the new republic was
headed by an American by the name of William Walker (104862510486321048626852020ndash104862510486321048630983088)
Walkerrsquos followers dubbed him ldquothe grey-eyed man of destinyrdquo1 He wasone of several ldquofilibustersrdquo a term used to describe American soldiers of
fortune in the 10486251048632852021983088s who attempted to seize lands in Central America
and the Caribbean through revolution and subsequently transform them
into slaveholding states modeled aer those of the South Walker with a
private army of sixty men intervened in a Nicaraguan civil war and suc-
cessfully took over its government in 10486251048632852021852021 As president of Nicaragua
Walker repudiated an 104862510486321048626852020 edict emancipating slaves intending to set upa new slave republic south of the Rio Grande He also encouraged Amer-
icans to settle there as colonists in the same way Americans were invited
by Mexico to settle in exas in the 104862510486321048626983088s
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
though in differing ways American exceptionalismrsquos theological roots
are found in the Puritan worldview and in particular those Puritans
who settled and flourished in the New England colonies during theseventeenth and eighteenth centuries
It is important to acknowledge here that the Puritans represent but one
religious group among several in the colonial period Religious diversity
within the Christian tradition in the British North American colonies was
a given since a variety of religious groups were involved in most of the
thirteen coloniesrsquo founding And as the Great Awakening got underway
in the early to middle 10486251048631983088983088s that diversity became even more pronouncedas evangelical groups such as the Baptists and Presbyterians became more
populous But the Puritans were perhaps the most influential intellectual
group during the colonial period In 10486251048632852019852021 ocqueville went as far as to say
that ldquoI see the destiny of America embodied in the first Puritan who
landed on these shores just as the whole human race was represented by
the first manrdquo2 Trough the enormous volume of Puritan writings in the
form of sermons books pamphlets newspapers letters and so on Pu-ritan thought spread from New England to the Middle and Southern
Colonies as well as to the western hinterlands George McKenna wrote
that the Puritans were more than any other religious group behind ldquoan
emerging sense of American nationhood a realization that America was
something more than a patchwork of villages towns and regionsrdquo3
Te history of the Puritans in England and America while fascinating
is beyond the scope of this study Suffice it to say here that many Puritans
in England aer failing to reform the state church from within migrated
to America and established colonies in what became known as New
England in the first part of the 10486251048630983088983088s Teir theological positions were
defined largely by Calvinism and they sought to integrate theology into
a worldview encompassing every aspect of life and thought4 McKenna
noted that Puritan thought provided what became a coherent framework
or scaffolding around which American self-identification was con-
structed It is my contention that three theological ideas in particular
shaped that framework the Puritan understanding of covenant typology
and millennialism
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
mind that every single thing that happens (or does not happen) down
to the minutest of details is directly attributable to Godrsquos intentional
activity in his world A famine a disease a drought or an Indian raidmdashthe Puritans habitually thought God used natural events like these to
directly respond to their backsliding their sinful neglect of their cov-
enant with him
During the second half of the 10486251048630983088983088s the jeremiad arose as an inimi-
table Puritanmdashand by extension Americanmdashliterary genre It took on
new efficacy in the wake of the disaster of King Philiprsquos War (104862510486301048631852021ndash1048625104863010486311048632)
in which the Puritan colonists and their Indian allies fought against theWampanoag tribe under Metacom (King Philip to the English) Both
sides were devastated Te native population was reduced from a quarter
of all inhabitants in New England to a tenth and one in sixteen English
settlers were killed7 Larry Witham wrote ldquoAer King Philip was killed
in August 1048625104863010486311048630 and his severed head stuck on a pike in Plymouth min-
isters poured out their Jeremiah-like interpretations through the printing
pressesrdquo8 Te first drop in a flood of jeremiads was likely Michael Wig-glesworthrsquos 1048625104863010486301048626 poem ldquoGodrsquos Controversy with New Englandrdquo written
in response to a drought Jonathan Mitchel wrote ldquoNehemiah on the Wall
in roublesome imesrdquo a 1048625104863010486301048631 election-day sermon In 104862510486301048631983088 Samuel
Danforth preached his ldquoBrief Recognition of New Englandrsquos Errand into
the Wildernessrdquo which provided one of the first lists of Puritan sins And
in 104862510486319830881048626 Cotton Mather published his monumental Magnalia Christi
Americana which was a providential history of the New England col-
onies Witham called Magnalia ldquoa sustained jeremiadrdquo9
Tis Puritan conception of covenant entailed a special calling on them
as Godrsquos chosen people with a divinely ordained mission Even though
they believed they existed as the people of God they were always cog-
nizant of the enormous responsibility that came with that privileged
position As they read the Old estament they saw not only the ancient
Israelites existing in covenant relationship to God they saw themselves
Typology In the Christian tradition of biblical interpretation ty-
pology has served as a consistent method in demonstrating the sym-
biotic relationship of the Old estament and the New Christian biblical
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 852020852021
Lord much as John the Baptist was to fulfill Isaiah 852020983088852019-852021 when he went
into the wilderness to prepare Israel for the coming of the Christ As
Bercovitch wrote ldquoTe remnant that fled Babylon in 10486251048630852019983088 set sail for thenew promised land especially reserved by God for them Unmis-
takably the New World was part of the history of salvationrdquo14
Millennialism Te third aspect of the Puritan theological structure I
am identifying is the notion that history is progressing toward a Christian
utopia that God is using nations to bring about his kingdom on earthmdash
and as Ernest Lee uveson wrote ldquoTe finger of Providence had pointed
to the young republic of the Westrdquo15 Te millennium is the biblicalthousand-year reign of Christ described in Revelation 1048626983088 to begin aer
the second advent Satan will be bound and imprisoned Christ will per-
sonally reign on the earth and his church will reign with him Te mil-
lennium precedes the final and absolute defeat of Satan the creation of
the new heaven and the new earth and the ushering in of the eternal age
Millennialism is a view of history that sees humankind progressing
toward the second coming and the personal reign of the glorified ChristAccording to this view humans actually take part in laying the
groundwork for the millennial kingdom through obedience spreading
the gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth and establishing the
Christian ethical ideal through the expansion of Christian civilization
Further Godrsquos agents in preparing the world for the millennium are the
nations and particularly those nations that represent him faithfully o
the Puritans and later the American colonists as a whole America was
the millennial nation
Prior to the Reformation Western civilization had not understood
history to be progressing toward any particular telos through the active
agency of human beings During the Middle Ages and through the Ren-
aissance Augustine of Hippo (AD 852019852021852020ndash852020852019983088) provided the West with the
prevailing view of history in his work Te City of God Augustine cast
civilization in terms of two groups or cities one was the city of man the
other the city of God Te city of man for Augustine consisted of the
empires established by human strength and greatness like the Roman
Empire Human empires while powerful were bound up in time and
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
ultimately doomed to fall But the city of God consisted of those who
were faithful to Christ that is the church which for Augustine equated
to the kingdom of God on earth Te city of God would be persecutedby the city of man but ultimately will prevail when Christ returns and
judges the living and the dead at the great white throne (Revelation 104862698308810486251048625-
1048625852021) Te millennium described in Revelation according to Augustine is
not to be taken literally but allegorically Te thousand years in Reve-
lation 1048626983088 denote a long and indefinite period of timemdashthus Augustinersquos
eschatological position is termed amillennialism (ldquono millenniumrdquo no
ldquothousand yearsrdquo) Since his resurrection Christ reigns over his peoplethe church and Satanrsquos binding takes place from Christrsquos resurrection
until the second advent At that time Satan will be released only to meet
his final destruction in the lake of fire Te city of man is doomed to
follow him there16
Te upshot of Augustinersquos view of history is that even though Satan is
bound during the age of the church ills resulting from Adamrsquos fall still
persist Tis condition is not going to change at least not until Christrsquosreturn at the end of the age If evils can still wreak their desolations upon
humans even while Satanrsquos power is muted then surely nothing can be
done by mere mortals to improve their lot It is vain for humans to try
and effect hope in this transitory and decaying world Te only answer
is to wait for a better world in the aerlife Tis was the prevailing view
of things in western Europe during the roughly thousand-year period
from the fall of Rome to the sixteenth century
Te Augustinian view of history was supplanted by a new view one
that came about as a result of the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth
century A general reconsideration of the meaning and authority of the
Bible was central to the project of the Reformation Included in this re-
consideration was a new interpretation of the book of Revelation and
with it the meaning of the millennium Perhaps Revelation pointed to
an actual thousand-year period in the not-too-distant future when true
Christian civilization would reign triumphantly over the forces of the
devil and the Antichrist Could it be possible that God would actively
use the nations to bring about this triumph If so then it would seem
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520201048631
that humanity could bring about the culmination of history aer all In-
stead of forlornly waiting around for Jesus to return humans could effect
the glorious reign of Christ by their own efforts of cooperating withdivine providence as God actively and purposefully brought about the
culmination of history
Many Protestants saw the Reformation as the major turning point in
Godrsquos program for history Te Reformation struck a death blow to the
Roman papacy which English Protestants in particular considered to be
the Antichrist And what a mystery was revealed when America was
discovered in 104862585202010486331048626 a land hidden by providence until the very eve of theReformation Te discovery of America and the dawn of the Refor-
mation occurring at roughly the same time appeared to many Protes-
tants as the beginning of the end of an old order uveson described it
this way ldquoMankind might be over the hump at last Tus the Refor-
mation became the assurance that the long era of superstition injustice
and poverty was ending and that light was breaking over the world A
great age of achievement had begunrdquo17
In the millennial view of history as opposed to the Augustinian view
progress was the defining factor in the human experience18 Te events
of Revelation were not allegories but were literal events taking place at
a future date but nevertheless in real time Tis notion comes through
in the apostle Johnrsquos recounting of Jesusrsquo command to write down every-
thing in his apocalyptic visionmdashldquothe things that you have seen those
that are and those that are to take place aer thisrdquo (Revelation 104862510486251048633) If
anything Jesus seems to be referring to literal ldquothingsrdquo to be ldquoseenrdquo with
the eyesmdashthings in the past present and future time It hardly seemed
possible especially to Protestant thinkers that we will consider shortly
that Jesus could be referring to an allegorized set of circumstances
As the Reformation opened and developed in the sixteenth century
the New England colonies were established in the seventeenth and the
colonial wars in America culminated in the mid-eighteenth the lines
were clearly drawn Te New England Puritans (and most of English
Protestantism) considered the French Roman Catholic kingdom to be
the physical manifestation of the forces of the Antichrist Specifically the
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
Te theological roots of the tree of American exceptionalism go deeper
and are more intricate than the other roots supporting it You mightsay that theology is the taproot of the tree anchoring it firmly to the
ground But exceptionalism is supported by a system of roots Let us
move on from theology and now consider the political roots of the
concept of exceptionalism
Te United States originated in the Revolution as a political union of
independent states Tis union coalesced into a federal republic under
the Constitution which was signed in 1048625104863110486321048631 and went into effect in 1048625104863110486321048633But the union of the thirteen original states did not emerge out of thin
air Te states joined together around the common cause of indepen-
dence from Britain and that cause was undergirded by the liberal ideas
expressed in the Declaration of Independence And the ideas expressed
in the Declaration had their origins even further back Te Western
philosophical tradition has included liberal ideas for a long time but for
our purposes here let us trace those liberal ideas back to England during
its tempestuous seventeenth century
Te English Civil War (104862510486308520201048626ndash104862510486308520211048625) and the Glorious Revolution (1048625104863010486321048632)
were two crucibles in English history that ultimately helped shape that
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
Aer Charles was executed the monarchy was replaced by the Pro-
tectorate under Cromwell until just aer his death In 104862510486301048630983088 the English
monarchy was restored with the coronation of Charles II who ruleduntil 104862510486301048632852021 When Charlesrsquos son James II ascended the throne it was said
that his desire was to return England to Roman Catholicism and rule as
an absolute monarch Parliament was in no mood to take chances with
James and the body invited William of Orange and his wife Mary
(Jamesrsquos Protestant daughter) to cross the Channel land in England and
replace James Te catch was that as monarchs they would have to
recognize the supremacy of Parliament Tey agreed and landed inEngland with fourteen thousand soldiers on November 852021 1048625104863010486321048632 James
having little support and thus no real ability to control events fled for
his life to France Te ascension of William and Mary to the throne in
1048625104863010486321048632 is known as the Glorious Revolutionmdasha bloodless affair unlike the
Civil War
John Locke (104862510486308520191048626ndash10486251048631983088852020) wrote his famous wo reatises on Civil Gov-
ernment which was published in 104862510486301048633983088 largely to bring credibility to theactions of Parliament particularly in inviting the rule of William and
Mary Locke said that governments ruled by the consent of the people
Rulers possessed political power but they possessed it in trust from the
people and they maintained their power by protecting the basic rights
bestowed on them by nature at birth Tus rulers do not have the power
to rule arbitrarily Rulers may only legitimately exercise their power in
such as way as to protect the natural rights of the individual Locke wrote
ldquo[Power] can have no other end or measure when in the hands of the
Magistrate but to preserve the Members of that Society in their Lives
Liberties and Possessions and so cannot be an Absolute Arbitrary power
over their Lives and Fortunes which are as much as possible to be pre-
servedrdquo21 Locke also penned his famous Letter Concerning oleration
which advocated for religious toleration According to Locke the state
only possessed power over temporal affairs It had no jurisdiction over
the individual conscience
Events in England leading up to the Glorious Revolution led to the
formation of two strong political parties oriented around the liberal
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520211048625
ideas articulated by Locke in his wo reatises namely the ories and
the Whigs Te ories were conservatives who favored aristocratic priv-
ilege a strong bond between ecclesiastical and civil authority and thepassive obedience of subjects to the politicalecclesiastical order Te
Whigs were firmly against these positions Teir liberalism won the day
in the Glorious Revolution of 1048625104863010486321048632 Seventeenth-century thinkers such
as John Locke Algernon Sidney John Milton and James Harrington ar-
ticulated liberal views such as religious toleration liberty of the press
parliamentary supremacy and rule by consent Later thinkers influenced
by these and other earlier figures sharpened and focused liberal ideas inthe face of what they saw as overreach by George IIrsquos prime minister
Robert Walpole in the 104862510486311048626983088s In particular John renchard and Tomas
Gordon advocated for religious freedom and individual rights in their
104862510486311048626983088ndash104862510486311048626852019 collection of essays titled Catorsquos Letters Tey represented well
the ideas of Real Whig ideology a body of thought that stressed the most
sweeping liberalism yet seen Real Whig thought as expressed by
renchard and Gordon was popular not only in England but also inAmerica especially during the 104862510486311048630983088s and 104862510486311048631983088s During these years Real
Whig thought became the driving intellectual force of the Revolution
Te Real Whigs took Lockersquos views on toleration to their logical terminus
advocating for complete religious freedom Religious freedom became a
hallmark of the writings of renchard and Gordon for example Pauline
Maier wrote of Real Whig political philosophy that ldquothe [American]
revolutionary movement takes on consistency and form only against the
backdrop of English revolutionary traditionrdquo22 And the writings of
renchard and Gordon were those that were among the most influential
Real Whig writings on this side of the Atlantic
How does Real Whig ideology fit into American exceptionalism Te
answer is simplemdashit is manifested through what Mark Noll called
ldquoChristian republicanismrdquo23 Christian republicanism is an amalgamation
of Real Whig ideology and Protestant theology occurring in American
literature and rhetoric in the years leading up to and during the Revo-
lution Te unifying themes between these two strands of thought are
freedom of religious dissension a reaction against ecclesiastical privilege
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
and a millennialism that saw America as Godrsquos chosen nation to bring
about the final defeat of the forces of the Antichrist
Christian republicans in America like Jonathan Mayhew of Bostonsought to biblically justify rebellion against the mother country May-
hewrsquos sermon ldquoA Discourse Concerning Unlimited Submissionrdquo which
he gave on January 852019983088 10486251048631852021983088 (the 10486259830881048625st anniversary of the execution of
Charles I) defended the justice of the Puritansrsquo overthrow of Charles I
Romans 10486258520191048625-852021 served as Mayhewrsquos text and he preached that Charlesrsquos
overthrow was entirely just In his letter to the Romans Paul was not
writing about submitting to a government that was evil but a gov-ernment that was a ldquoservant for your goodrdquo (Romans 1048625852019852020) Just as it is
entirely right for a child or a servant to disobey a parent or a master who
rules them unjustly a people who resist the rule of a tyrant are innocent
of wrongdoing Mayhew appealed to the principle of self-defense heremdasha
people have the right even the responsibility to protect themselves
against a tyrant just as the people did in 104862510486308520201048633 when they executed
Charles I Mayhew thundered
A PEOPLE really oppressed to a great degree by their sovereign cannot
well be insensible when they are so oppressed Nor would they have
any reason to mourn if some HERCULES should appear to dispatch
himmdashFor a nation thus abused to arise unanimously and to resist their
prince even to the dethroning him is not criminal but a reasonable use
of the means and the only means which God has put in their power for
mutual and self-defence24
Mayhew serves as an important figure in the years leading up to the
Revolution for several reasons First Mayhew was a New England
preacher heavily influenced by Real Whig political thought like the idea
that rulers rule by the peoplersquos consent Second he was a Christian who
accepted republican ideas despite the fact that as Mark Noll has pointed
out republicanism is at odds with key aspects of Christian theological
doctrine25 And third Mayhew like many others in his generation bap-
tized Real Whig ideas in the waters of biblical theology Mayhew is rep-
resentative of a Christian republicanism that began occurring in the
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520211048631
resented a turning point in history and was destined to advance human
civilization to the millennial reign of Christ as the eighteenth century
progressed Abraham Keteltas preaching in 1048625104863110486311048631 to the Presbyterians inNewburyport Massachusetts equated the cause of America with the
cause of God Americarsquos cause against Great Britain was the cause of
liberty justice rule of law and individual rightsmdashnot only for those who
were living but also for those generations yet to be born
Americarsquos cause for Keteltas was the cause of good against evil As
such it was Godrsquos own cause And Americans could take comfort in the
fact that God will be faithful to champion the American cause becausein doing so he was safeguarding his own cause Keteltas did not envision
the struggle with Britain as merely a political struggle He saw it as part
of the struggle of good against evil that had been going on since the fall
in the Garden of Eden Not only that he saw the Revolution as part of
the same cosmic struggle that Christ himself engaged in with the devil
in his Passion ldquoOur causerdquo wrote Keteltas ldquois not only good but it has
been prudently conducted it is the cause of truth against error andfalsehood the cause of righteousness against iniquity It is the cause
of reformation against popery In short it is the cause of heaven
against hellmdashof the kind Parent of the universe against the prince of
darkness and the destroyer of the human racerdquo31
Keteltas preached this sermon from Psalm 104863185202010486261048626mdashldquoArise O God
plead thine own causerdquo (983147983146983158) His sermon clearly reveals a particular
exegetical method guided by millennialism He envisioned the American
colonies as being engaged in the apocalyptic struggle of the forces of
Christ against the forces of the devil Samuel Sherwood is yet another
example of a preacher reading Scripture and the events of his time in this
way His 1048625104863110486311048630 sermon ldquoTe Churchrsquos Flight into the Wildernessrdquo is one
of the most strikingly millenarian sermons of the time His text was
Revelation 104862510486261048625852020-1048625104863132 and his exegesis is strongly typological Sherwoodrsquos
typology not surprisingly is informed by millenarianism And what is
further interesting about Sherwoodrsquos exegesis of the text is how he con-
flated the church with the American colonies For instance Sherwood
preached that God brought the church into North America a land of
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
o sum up the ideology of American exceptionalism has a multistruc-
tured intellectual root system theological political exegetical and his-
toriographical By the early nineteenth century Americans largely took
it for granted that their nation represented a break from the past and a
decisive turn toward a future defined by progress and advancement And
millions of people emigrated to the United States in the nineteenthcentury to tie their own personal destinies to that of America whose
destiny seemed poised to advance from triumph to triumph
A civil religion with exceptionalism as one of its essential aspects
developed aer the Revolution Te Declaration of Independence was
one of the foundational documents in a civil religious canon that was
taking shape Te Declaration made objective transcendent authori-
tative statements about the nature of humanity the role of the gov-ernment in relation to the people it represented and Godrsquos having estab-
lished a particular order that could not be thwarted or overturned Te
Declaration was followed by other documents that formed the civil reli-
gious canon the Constitution the Bill of Rights Washingtonrsquos Farewell
Address and others
As the nation grew in numbers and in territorial size between the Lou-
isiana Purchase of 10486251048632983088852019 and the Mexican War ending in 104862510486328520201048632 Americanexceptionalism divided into two articulations One of these articulations
was more strongly religious and more certain of Godrsquos providence con-
cerning the future of the United States and its status alongside other na-
tions It was also decidedly racist Te other articulation was more ag-
nostic concerning the providence of God but was nonetheless certain
that God had set it apart to be a moral example to the rest of the world
America could show other nations what a nation conceived in liberty
might look like how it might behave and what ideals it might pursue for
the benefit in theory if not in practice of all humanity
Americans struggled to figure out their place in the nineteenth century
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 1048630852019
aer their break with their mother country Great Britain Tey looked
for their place not only in the world doing ldquoall other Acts and Tings
which Independent States may of right dordquo as the Declaration of Inde-pendence suggested but also their place in human history As they
struggled they did many things that seem strange to us in the twenty-
first century William Walker is an example of such a person But
someone who most Americans have come to admire and acknowledge
as the greatest president ever to hold the officemdashAbraham Lincolnmdashwas
motivated by the idea of American exceptionalism as Walker was Te
tree of American exceptionalism fed by its roots was taking its shape inthe antebellum period during the nineteenth century It continued to
grow and flourish well into the twentieth and into our own century It
has yet to cease growing and developing as a civil religious idea that
Americans continually look to for guidance as they try and make sense
of their significance in space and time
F983151983154 F983157983154983156983144983141983154 R983141983137983140983145983150983143Bercovitch Sacvan Te Puritan Origins of the American Self 104862510486331048631852021 Reprint New
Haven Yale University Press 104862698308810486251048625
Gamble Richard M In Search of the City on a Hill Te Making and Unmaking
of an American Myth London Continuum 104862698308810486251048626
Greene Jack P Te Intellectual Construction of America Exceptionalism and
Identity from 1048625104862810486331048626 to 1048625104863210486241048624 Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press
104862510486331048633852019McKenna George Te Puritan Origins of American Patriotism New Haven
Yale University Press 10486269830889830881048631
Stout Harry S Te New England Soul Preaching and Religious Culture in Co-
lonial New England 1048625104863310486321048630 Reprint Oxford Oxford University Press 104862698308810486251048626
uveson Ernest Lee Redeemer Nation Te Idea of Americarsquos Millennial Role
Chicago University of Chicago Press 1048625104863310486301048632
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
PO Box 983089983092983088983088 Downers Grove IL 983094983088983093983089983093-983089983092983090983094
ivpresscom
emailivpresscom
copy983090983088983089983093 by John D Wilsey
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students and faculty active on campus at hundreds of universities colleges and schools of nursing in the United
States of America and a member movement of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students For
information about local and regional activities visit intervarsityorg
Scripture quotations unless otherwise noted are from Te Holy Bible English Standard Version copyright copy 983090983088983088983089
by Crossway Bibles a division of Good News Publishers Used by permission All rights reserved
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Interior design Beth McGill
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ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983092983088983097983092-983094 (print)
ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983097983097983090983097-983094 (digital)
Printed in the United States of America
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wilsey John D
American exceptionalism and civil religion reassessing the history of an idea John D Wilsey foreword by John
Fea
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index
ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983092983088983097983092-983094 (pbk alk paper)
983089 Christianity and politicsmdashUnited States 983090 ExceptionalismmdashUnited States 983091 NationalismmdashUnited States
I983150 M983137983161 983089983096983093983094 983156983144983141 983137983140983149983145983150983145983155983156983154983137983156983145983151983150 of President Franklin Pierce
extended diplomatic recognition to the newly established government
of the Republic of Nicaragua Tis would seem a rather ordinary turn of
events except for the fact that the government of the new republic was
headed by an American by the name of William Walker (104862510486321048626852020ndash104862510486321048630983088)
Walkerrsquos followers dubbed him ldquothe grey-eyed man of destinyrdquo1 He wasone of several ldquofilibustersrdquo a term used to describe American soldiers of
fortune in the 10486251048632852021983088s who attempted to seize lands in Central America
and the Caribbean through revolution and subsequently transform them
into slaveholding states modeled aer those of the South Walker with a
private army of sixty men intervened in a Nicaraguan civil war and suc-
cessfully took over its government in 10486251048632852021852021 As president of Nicaragua
Walker repudiated an 104862510486321048626852020 edict emancipating slaves intending to set upa new slave republic south of the Rio Grande He also encouraged Amer-
icans to settle there as colonists in the same way Americans were invited
by Mexico to settle in exas in the 104862510486321048626983088s
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
though in differing ways American exceptionalismrsquos theological roots
are found in the Puritan worldview and in particular those Puritans
who settled and flourished in the New England colonies during theseventeenth and eighteenth centuries
It is important to acknowledge here that the Puritans represent but one
religious group among several in the colonial period Religious diversity
within the Christian tradition in the British North American colonies was
a given since a variety of religious groups were involved in most of the
thirteen coloniesrsquo founding And as the Great Awakening got underway
in the early to middle 10486251048631983088983088s that diversity became even more pronouncedas evangelical groups such as the Baptists and Presbyterians became more
populous But the Puritans were perhaps the most influential intellectual
group during the colonial period In 10486251048632852019852021 ocqueville went as far as to say
that ldquoI see the destiny of America embodied in the first Puritan who
landed on these shores just as the whole human race was represented by
the first manrdquo2 Trough the enormous volume of Puritan writings in the
form of sermons books pamphlets newspapers letters and so on Pu-ritan thought spread from New England to the Middle and Southern
Colonies as well as to the western hinterlands George McKenna wrote
that the Puritans were more than any other religious group behind ldquoan
emerging sense of American nationhood a realization that America was
something more than a patchwork of villages towns and regionsrdquo3
Te history of the Puritans in England and America while fascinating
is beyond the scope of this study Suffice it to say here that many Puritans
in England aer failing to reform the state church from within migrated
to America and established colonies in what became known as New
England in the first part of the 10486251048630983088983088s Teir theological positions were
defined largely by Calvinism and they sought to integrate theology into
a worldview encompassing every aspect of life and thought4 McKenna
noted that Puritan thought provided what became a coherent framework
or scaffolding around which American self-identification was con-
structed It is my contention that three theological ideas in particular
shaped that framework the Puritan understanding of covenant typology
and millennialism
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
mind that every single thing that happens (or does not happen) down
to the minutest of details is directly attributable to Godrsquos intentional
activity in his world A famine a disease a drought or an Indian raidmdashthe Puritans habitually thought God used natural events like these to
directly respond to their backsliding their sinful neglect of their cov-
enant with him
During the second half of the 10486251048630983088983088s the jeremiad arose as an inimi-
table Puritanmdashand by extension Americanmdashliterary genre It took on
new efficacy in the wake of the disaster of King Philiprsquos War (104862510486301048631852021ndash1048625104863010486311048632)
in which the Puritan colonists and their Indian allies fought against theWampanoag tribe under Metacom (King Philip to the English) Both
sides were devastated Te native population was reduced from a quarter
of all inhabitants in New England to a tenth and one in sixteen English
settlers were killed7 Larry Witham wrote ldquoAer King Philip was killed
in August 1048625104863010486311048630 and his severed head stuck on a pike in Plymouth min-
isters poured out their Jeremiah-like interpretations through the printing
pressesrdquo8 Te first drop in a flood of jeremiads was likely Michael Wig-glesworthrsquos 1048625104863010486301048626 poem ldquoGodrsquos Controversy with New Englandrdquo written
in response to a drought Jonathan Mitchel wrote ldquoNehemiah on the Wall
in roublesome imesrdquo a 1048625104863010486301048631 election-day sermon In 104862510486301048631983088 Samuel
Danforth preached his ldquoBrief Recognition of New Englandrsquos Errand into
the Wildernessrdquo which provided one of the first lists of Puritan sins And
in 104862510486319830881048626 Cotton Mather published his monumental Magnalia Christi
Americana which was a providential history of the New England col-
onies Witham called Magnalia ldquoa sustained jeremiadrdquo9
Tis Puritan conception of covenant entailed a special calling on them
as Godrsquos chosen people with a divinely ordained mission Even though
they believed they existed as the people of God they were always cog-
nizant of the enormous responsibility that came with that privileged
position As they read the Old estament they saw not only the ancient
Israelites existing in covenant relationship to God they saw themselves
Typology In the Christian tradition of biblical interpretation ty-
pology has served as a consistent method in demonstrating the sym-
biotic relationship of the Old estament and the New Christian biblical
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 852020852021
Lord much as John the Baptist was to fulfill Isaiah 852020983088852019-852021 when he went
into the wilderness to prepare Israel for the coming of the Christ As
Bercovitch wrote ldquoTe remnant that fled Babylon in 10486251048630852019983088 set sail for thenew promised land especially reserved by God for them Unmis-
takably the New World was part of the history of salvationrdquo14
Millennialism Te third aspect of the Puritan theological structure I
am identifying is the notion that history is progressing toward a Christian
utopia that God is using nations to bring about his kingdom on earthmdash
and as Ernest Lee uveson wrote ldquoTe finger of Providence had pointed
to the young republic of the Westrdquo15 Te millennium is the biblicalthousand-year reign of Christ described in Revelation 1048626983088 to begin aer
the second advent Satan will be bound and imprisoned Christ will per-
sonally reign on the earth and his church will reign with him Te mil-
lennium precedes the final and absolute defeat of Satan the creation of
the new heaven and the new earth and the ushering in of the eternal age
Millennialism is a view of history that sees humankind progressing
toward the second coming and the personal reign of the glorified ChristAccording to this view humans actually take part in laying the
groundwork for the millennial kingdom through obedience spreading
the gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth and establishing the
Christian ethical ideal through the expansion of Christian civilization
Further Godrsquos agents in preparing the world for the millennium are the
nations and particularly those nations that represent him faithfully o
the Puritans and later the American colonists as a whole America was
the millennial nation
Prior to the Reformation Western civilization had not understood
history to be progressing toward any particular telos through the active
agency of human beings During the Middle Ages and through the Ren-
aissance Augustine of Hippo (AD 852019852021852020ndash852020852019983088) provided the West with the
prevailing view of history in his work Te City of God Augustine cast
civilization in terms of two groups or cities one was the city of man the
other the city of God Te city of man for Augustine consisted of the
empires established by human strength and greatness like the Roman
Empire Human empires while powerful were bound up in time and
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
ultimately doomed to fall But the city of God consisted of those who
were faithful to Christ that is the church which for Augustine equated
to the kingdom of God on earth Te city of God would be persecutedby the city of man but ultimately will prevail when Christ returns and
judges the living and the dead at the great white throne (Revelation 104862698308810486251048625-
1048625852021) Te millennium described in Revelation according to Augustine is
not to be taken literally but allegorically Te thousand years in Reve-
lation 1048626983088 denote a long and indefinite period of timemdashthus Augustinersquos
eschatological position is termed amillennialism (ldquono millenniumrdquo no
ldquothousand yearsrdquo) Since his resurrection Christ reigns over his peoplethe church and Satanrsquos binding takes place from Christrsquos resurrection
until the second advent At that time Satan will be released only to meet
his final destruction in the lake of fire Te city of man is doomed to
follow him there16
Te upshot of Augustinersquos view of history is that even though Satan is
bound during the age of the church ills resulting from Adamrsquos fall still
persist Tis condition is not going to change at least not until Christrsquosreturn at the end of the age If evils can still wreak their desolations upon
humans even while Satanrsquos power is muted then surely nothing can be
done by mere mortals to improve their lot It is vain for humans to try
and effect hope in this transitory and decaying world Te only answer
is to wait for a better world in the aerlife Tis was the prevailing view
of things in western Europe during the roughly thousand-year period
from the fall of Rome to the sixteenth century
Te Augustinian view of history was supplanted by a new view one
that came about as a result of the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth
century A general reconsideration of the meaning and authority of the
Bible was central to the project of the Reformation Included in this re-
consideration was a new interpretation of the book of Revelation and
with it the meaning of the millennium Perhaps Revelation pointed to
an actual thousand-year period in the not-too-distant future when true
Christian civilization would reign triumphantly over the forces of the
devil and the Antichrist Could it be possible that God would actively
use the nations to bring about this triumph If so then it would seem
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520201048631
that humanity could bring about the culmination of history aer all In-
stead of forlornly waiting around for Jesus to return humans could effect
the glorious reign of Christ by their own efforts of cooperating withdivine providence as God actively and purposefully brought about the
culmination of history
Many Protestants saw the Reformation as the major turning point in
Godrsquos program for history Te Reformation struck a death blow to the
Roman papacy which English Protestants in particular considered to be
the Antichrist And what a mystery was revealed when America was
discovered in 104862585202010486331048626 a land hidden by providence until the very eve of theReformation Te discovery of America and the dawn of the Refor-
mation occurring at roughly the same time appeared to many Protes-
tants as the beginning of the end of an old order uveson described it
this way ldquoMankind might be over the hump at last Tus the Refor-
mation became the assurance that the long era of superstition injustice
and poverty was ending and that light was breaking over the world A
great age of achievement had begunrdquo17
In the millennial view of history as opposed to the Augustinian view
progress was the defining factor in the human experience18 Te events
of Revelation were not allegories but were literal events taking place at
a future date but nevertheless in real time Tis notion comes through
in the apostle Johnrsquos recounting of Jesusrsquo command to write down every-
thing in his apocalyptic visionmdashldquothe things that you have seen those
that are and those that are to take place aer thisrdquo (Revelation 104862510486251048633) If
anything Jesus seems to be referring to literal ldquothingsrdquo to be ldquoseenrdquo with
the eyesmdashthings in the past present and future time It hardly seemed
possible especially to Protestant thinkers that we will consider shortly
that Jesus could be referring to an allegorized set of circumstances
As the Reformation opened and developed in the sixteenth century
the New England colonies were established in the seventeenth and the
colonial wars in America culminated in the mid-eighteenth the lines
were clearly drawn Te New England Puritans (and most of English
Protestantism) considered the French Roman Catholic kingdom to be
the physical manifestation of the forces of the Antichrist Specifically the
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
Te theological roots of the tree of American exceptionalism go deeper
and are more intricate than the other roots supporting it You mightsay that theology is the taproot of the tree anchoring it firmly to the
ground But exceptionalism is supported by a system of roots Let us
move on from theology and now consider the political roots of the
concept of exceptionalism
Te United States originated in the Revolution as a political union of
independent states Tis union coalesced into a federal republic under
the Constitution which was signed in 1048625104863110486321048631 and went into effect in 1048625104863110486321048633But the union of the thirteen original states did not emerge out of thin
air Te states joined together around the common cause of indepen-
dence from Britain and that cause was undergirded by the liberal ideas
expressed in the Declaration of Independence And the ideas expressed
in the Declaration had their origins even further back Te Western
philosophical tradition has included liberal ideas for a long time but for
our purposes here let us trace those liberal ideas back to England during
its tempestuous seventeenth century
Te English Civil War (104862510486308520201048626ndash104862510486308520211048625) and the Glorious Revolution (1048625104863010486321048632)
were two crucibles in English history that ultimately helped shape that
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
Aer Charles was executed the monarchy was replaced by the Pro-
tectorate under Cromwell until just aer his death In 104862510486301048630983088 the English
monarchy was restored with the coronation of Charles II who ruleduntil 104862510486301048632852021 When Charlesrsquos son James II ascended the throne it was said
that his desire was to return England to Roman Catholicism and rule as
an absolute monarch Parliament was in no mood to take chances with
James and the body invited William of Orange and his wife Mary
(Jamesrsquos Protestant daughter) to cross the Channel land in England and
replace James Te catch was that as monarchs they would have to
recognize the supremacy of Parliament Tey agreed and landed inEngland with fourteen thousand soldiers on November 852021 1048625104863010486321048632 James
having little support and thus no real ability to control events fled for
his life to France Te ascension of William and Mary to the throne in
1048625104863010486321048632 is known as the Glorious Revolutionmdasha bloodless affair unlike the
Civil War
John Locke (104862510486308520191048626ndash10486251048631983088852020) wrote his famous wo reatises on Civil Gov-
ernment which was published in 104862510486301048633983088 largely to bring credibility to theactions of Parliament particularly in inviting the rule of William and
Mary Locke said that governments ruled by the consent of the people
Rulers possessed political power but they possessed it in trust from the
people and they maintained their power by protecting the basic rights
bestowed on them by nature at birth Tus rulers do not have the power
to rule arbitrarily Rulers may only legitimately exercise their power in
such as way as to protect the natural rights of the individual Locke wrote
ldquo[Power] can have no other end or measure when in the hands of the
Magistrate but to preserve the Members of that Society in their Lives
Liberties and Possessions and so cannot be an Absolute Arbitrary power
over their Lives and Fortunes which are as much as possible to be pre-
servedrdquo21 Locke also penned his famous Letter Concerning oleration
which advocated for religious toleration According to Locke the state
only possessed power over temporal affairs It had no jurisdiction over
the individual conscience
Events in England leading up to the Glorious Revolution led to the
formation of two strong political parties oriented around the liberal
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520211048625
ideas articulated by Locke in his wo reatises namely the ories and
the Whigs Te ories were conservatives who favored aristocratic priv-
ilege a strong bond between ecclesiastical and civil authority and thepassive obedience of subjects to the politicalecclesiastical order Te
Whigs were firmly against these positions Teir liberalism won the day
in the Glorious Revolution of 1048625104863010486321048632 Seventeenth-century thinkers such
as John Locke Algernon Sidney John Milton and James Harrington ar-
ticulated liberal views such as religious toleration liberty of the press
parliamentary supremacy and rule by consent Later thinkers influenced
by these and other earlier figures sharpened and focused liberal ideas inthe face of what they saw as overreach by George IIrsquos prime minister
Robert Walpole in the 104862510486311048626983088s In particular John renchard and Tomas
Gordon advocated for religious freedom and individual rights in their
104862510486311048626983088ndash104862510486311048626852019 collection of essays titled Catorsquos Letters Tey represented well
the ideas of Real Whig ideology a body of thought that stressed the most
sweeping liberalism yet seen Real Whig thought as expressed by
renchard and Gordon was popular not only in England but also inAmerica especially during the 104862510486311048630983088s and 104862510486311048631983088s During these years Real
Whig thought became the driving intellectual force of the Revolution
Te Real Whigs took Lockersquos views on toleration to their logical terminus
advocating for complete religious freedom Religious freedom became a
hallmark of the writings of renchard and Gordon for example Pauline
Maier wrote of Real Whig political philosophy that ldquothe [American]
revolutionary movement takes on consistency and form only against the
backdrop of English revolutionary traditionrdquo22 And the writings of
renchard and Gordon were those that were among the most influential
Real Whig writings on this side of the Atlantic
How does Real Whig ideology fit into American exceptionalism Te
answer is simplemdashit is manifested through what Mark Noll called
ldquoChristian republicanismrdquo23 Christian republicanism is an amalgamation
of Real Whig ideology and Protestant theology occurring in American
literature and rhetoric in the years leading up to and during the Revo-
lution Te unifying themes between these two strands of thought are
freedom of religious dissension a reaction against ecclesiastical privilege
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
and a millennialism that saw America as Godrsquos chosen nation to bring
about the final defeat of the forces of the Antichrist
Christian republicans in America like Jonathan Mayhew of Bostonsought to biblically justify rebellion against the mother country May-
hewrsquos sermon ldquoA Discourse Concerning Unlimited Submissionrdquo which
he gave on January 852019983088 10486251048631852021983088 (the 10486259830881048625st anniversary of the execution of
Charles I) defended the justice of the Puritansrsquo overthrow of Charles I
Romans 10486258520191048625-852021 served as Mayhewrsquos text and he preached that Charlesrsquos
overthrow was entirely just In his letter to the Romans Paul was not
writing about submitting to a government that was evil but a gov-ernment that was a ldquoservant for your goodrdquo (Romans 1048625852019852020) Just as it is
entirely right for a child or a servant to disobey a parent or a master who
rules them unjustly a people who resist the rule of a tyrant are innocent
of wrongdoing Mayhew appealed to the principle of self-defense heremdasha
people have the right even the responsibility to protect themselves
against a tyrant just as the people did in 104862510486308520201048633 when they executed
Charles I Mayhew thundered
A PEOPLE really oppressed to a great degree by their sovereign cannot
well be insensible when they are so oppressed Nor would they have
any reason to mourn if some HERCULES should appear to dispatch
himmdashFor a nation thus abused to arise unanimously and to resist their
prince even to the dethroning him is not criminal but a reasonable use
of the means and the only means which God has put in their power for
mutual and self-defence24
Mayhew serves as an important figure in the years leading up to the
Revolution for several reasons First Mayhew was a New England
preacher heavily influenced by Real Whig political thought like the idea
that rulers rule by the peoplersquos consent Second he was a Christian who
accepted republican ideas despite the fact that as Mark Noll has pointed
out republicanism is at odds with key aspects of Christian theological
doctrine25 And third Mayhew like many others in his generation bap-
tized Real Whig ideas in the waters of biblical theology Mayhew is rep-
resentative of a Christian republicanism that began occurring in the
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520211048631
resented a turning point in history and was destined to advance human
civilization to the millennial reign of Christ as the eighteenth century
progressed Abraham Keteltas preaching in 1048625104863110486311048631 to the Presbyterians inNewburyport Massachusetts equated the cause of America with the
cause of God Americarsquos cause against Great Britain was the cause of
liberty justice rule of law and individual rightsmdashnot only for those who
were living but also for those generations yet to be born
Americarsquos cause for Keteltas was the cause of good against evil As
such it was Godrsquos own cause And Americans could take comfort in the
fact that God will be faithful to champion the American cause becausein doing so he was safeguarding his own cause Keteltas did not envision
the struggle with Britain as merely a political struggle He saw it as part
of the struggle of good against evil that had been going on since the fall
in the Garden of Eden Not only that he saw the Revolution as part of
the same cosmic struggle that Christ himself engaged in with the devil
in his Passion ldquoOur causerdquo wrote Keteltas ldquois not only good but it has
been prudently conducted it is the cause of truth against error andfalsehood the cause of righteousness against iniquity It is the cause
of reformation against popery In short it is the cause of heaven
against hellmdashof the kind Parent of the universe against the prince of
darkness and the destroyer of the human racerdquo31
Keteltas preached this sermon from Psalm 104863185202010486261048626mdashldquoArise O God
plead thine own causerdquo (983147983146983158) His sermon clearly reveals a particular
exegetical method guided by millennialism He envisioned the American
colonies as being engaged in the apocalyptic struggle of the forces of
Christ against the forces of the devil Samuel Sherwood is yet another
example of a preacher reading Scripture and the events of his time in this
way His 1048625104863110486311048630 sermon ldquoTe Churchrsquos Flight into the Wildernessrdquo is one
of the most strikingly millenarian sermons of the time His text was
Revelation 104862510486261048625852020-1048625104863132 and his exegesis is strongly typological Sherwoodrsquos
typology not surprisingly is informed by millenarianism And what is
further interesting about Sherwoodrsquos exegesis of the text is how he con-
flated the church with the American colonies For instance Sherwood
preached that God brought the church into North America a land of
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
o sum up the ideology of American exceptionalism has a multistruc-
tured intellectual root system theological political exegetical and his-
toriographical By the early nineteenth century Americans largely took
it for granted that their nation represented a break from the past and a
decisive turn toward a future defined by progress and advancement And
millions of people emigrated to the United States in the nineteenthcentury to tie their own personal destinies to that of America whose
destiny seemed poised to advance from triumph to triumph
A civil religion with exceptionalism as one of its essential aspects
developed aer the Revolution Te Declaration of Independence was
one of the foundational documents in a civil religious canon that was
taking shape Te Declaration made objective transcendent authori-
tative statements about the nature of humanity the role of the gov-ernment in relation to the people it represented and Godrsquos having estab-
lished a particular order that could not be thwarted or overturned Te
Declaration was followed by other documents that formed the civil reli-
gious canon the Constitution the Bill of Rights Washingtonrsquos Farewell
Address and others
As the nation grew in numbers and in territorial size between the Lou-
isiana Purchase of 10486251048632983088852019 and the Mexican War ending in 104862510486328520201048632 Americanexceptionalism divided into two articulations One of these articulations
was more strongly religious and more certain of Godrsquos providence con-
cerning the future of the United States and its status alongside other na-
tions It was also decidedly racist Te other articulation was more ag-
nostic concerning the providence of God but was nonetheless certain
that God had set it apart to be a moral example to the rest of the world
America could show other nations what a nation conceived in liberty
might look like how it might behave and what ideals it might pursue for
the benefit in theory if not in practice of all humanity
Americans struggled to figure out their place in the nineteenth century
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 1048630852019
aer their break with their mother country Great Britain Tey looked
for their place not only in the world doing ldquoall other Acts and Tings
which Independent States may of right dordquo as the Declaration of Inde-pendence suggested but also their place in human history As they
struggled they did many things that seem strange to us in the twenty-
first century William Walker is an example of such a person But
someone who most Americans have come to admire and acknowledge
as the greatest president ever to hold the officemdashAbraham Lincolnmdashwas
motivated by the idea of American exceptionalism as Walker was Te
tree of American exceptionalism fed by its roots was taking its shape inthe antebellum period during the nineteenth century It continued to
grow and flourish well into the twentieth and into our own century It
has yet to cease growing and developing as a civil religious idea that
Americans continually look to for guidance as they try and make sense
of their significance in space and time
F983151983154 F983157983154983156983144983141983154 R983141983137983140983145983150983143Bercovitch Sacvan Te Puritan Origins of the American Self 104862510486331048631852021 Reprint New
Haven Yale University Press 104862698308810486251048625
Gamble Richard M In Search of the City on a Hill Te Making and Unmaking
of an American Myth London Continuum 104862698308810486251048626
Greene Jack P Te Intellectual Construction of America Exceptionalism and
Identity from 1048625104862810486331048626 to 1048625104863210486241048624 Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press
104862510486331048633852019McKenna George Te Puritan Origins of American Patriotism New Haven
Yale University Press 10486269830889830881048631
Stout Harry S Te New England Soul Preaching and Religious Culture in Co-
lonial New England 1048625104863310486321048630 Reprint Oxford Oxford University Press 104862698308810486251048626
uveson Ernest Lee Redeemer Nation Te Idea of Americarsquos Millennial Role
Chicago University of Chicago Press 1048625104863310486301048632
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
I983150 M983137983161 983089983096983093983094 983156983144983141 983137983140983149983145983150983145983155983156983154983137983156983145983151983150 of President Franklin Pierce
extended diplomatic recognition to the newly established government
of the Republic of Nicaragua Tis would seem a rather ordinary turn of
events except for the fact that the government of the new republic was
headed by an American by the name of William Walker (104862510486321048626852020ndash104862510486321048630983088)
Walkerrsquos followers dubbed him ldquothe grey-eyed man of destinyrdquo1 He wasone of several ldquofilibustersrdquo a term used to describe American soldiers of
fortune in the 10486251048632852021983088s who attempted to seize lands in Central America
and the Caribbean through revolution and subsequently transform them
into slaveholding states modeled aer those of the South Walker with a
private army of sixty men intervened in a Nicaraguan civil war and suc-
cessfully took over its government in 10486251048632852021852021 As president of Nicaragua
Walker repudiated an 104862510486321048626852020 edict emancipating slaves intending to set upa new slave republic south of the Rio Grande He also encouraged Amer-
icans to settle there as colonists in the same way Americans were invited
by Mexico to settle in exas in the 104862510486321048626983088s
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
though in differing ways American exceptionalismrsquos theological roots
are found in the Puritan worldview and in particular those Puritans
who settled and flourished in the New England colonies during theseventeenth and eighteenth centuries
It is important to acknowledge here that the Puritans represent but one
religious group among several in the colonial period Religious diversity
within the Christian tradition in the British North American colonies was
a given since a variety of religious groups were involved in most of the
thirteen coloniesrsquo founding And as the Great Awakening got underway
in the early to middle 10486251048631983088983088s that diversity became even more pronouncedas evangelical groups such as the Baptists and Presbyterians became more
populous But the Puritans were perhaps the most influential intellectual
group during the colonial period In 10486251048632852019852021 ocqueville went as far as to say
that ldquoI see the destiny of America embodied in the first Puritan who
landed on these shores just as the whole human race was represented by
the first manrdquo2 Trough the enormous volume of Puritan writings in the
form of sermons books pamphlets newspapers letters and so on Pu-ritan thought spread from New England to the Middle and Southern
Colonies as well as to the western hinterlands George McKenna wrote
that the Puritans were more than any other religious group behind ldquoan
emerging sense of American nationhood a realization that America was
something more than a patchwork of villages towns and regionsrdquo3
Te history of the Puritans in England and America while fascinating
is beyond the scope of this study Suffice it to say here that many Puritans
in England aer failing to reform the state church from within migrated
to America and established colonies in what became known as New
England in the first part of the 10486251048630983088983088s Teir theological positions were
defined largely by Calvinism and they sought to integrate theology into
a worldview encompassing every aspect of life and thought4 McKenna
noted that Puritan thought provided what became a coherent framework
or scaffolding around which American self-identification was con-
structed It is my contention that three theological ideas in particular
shaped that framework the Puritan understanding of covenant typology
and millennialism
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
mind that every single thing that happens (or does not happen) down
to the minutest of details is directly attributable to Godrsquos intentional
activity in his world A famine a disease a drought or an Indian raidmdashthe Puritans habitually thought God used natural events like these to
directly respond to their backsliding their sinful neglect of their cov-
enant with him
During the second half of the 10486251048630983088983088s the jeremiad arose as an inimi-
table Puritanmdashand by extension Americanmdashliterary genre It took on
new efficacy in the wake of the disaster of King Philiprsquos War (104862510486301048631852021ndash1048625104863010486311048632)
in which the Puritan colonists and their Indian allies fought against theWampanoag tribe under Metacom (King Philip to the English) Both
sides were devastated Te native population was reduced from a quarter
of all inhabitants in New England to a tenth and one in sixteen English
settlers were killed7 Larry Witham wrote ldquoAer King Philip was killed
in August 1048625104863010486311048630 and his severed head stuck on a pike in Plymouth min-
isters poured out their Jeremiah-like interpretations through the printing
pressesrdquo8 Te first drop in a flood of jeremiads was likely Michael Wig-glesworthrsquos 1048625104863010486301048626 poem ldquoGodrsquos Controversy with New Englandrdquo written
in response to a drought Jonathan Mitchel wrote ldquoNehemiah on the Wall
in roublesome imesrdquo a 1048625104863010486301048631 election-day sermon In 104862510486301048631983088 Samuel
Danforth preached his ldquoBrief Recognition of New Englandrsquos Errand into
the Wildernessrdquo which provided one of the first lists of Puritan sins And
in 104862510486319830881048626 Cotton Mather published his monumental Magnalia Christi
Americana which was a providential history of the New England col-
onies Witham called Magnalia ldquoa sustained jeremiadrdquo9
Tis Puritan conception of covenant entailed a special calling on them
as Godrsquos chosen people with a divinely ordained mission Even though
they believed they existed as the people of God they were always cog-
nizant of the enormous responsibility that came with that privileged
position As they read the Old estament they saw not only the ancient
Israelites existing in covenant relationship to God they saw themselves
Typology In the Christian tradition of biblical interpretation ty-
pology has served as a consistent method in demonstrating the sym-
biotic relationship of the Old estament and the New Christian biblical
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 852020852021
Lord much as John the Baptist was to fulfill Isaiah 852020983088852019-852021 when he went
into the wilderness to prepare Israel for the coming of the Christ As
Bercovitch wrote ldquoTe remnant that fled Babylon in 10486251048630852019983088 set sail for thenew promised land especially reserved by God for them Unmis-
takably the New World was part of the history of salvationrdquo14
Millennialism Te third aspect of the Puritan theological structure I
am identifying is the notion that history is progressing toward a Christian
utopia that God is using nations to bring about his kingdom on earthmdash
and as Ernest Lee uveson wrote ldquoTe finger of Providence had pointed
to the young republic of the Westrdquo15 Te millennium is the biblicalthousand-year reign of Christ described in Revelation 1048626983088 to begin aer
the second advent Satan will be bound and imprisoned Christ will per-
sonally reign on the earth and his church will reign with him Te mil-
lennium precedes the final and absolute defeat of Satan the creation of
the new heaven and the new earth and the ushering in of the eternal age
Millennialism is a view of history that sees humankind progressing
toward the second coming and the personal reign of the glorified ChristAccording to this view humans actually take part in laying the
groundwork for the millennial kingdom through obedience spreading
the gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth and establishing the
Christian ethical ideal through the expansion of Christian civilization
Further Godrsquos agents in preparing the world for the millennium are the
nations and particularly those nations that represent him faithfully o
the Puritans and later the American colonists as a whole America was
the millennial nation
Prior to the Reformation Western civilization had not understood
history to be progressing toward any particular telos through the active
agency of human beings During the Middle Ages and through the Ren-
aissance Augustine of Hippo (AD 852019852021852020ndash852020852019983088) provided the West with the
prevailing view of history in his work Te City of God Augustine cast
civilization in terms of two groups or cities one was the city of man the
other the city of God Te city of man for Augustine consisted of the
empires established by human strength and greatness like the Roman
Empire Human empires while powerful were bound up in time and
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
ultimately doomed to fall But the city of God consisted of those who
were faithful to Christ that is the church which for Augustine equated
to the kingdom of God on earth Te city of God would be persecutedby the city of man but ultimately will prevail when Christ returns and
judges the living and the dead at the great white throne (Revelation 104862698308810486251048625-
1048625852021) Te millennium described in Revelation according to Augustine is
not to be taken literally but allegorically Te thousand years in Reve-
lation 1048626983088 denote a long and indefinite period of timemdashthus Augustinersquos
eschatological position is termed amillennialism (ldquono millenniumrdquo no
ldquothousand yearsrdquo) Since his resurrection Christ reigns over his peoplethe church and Satanrsquos binding takes place from Christrsquos resurrection
until the second advent At that time Satan will be released only to meet
his final destruction in the lake of fire Te city of man is doomed to
follow him there16
Te upshot of Augustinersquos view of history is that even though Satan is
bound during the age of the church ills resulting from Adamrsquos fall still
persist Tis condition is not going to change at least not until Christrsquosreturn at the end of the age If evils can still wreak their desolations upon
humans even while Satanrsquos power is muted then surely nothing can be
done by mere mortals to improve their lot It is vain for humans to try
and effect hope in this transitory and decaying world Te only answer
is to wait for a better world in the aerlife Tis was the prevailing view
of things in western Europe during the roughly thousand-year period
from the fall of Rome to the sixteenth century
Te Augustinian view of history was supplanted by a new view one
that came about as a result of the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth
century A general reconsideration of the meaning and authority of the
Bible was central to the project of the Reformation Included in this re-
consideration was a new interpretation of the book of Revelation and
with it the meaning of the millennium Perhaps Revelation pointed to
an actual thousand-year period in the not-too-distant future when true
Christian civilization would reign triumphantly over the forces of the
devil and the Antichrist Could it be possible that God would actively
use the nations to bring about this triumph If so then it would seem
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520201048631
that humanity could bring about the culmination of history aer all In-
stead of forlornly waiting around for Jesus to return humans could effect
the glorious reign of Christ by their own efforts of cooperating withdivine providence as God actively and purposefully brought about the
culmination of history
Many Protestants saw the Reformation as the major turning point in
Godrsquos program for history Te Reformation struck a death blow to the
Roman papacy which English Protestants in particular considered to be
the Antichrist And what a mystery was revealed when America was
discovered in 104862585202010486331048626 a land hidden by providence until the very eve of theReformation Te discovery of America and the dawn of the Refor-
mation occurring at roughly the same time appeared to many Protes-
tants as the beginning of the end of an old order uveson described it
this way ldquoMankind might be over the hump at last Tus the Refor-
mation became the assurance that the long era of superstition injustice
and poverty was ending and that light was breaking over the world A
great age of achievement had begunrdquo17
In the millennial view of history as opposed to the Augustinian view
progress was the defining factor in the human experience18 Te events
of Revelation were not allegories but were literal events taking place at
a future date but nevertheless in real time Tis notion comes through
in the apostle Johnrsquos recounting of Jesusrsquo command to write down every-
thing in his apocalyptic visionmdashldquothe things that you have seen those
that are and those that are to take place aer thisrdquo (Revelation 104862510486251048633) If
anything Jesus seems to be referring to literal ldquothingsrdquo to be ldquoseenrdquo with
the eyesmdashthings in the past present and future time It hardly seemed
possible especially to Protestant thinkers that we will consider shortly
that Jesus could be referring to an allegorized set of circumstances
As the Reformation opened and developed in the sixteenth century
the New England colonies were established in the seventeenth and the
colonial wars in America culminated in the mid-eighteenth the lines
were clearly drawn Te New England Puritans (and most of English
Protestantism) considered the French Roman Catholic kingdom to be
the physical manifestation of the forces of the Antichrist Specifically the
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
Te theological roots of the tree of American exceptionalism go deeper
and are more intricate than the other roots supporting it You mightsay that theology is the taproot of the tree anchoring it firmly to the
ground But exceptionalism is supported by a system of roots Let us
move on from theology and now consider the political roots of the
concept of exceptionalism
Te United States originated in the Revolution as a political union of
independent states Tis union coalesced into a federal republic under
the Constitution which was signed in 1048625104863110486321048631 and went into effect in 1048625104863110486321048633But the union of the thirteen original states did not emerge out of thin
air Te states joined together around the common cause of indepen-
dence from Britain and that cause was undergirded by the liberal ideas
expressed in the Declaration of Independence And the ideas expressed
in the Declaration had their origins even further back Te Western
philosophical tradition has included liberal ideas for a long time but for
our purposes here let us trace those liberal ideas back to England during
its tempestuous seventeenth century
Te English Civil War (104862510486308520201048626ndash104862510486308520211048625) and the Glorious Revolution (1048625104863010486321048632)
were two crucibles in English history that ultimately helped shape that
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
Aer Charles was executed the monarchy was replaced by the Pro-
tectorate under Cromwell until just aer his death In 104862510486301048630983088 the English
monarchy was restored with the coronation of Charles II who ruleduntil 104862510486301048632852021 When Charlesrsquos son James II ascended the throne it was said
that his desire was to return England to Roman Catholicism and rule as
an absolute monarch Parliament was in no mood to take chances with
James and the body invited William of Orange and his wife Mary
(Jamesrsquos Protestant daughter) to cross the Channel land in England and
replace James Te catch was that as monarchs they would have to
recognize the supremacy of Parliament Tey agreed and landed inEngland with fourteen thousand soldiers on November 852021 1048625104863010486321048632 James
having little support and thus no real ability to control events fled for
his life to France Te ascension of William and Mary to the throne in
1048625104863010486321048632 is known as the Glorious Revolutionmdasha bloodless affair unlike the
Civil War
John Locke (104862510486308520191048626ndash10486251048631983088852020) wrote his famous wo reatises on Civil Gov-
ernment which was published in 104862510486301048633983088 largely to bring credibility to theactions of Parliament particularly in inviting the rule of William and
Mary Locke said that governments ruled by the consent of the people
Rulers possessed political power but they possessed it in trust from the
people and they maintained their power by protecting the basic rights
bestowed on them by nature at birth Tus rulers do not have the power
to rule arbitrarily Rulers may only legitimately exercise their power in
such as way as to protect the natural rights of the individual Locke wrote
ldquo[Power] can have no other end or measure when in the hands of the
Magistrate but to preserve the Members of that Society in their Lives
Liberties and Possessions and so cannot be an Absolute Arbitrary power
over their Lives and Fortunes which are as much as possible to be pre-
servedrdquo21 Locke also penned his famous Letter Concerning oleration
which advocated for religious toleration According to Locke the state
only possessed power over temporal affairs It had no jurisdiction over
the individual conscience
Events in England leading up to the Glorious Revolution led to the
formation of two strong political parties oriented around the liberal
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520211048625
ideas articulated by Locke in his wo reatises namely the ories and
the Whigs Te ories were conservatives who favored aristocratic priv-
ilege a strong bond between ecclesiastical and civil authority and thepassive obedience of subjects to the politicalecclesiastical order Te
Whigs were firmly against these positions Teir liberalism won the day
in the Glorious Revolution of 1048625104863010486321048632 Seventeenth-century thinkers such
as John Locke Algernon Sidney John Milton and James Harrington ar-
ticulated liberal views such as religious toleration liberty of the press
parliamentary supremacy and rule by consent Later thinkers influenced
by these and other earlier figures sharpened and focused liberal ideas inthe face of what they saw as overreach by George IIrsquos prime minister
Robert Walpole in the 104862510486311048626983088s In particular John renchard and Tomas
Gordon advocated for religious freedom and individual rights in their
104862510486311048626983088ndash104862510486311048626852019 collection of essays titled Catorsquos Letters Tey represented well
the ideas of Real Whig ideology a body of thought that stressed the most
sweeping liberalism yet seen Real Whig thought as expressed by
renchard and Gordon was popular not only in England but also inAmerica especially during the 104862510486311048630983088s and 104862510486311048631983088s During these years Real
Whig thought became the driving intellectual force of the Revolution
Te Real Whigs took Lockersquos views on toleration to their logical terminus
advocating for complete religious freedom Religious freedom became a
hallmark of the writings of renchard and Gordon for example Pauline
Maier wrote of Real Whig political philosophy that ldquothe [American]
revolutionary movement takes on consistency and form only against the
backdrop of English revolutionary traditionrdquo22 And the writings of
renchard and Gordon were those that were among the most influential
Real Whig writings on this side of the Atlantic
How does Real Whig ideology fit into American exceptionalism Te
answer is simplemdashit is manifested through what Mark Noll called
ldquoChristian republicanismrdquo23 Christian republicanism is an amalgamation
of Real Whig ideology and Protestant theology occurring in American
literature and rhetoric in the years leading up to and during the Revo-
lution Te unifying themes between these two strands of thought are
freedom of religious dissension a reaction against ecclesiastical privilege
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
and a millennialism that saw America as Godrsquos chosen nation to bring
about the final defeat of the forces of the Antichrist
Christian republicans in America like Jonathan Mayhew of Bostonsought to biblically justify rebellion against the mother country May-
hewrsquos sermon ldquoA Discourse Concerning Unlimited Submissionrdquo which
he gave on January 852019983088 10486251048631852021983088 (the 10486259830881048625st anniversary of the execution of
Charles I) defended the justice of the Puritansrsquo overthrow of Charles I
Romans 10486258520191048625-852021 served as Mayhewrsquos text and he preached that Charlesrsquos
overthrow was entirely just In his letter to the Romans Paul was not
writing about submitting to a government that was evil but a gov-ernment that was a ldquoservant for your goodrdquo (Romans 1048625852019852020) Just as it is
entirely right for a child or a servant to disobey a parent or a master who
rules them unjustly a people who resist the rule of a tyrant are innocent
of wrongdoing Mayhew appealed to the principle of self-defense heremdasha
people have the right even the responsibility to protect themselves
against a tyrant just as the people did in 104862510486308520201048633 when they executed
Charles I Mayhew thundered
A PEOPLE really oppressed to a great degree by their sovereign cannot
well be insensible when they are so oppressed Nor would they have
any reason to mourn if some HERCULES should appear to dispatch
himmdashFor a nation thus abused to arise unanimously and to resist their
prince even to the dethroning him is not criminal but a reasonable use
of the means and the only means which God has put in their power for
mutual and self-defence24
Mayhew serves as an important figure in the years leading up to the
Revolution for several reasons First Mayhew was a New England
preacher heavily influenced by Real Whig political thought like the idea
that rulers rule by the peoplersquos consent Second he was a Christian who
accepted republican ideas despite the fact that as Mark Noll has pointed
out republicanism is at odds with key aspects of Christian theological
doctrine25 And third Mayhew like many others in his generation bap-
tized Real Whig ideas in the waters of biblical theology Mayhew is rep-
resentative of a Christian republicanism that began occurring in the
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8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520211048631
resented a turning point in history and was destined to advance human
civilization to the millennial reign of Christ as the eighteenth century
progressed Abraham Keteltas preaching in 1048625104863110486311048631 to the Presbyterians inNewburyport Massachusetts equated the cause of America with the
cause of God Americarsquos cause against Great Britain was the cause of
liberty justice rule of law and individual rightsmdashnot only for those who
were living but also for those generations yet to be born
Americarsquos cause for Keteltas was the cause of good against evil As
such it was Godrsquos own cause And Americans could take comfort in the
fact that God will be faithful to champion the American cause becausein doing so he was safeguarding his own cause Keteltas did not envision
the struggle with Britain as merely a political struggle He saw it as part
of the struggle of good against evil that had been going on since the fall
in the Garden of Eden Not only that he saw the Revolution as part of
the same cosmic struggle that Christ himself engaged in with the devil
in his Passion ldquoOur causerdquo wrote Keteltas ldquois not only good but it has
been prudently conducted it is the cause of truth against error andfalsehood the cause of righteousness against iniquity It is the cause
of reformation against popery In short it is the cause of heaven
against hellmdashof the kind Parent of the universe against the prince of
darkness and the destroyer of the human racerdquo31
Keteltas preached this sermon from Psalm 104863185202010486261048626mdashldquoArise O God
plead thine own causerdquo (983147983146983158) His sermon clearly reveals a particular
exegetical method guided by millennialism He envisioned the American
colonies as being engaged in the apocalyptic struggle of the forces of
Christ against the forces of the devil Samuel Sherwood is yet another
example of a preacher reading Scripture and the events of his time in this
way His 1048625104863110486311048630 sermon ldquoTe Churchrsquos Flight into the Wildernessrdquo is one
of the most strikingly millenarian sermons of the time His text was
Revelation 104862510486261048625852020-1048625104863132 and his exegesis is strongly typological Sherwoodrsquos
typology not surprisingly is informed by millenarianism And what is
further interesting about Sherwoodrsquos exegesis of the text is how he con-
flated the church with the American colonies For instance Sherwood
preached that God brought the church into North America a land of
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
o sum up the ideology of American exceptionalism has a multistruc-
tured intellectual root system theological political exegetical and his-
toriographical By the early nineteenth century Americans largely took
it for granted that their nation represented a break from the past and a
decisive turn toward a future defined by progress and advancement And
millions of people emigrated to the United States in the nineteenthcentury to tie their own personal destinies to that of America whose
destiny seemed poised to advance from triumph to triumph
A civil religion with exceptionalism as one of its essential aspects
developed aer the Revolution Te Declaration of Independence was
one of the foundational documents in a civil religious canon that was
taking shape Te Declaration made objective transcendent authori-
tative statements about the nature of humanity the role of the gov-ernment in relation to the people it represented and Godrsquos having estab-
lished a particular order that could not be thwarted or overturned Te
Declaration was followed by other documents that formed the civil reli-
gious canon the Constitution the Bill of Rights Washingtonrsquos Farewell
Address and others
As the nation grew in numbers and in territorial size between the Lou-
isiana Purchase of 10486251048632983088852019 and the Mexican War ending in 104862510486328520201048632 Americanexceptionalism divided into two articulations One of these articulations
was more strongly religious and more certain of Godrsquos providence con-
cerning the future of the United States and its status alongside other na-
tions It was also decidedly racist Te other articulation was more ag-
nostic concerning the providence of God but was nonetheless certain
that God had set it apart to be a moral example to the rest of the world
America could show other nations what a nation conceived in liberty
might look like how it might behave and what ideals it might pursue for
the benefit in theory if not in practice of all humanity
Americans struggled to figure out their place in the nineteenth century
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 1048630852019
aer their break with their mother country Great Britain Tey looked
for their place not only in the world doing ldquoall other Acts and Tings
which Independent States may of right dordquo as the Declaration of Inde-pendence suggested but also their place in human history As they
struggled they did many things that seem strange to us in the twenty-
first century William Walker is an example of such a person But
someone who most Americans have come to admire and acknowledge
as the greatest president ever to hold the officemdashAbraham Lincolnmdashwas
motivated by the idea of American exceptionalism as Walker was Te
tree of American exceptionalism fed by its roots was taking its shape inthe antebellum period during the nineteenth century It continued to
grow and flourish well into the twentieth and into our own century It
has yet to cease growing and developing as a civil religious idea that
Americans continually look to for guidance as they try and make sense
of their significance in space and time
F983151983154 F983157983154983156983144983141983154 R983141983137983140983145983150983143Bercovitch Sacvan Te Puritan Origins of the American Self 104862510486331048631852021 Reprint New
Haven Yale University Press 104862698308810486251048625
Gamble Richard M In Search of the City on a Hill Te Making and Unmaking
of an American Myth London Continuum 104862698308810486251048626
Greene Jack P Te Intellectual Construction of America Exceptionalism and
Identity from 1048625104862810486331048626 to 1048625104863210486241048624 Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press
104862510486331048633852019McKenna George Te Puritan Origins of American Patriotism New Haven
Yale University Press 10486269830889830881048631
Stout Harry S Te New England Soul Preaching and Religious Culture in Co-
lonial New England 1048625104863310486321048630 Reprint Oxford Oxford University Press 104862698308810486251048626
uveson Ernest Lee Redeemer Nation Te Idea of Americarsquos Millennial Role
Chicago University of Chicago Press 1048625104863310486301048632
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
I983150 M983137983161 983089983096983093983094 983156983144983141 983137983140983149983145983150983145983155983156983154983137983156983145983151983150 of President Franklin Pierce
extended diplomatic recognition to the newly established government
of the Republic of Nicaragua Tis would seem a rather ordinary turn of
events except for the fact that the government of the new republic was
headed by an American by the name of William Walker (104862510486321048626852020ndash104862510486321048630983088)
Walkerrsquos followers dubbed him ldquothe grey-eyed man of destinyrdquo1 He wasone of several ldquofilibustersrdquo a term used to describe American soldiers of
fortune in the 10486251048632852021983088s who attempted to seize lands in Central America
and the Caribbean through revolution and subsequently transform them
into slaveholding states modeled aer those of the South Walker with a
private army of sixty men intervened in a Nicaraguan civil war and suc-
cessfully took over its government in 10486251048632852021852021 As president of Nicaragua
Walker repudiated an 104862510486321048626852020 edict emancipating slaves intending to set upa new slave republic south of the Rio Grande He also encouraged Amer-
icans to settle there as colonists in the same way Americans were invited
by Mexico to settle in exas in the 104862510486321048626983088s
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
though in differing ways American exceptionalismrsquos theological roots
are found in the Puritan worldview and in particular those Puritans
who settled and flourished in the New England colonies during theseventeenth and eighteenth centuries
It is important to acknowledge here that the Puritans represent but one
religious group among several in the colonial period Religious diversity
within the Christian tradition in the British North American colonies was
a given since a variety of religious groups were involved in most of the
thirteen coloniesrsquo founding And as the Great Awakening got underway
in the early to middle 10486251048631983088983088s that diversity became even more pronouncedas evangelical groups such as the Baptists and Presbyterians became more
populous But the Puritans were perhaps the most influential intellectual
group during the colonial period In 10486251048632852019852021 ocqueville went as far as to say
that ldquoI see the destiny of America embodied in the first Puritan who
landed on these shores just as the whole human race was represented by
the first manrdquo2 Trough the enormous volume of Puritan writings in the
form of sermons books pamphlets newspapers letters and so on Pu-ritan thought spread from New England to the Middle and Southern
Colonies as well as to the western hinterlands George McKenna wrote
that the Puritans were more than any other religious group behind ldquoan
emerging sense of American nationhood a realization that America was
something more than a patchwork of villages towns and regionsrdquo3
Te history of the Puritans in England and America while fascinating
is beyond the scope of this study Suffice it to say here that many Puritans
in England aer failing to reform the state church from within migrated
to America and established colonies in what became known as New
England in the first part of the 10486251048630983088983088s Teir theological positions were
defined largely by Calvinism and they sought to integrate theology into
a worldview encompassing every aspect of life and thought4 McKenna
noted that Puritan thought provided what became a coherent framework
or scaffolding around which American self-identification was con-
structed It is my contention that three theological ideas in particular
shaped that framework the Puritan understanding of covenant typology
and millennialism
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
mind that every single thing that happens (or does not happen) down
to the minutest of details is directly attributable to Godrsquos intentional
activity in his world A famine a disease a drought or an Indian raidmdashthe Puritans habitually thought God used natural events like these to
directly respond to their backsliding their sinful neglect of their cov-
enant with him
During the second half of the 10486251048630983088983088s the jeremiad arose as an inimi-
table Puritanmdashand by extension Americanmdashliterary genre It took on
new efficacy in the wake of the disaster of King Philiprsquos War (104862510486301048631852021ndash1048625104863010486311048632)
in which the Puritan colonists and their Indian allies fought against theWampanoag tribe under Metacom (King Philip to the English) Both
sides were devastated Te native population was reduced from a quarter
of all inhabitants in New England to a tenth and one in sixteen English
settlers were killed7 Larry Witham wrote ldquoAer King Philip was killed
in August 1048625104863010486311048630 and his severed head stuck on a pike in Plymouth min-
isters poured out their Jeremiah-like interpretations through the printing
pressesrdquo8 Te first drop in a flood of jeremiads was likely Michael Wig-glesworthrsquos 1048625104863010486301048626 poem ldquoGodrsquos Controversy with New Englandrdquo written
in response to a drought Jonathan Mitchel wrote ldquoNehemiah on the Wall
in roublesome imesrdquo a 1048625104863010486301048631 election-day sermon In 104862510486301048631983088 Samuel
Danforth preached his ldquoBrief Recognition of New Englandrsquos Errand into
the Wildernessrdquo which provided one of the first lists of Puritan sins And
in 104862510486319830881048626 Cotton Mather published his monumental Magnalia Christi
Americana which was a providential history of the New England col-
onies Witham called Magnalia ldquoa sustained jeremiadrdquo9
Tis Puritan conception of covenant entailed a special calling on them
as Godrsquos chosen people with a divinely ordained mission Even though
they believed they existed as the people of God they were always cog-
nizant of the enormous responsibility that came with that privileged
position As they read the Old estament they saw not only the ancient
Israelites existing in covenant relationship to God they saw themselves
Typology In the Christian tradition of biblical interpretation ty-
pology has served as a consistent method in demonstrating the sym-
biotic relationship of the Old estament and the New Christian biblical
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 852020852021
Lord much as John the Baptist was to fulfill Isaiah 852020983088852019-852021 when he went
into the wilderness to prepare Israel for the coming of the Christ As
Bercovitch wrote ldquoTe remnant that fled Babylon in 10486251048630852019983088 set sail for thenew promised land especially reserved by God for them Unmis-
takably the New World was part of the history of salvationrdquo14
Millennialism Te third aspect of the Puritan theological structure I
am identifying is the notion that history is progressing toward a Christian
utopia that God is using nations to bring about his kingdom on earthmdash
and as Ernest Lee uveson wrote ldquoTe finger of Providence had pointed
to the young republic of the Westrdquo15 Te millennium is the biblicalthousand-year reign of Christ described in Revelation 1048626983088 to begin aer
the second advent Satan will be bound and imprisoned Christ will per-
sonally reign on the earth and his church will reign with him Te mil-
lennium precedes the final and absolute defeat of Satan the creation of
the new heaven and the new earth and the ushering in of the eternal age
Millennialism is a view of history that sees humankind progressing
toward the second coming and the personal reign of the glorified ChristAccording to this view humans actually take part in laying the
groundwork for the millennial kingdom through obedience spreading
the gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth and establishing the
Christian ethical ideal through the expansion of Christian civilization
Further Godrsquos agents in preparing the world for the millennium are the
nations and particularly those nations that represent him faithfully o
the Puritans and later the American colonists as a whole America was
the millennial nation
Prior to the Reformation Western civilization had not understood
history to be progressing toward any particular telos through the active
agency of human beings During the Middle Ages and through the Ren-
aissance Augustine of Hippo (AD 852019852021852020ndash852020852019983088) provided the West with the
prevailing view of history in his work Te City of God Augustine cast
civilization in terms of two groups or cities one was the city of man the
other the city of God Te city of man for Augustine consisted of the
empires established by human strength and greatness like the Roman
Empire Human empires while powerful were bound up in time and
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
ultimately doomed to fall But the city of God consisted of those who
were faithful to Christ that is the church which for Augustine equated
to the kingdom of God on earth Te city of God would be persecutedby the city of man but ultimately will prevail when Christ returns and
judges the living and the dead at the great white throne (Revelation 104862698308810486251048625-
1048625852021) Te millennium described in Revelation according to Augustine is
not to be taken literally but allegorically Te thousand years in Reve-
lation 1048626983088 denote a long and indefinite period of timemdashthus Augustinersquos
eschatological position is termed amillennialism (ldquono millenniumrdquo no
ldquothousand yearsrdquo) Since his resurrection Christ reigns over his peoplethe church and Satanrsquos binding takes place from Christrsquos resurrection
until the second advent At that time Satan will be released only to meet
his final destruction in the lake of fire Te city of man is doomed to
follow him there16
Te upshot of Augustinersquos view of history is that even though Satan is
bound during the age of the church ills resulting from Adamrsquos fall still
persist Tis condition is not going to change at least not until Christrsquosreturn at the end of the age If evils can still wreak their desolations upon
humans even while Satanrsquos power is muted then surely nothing can be
done by mere mortals to improve their lot It is vain for humans to try
and effect hope in this transitory and decaying world Te only answer
is to wait for a better world in the aerlife Tis was the prevailing view
of things in western Europe during the roughly thousand-year period
from the fall of Rome to the sixteenth century
Te Augustinian view of history was supplanted by a new view one
that came about as a result of the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth
century A general reconsideration of the meaning and authority of the
Bible was central to the project of the Reformation Included in this re-
consideration was a new interpretation of the book of Revelation and
with it the meaning of the millennium Perhaps Revelation pointed to
an actual thousand-year period in the not-too-distant future when true
Christian civilization would reign triumphantly over the forces of the
devil and the Antichrist Could it be possible that God would actively
use the nations to bring about this triumph If so then it would seem
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520201048631
that humanity could bring about the culmination of history aer all In-
stead of forlornly waiting around for Jesus to return humans could effect
the glorious reign of Christ by their own efforts of cooperating withdivine providence as God actively and purposefully brought about the
culmination of history
Many Protestants saw the Reformation as the major turning point in
Godrsquos program for history Te Reformation struck a death blow to the
Roman papacy which English Protestants in particular considered to be
the Antichrist And what a mystery was revealed when America was
discovered in 104862585202010486331048626 a land hidden by providence until the very eve of theReformation Te discovery of America and the dawn of the Refor-
mation occurring at roughly the same time appeared to many Protes-
tants as the beginning of the end of an old order uveson described it
this way ldquoMankind might be over the hump at last Tus the Refor-
mation became the assurance that the long era of superstition injustice
and poverty was ending and that light was breaking over the world A
great age of achievement had begunrdquo17
In the millennial view of history as opposed to the Augustinian view
progress was the defining factor in the human experience18 Te events
of Revelation were not allegories but were literal events taking place at
a future date but nevertheless in real time Tis notion comes through
in the apostle Johnrsquos recounting of Jesusrsquo command to write down every-
thing in his apocalyptic visionmdashldquothe things that you have seen those
that are and those that are to take place aer thisrdquo (Revelation 104862510486251048633) If
anything Jesus seems to be referring to literal ldquothingsrdquo to be ldquoseenrdquo with
the eyesmdashthings in the past present and future time It hardly seemed
possible especially to Protestant thinkers that we will consider shortly
that Jesus could be referring to an allegorized set of circumstances
As the Reformation opened and developed in the sixteenth century
the New England colonies were established in the seventeenth and the
colonial wars in America culminated in the mid-eighteenth the lines
were clearly drawn Te New England Puritans (and most of English
Protestantism) considered the French Roman Catholic kingdom to be
the physical manifestation of the forces of the Antichrist Specifically the
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
Te theological roots of the tree of American exceptionalism go deeper
and are more intricate than the other roots supporting it You mightsay that theology is the taproot of the tree anchoring it firmly to the
ground But exceptionalism is supported by a system of roots Let us
move on from theology and now consider the political roots of the
concept of exceptionalism
Te United States originated in the Revolution as a political union of
independent states Tis union coalesced into a federal republic under
the Constitution which was signed in 1048625104863110486321048631 and went into effect in 1048625104863110486321048633But the union of the thirteen original states did not emerge out of thin
air Te states joined together around the common cause of indepen-
dence from Britain and that cause was undergirded by the liberal ideas
expressed in the Declaration of Independence And the ideas expressed
in the Declaration had their origins even further back Te Western
philosophical tradition has included liberal ideas for a long time but for
our purposes here let us trace those liberal ideas back to England during
its tempestuous seventeenth century
Te English Civil War (104862510486308520201048626ndash104862510486308520211048625) and the Glorious Revolution (1048625104863010486321048632)
were two crucibles in English history that ultimately helped shape that
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
Aer Charles was executed the monarchy was replaced by the Pro-
tectorate under Cromwell until just aer his death In 104862510486301048630983088 the English
monarchy was restored with the coronation of Charles II who ruleduntil 104862510486301048632852021 When Charlesrsquos son James II ascended the throne it was said
that his desire was to return England to Roman Catholicism and rule as
an absolute monarch Parliament was in no mood to take chances with
James and the body invited William of Orange and his wife Mary
(Jamesrsquos Protestant daughter) to cross the Channel land in England and
replace James Te catch was that as monarchs they would have to
recognize the supremacy of Parliament Tey agreed and landed inEngland with fourteen thousand soldiers on November 852021 1048625104863010486321048632 James
having little support and thus no real ability to control events fled for
his life to France Te ascension of William and Mary to the throne in
1048625104863010486321048632 is known as the Glorious Revolutionmdasha bloodless affair unlike the
Civil War
John Locke (104862510486308520191048626ndash10486251048631983088852020) wrote his famous wo reatises on Civil Gov-
ernment which was published in 104862510486301048633983088 largely to bring credibility to theactions of Parliament particularly in inviting the rule of William and
Mary Locke said that governments ruled by the consent of the people
Rulers possessed political power but they possessed it in trust from the
people and they maintained their power by protecting the basic rights
bestowed on them by nature at birth Tus rulers do not have the power
to rule arbitrarily Rulers may only legitimately exercise their power in
such as way as to protect the natural rights of the individual Locke wrote
ldquo[Power] can have no other end or measure when in the hands of the
Magistrate but to preserve the Members of that Society in their Lives
Liberties and Possessions and so cannot be an Absolute Arbitrary power
over their Lives and Fortunes which are as much as possible to be pre-
servedrdquo21 Locke also penned his famous Letter Concerning oleration
which advocated for religious toleration According to Locke the state
only possessed power over temporal affairs It had no jurisdiction over
the individual conscience
Events in England leading up to the Glorious Revolution led to the
formation of two strong political parties oriented around the liberal
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520211048625
ideas articulated by Locke in his wo reatises namely the ories and
the Whigs Te ories were conservatives who favored aristocratic priv-
ilege a strong bond between ecclesiastical and civil authority and thepassive obedience of subjects to the politicalecclesiastical order Te
Whigs were firmly against these positions Teir liberalism won the day
in the Glorious Revolution of 1048625104863010486321048632 Seventeenth-century thinkers such
as John Locke Algernon Sidney John Milton and James Harrington ar-
ticulated liberal views such as religious toleration liberty of the press
parliamentary supremacy and rule by consent Later thinkers influenced
by these and other earlier figures sharpened and focused liberal ideas inthe face of what they saw as overreach by George IIrsquos prime minister
Robert Walpole in the 104862510486311048626983088s In particular John renchard and Tomas
Gordon advocated for religious freedom and individual rights in their
104862510486311048626983088ndash104862510486311048626852019 collection of essays titled Catorsquos Letters Tey represented well
the ideas of Real Whig ideology a body of thought that stressed the most
sweeping liberalism yet seen Real Whig thought as expressed by
renchard and Gordon was popular not only in England but also inAmerica especially during the 104862510486311048630983088s and 104862510486311048631983088s During these years Real
Whig thought became the driving intellectual force of the Revolution
Te Real Whigs took Lockersquos views on toleration to their logical terminus
advocating for complete religious freedom Religious freedom became a
hallmark of the writings of renchard and Gordon for example Pauline
Maier wrote of Real Whig political philosophy that ldquothe [American]
revolutionary movement takes on consistency and form only against the
backdrop of English revolutionary traditionrdquo22 And the writings of
renchard and Gordon were those that were among the most influential
Real Whig writings on this side of the Atlantic
How does Real Whig ideology fit into American exceptionalism Te
answer is simplemdashit is manifested through what Mark Noll called
ldquoChristian republicanismrdquo23 Christian republicanism is an amalgamation
of Real Whig ideology and Protestant theology occurring in American
literature and rhetoric in the years leading up to and during the Revo-
lution Te unifying themes between these two strands of thought are
freedom of religious dissension a reaction against ecclesiastical privilege
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
and a millennialism that saw America as Godrsquos chosen nation to bring
about the final defeat of the forces of the Antichrist
Christian republicans in America like Jonathan Mayhew of Bostonsought to biblically justify rebellion against the mother country May-
hewrsquos sermon ldquoA Discourse Concerning Unlimited Submissionrdquo which
he gave on January 852019983088 10486251048631852021983088 (the 10486259830881048625st anniversary of the execution of
Charles I) defended the justice of the Puritansrsquo overthrow of Charles I
Romans 10486258520191048625-852021 served as Mayhewrsquos text and he preached that Charlesrsquos
overthrow was entirely just In his letter to the Romans Paul was not
writing about submitting to a government that was evil but a gov-ernment that was a ldquoservant for your goodrdquo (Romans 1048625852019852020) Just as it is
entirely right for a child or a servant to disobey a parent or a master who
rules them unjustly a people who resist the rule of a tyrant are innocent
of wrongdoing Mayhew appealed to the principle of self-defense heremdasha
people have the right even the responsibility to protect themselves
against a tyrant just as the people did in 104862510486308520201048633 when they executed
Charles I Mayhew thundered
A PEOPLE really oppressed to a great degree by their sovereign cannot
well be insensible when they are so oppressed Nor would they have
any reason to mourn if some HERCULES should appear to dispatch
himmdashFor a nation thus abused to arise unanimously and to resist their
prince even to the dethroning him is not criminal but a reasonable use
of the means and the only means which God has put in their power for
mutual and self-defence24
Mayhew serves as an important figure in the years leading up to the
Revolution for several reasons First Mayhew was a New England
preacher heavily influenced by Real Whig political thought like the idea
that rulers rule by the peoplersquos consent Second he was a Christian who
accepted republican ideas despite the fact that as Mark Noll has pointed
out republicanism is at odds with key aspects of Christian theological
doctrine25 And third Mayhew like many others in his generation bap-
tized Real Whig ideas in the waters of biblical theology Mayhew is rep-
resentative of a Christian republicanism that began occurring in the
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520211048631
resented a turning point in history and was destined to advance human
civilization to the millennial reign of Christ as the eighteenth century
progressed Abraham Keteltas preaching in 1048625104863110486311048631 to the Presbyterians inNewburyport Massachusetts equated the cause of America with the
cause of God Americarsquos cause against Great Britain was the cause of
liberty justice rule of law and individual rightsmdashnot only for those who
were living but also for those generations yet to be born
Americarsquos cause for Keteltas was the cause of good against evil As
such it was Godrsquos own cause And Americans could take comfort in the
fact that God will be faithful to champion the American cause becausein doing so he was safeguarding his own cause Keteltas did not envision
the struggle with Britain as merely a political struggle He saw it as part
of the struggle of good against evil that had been going on since the fall
in the Garden of Eden Not only that he saw the Revolution as part of
the same cosmic struggle that Christ himself engaged in with the devil
in his Passion ldquoOur causerdquo wrote Keteltas ldquois not only good but it has
been prudently conducted it is the cause of truth against error andfalsehood the cause of righteousness against iniquity It is the cause
of reformation against popery In short it is the cause of heaven
against hellmdashof the kind Parent of the universe against the prince of
darkness and the destroyer of the human racerdquo31
Keteltas preached this sermon from Psalm 104863185202010486261048626mdashldquoArise O God
plead thine own causerdquo (983147983146983158) His sermon clearly reveals a particular
exegetical method guided by millennialism He envisioned the American
colonies as being engaged in the apocalyptic struggle of the forces of
Christ against the forces of the devil Samuel Sherwood is yet another
example of a preacher reading Scripture and the events of his time in this
way His 1048625104863110486311048630 sermon ldquoTe Churchrsquos Flight into the Wildernessrdquo is one
of the most strikingly millenarian sermons of the time His text was
Revelation 104862510486261048625852020-1048625104863132 and his exegesis is strongly typological Sherwoodrsquos
typology not surprisingly is informed by millenarianism And what is
further interesting about Sherwoodrsquos exegesis of the text is how he con-
flated the church with the American colonies For instance Sherwood
preached that God brought the church into North America a land of
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
o sum up the ideology of American exceptionalism has a multistruc-
tured intellectual root system theological political exegetical and his-
toriographical By the early nineteenth century Americans largely took
it for granted that their nation represented a break from the past and a
decisive turn toward a future defined by progress and advancement And
millions of people emigrated to the United States in the nineteenthcentury to tie their own personal destinies to that of America whose
destiny seemed poised to advance from triumph to triumph
A civil religion with exceptionalism as one of its essential aspects
developed aer the Revolution Te Declaration of Independence was
one of the foundational documents in a civil religious canon that was
taking shape Te Declaration made objective transcendent authori-
tative statements about the nature of humanity the role of the gov-ernment in relation to the people it represented and Godrsquos having estab-
lished a particular order that could not be thwarted or overturned Te
Declaration was followed by other documents that formed the civil reli-
gious canon the Constitution the Bill of Rights Washingtonrsquos Farewell
Address and others
As the nation grew in numbers and in territorial size between the Lou-
isiana Purchase of 10486251048632983088852019 and the Mexican War ending in 104862510486328520201048632 Americanexceptionalism divided into two articulations One of these articulations
was more strongly religious and more certain of Godrsquos providence con-
cerning the future of the United States and its status alongside other na-
tions It was also decidedly racist Te other articulation was more ag-
nostic concerning the providence of God but was nonetheless certain
that God had set it apart to be a moral example to the rest of the world
America could show other nations what a nation conceived in liberty
might look like how it might behave and what ideals it might pursue for
the benefit in theory if not in practice of all humanity
Americans struggled to figure out their place in the nineteenth century
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 1048630852019
aer their break with their mother country Great Britain Tey looked
for their place not only in the world doing ldquoall other Acts and Tings
which Independent States may of right dordquo as the Declaration of Inde-pendence suggested but also their place in human history As they
struggled they did many things that seem strange to us in the twenty-
first century William Walker is an example of such a person But
someone who most Americans have come to admire and acknowledge
as the greatest president ever to hold the officemdashAbraham Lincolnmdashwas
motivated by the idea of American exceptionalism as Walker was Te
tree of American exceptionalism fed by its roots was taking its shape inthe antebellum period during the nineteenth century It continued to
grow and flourish well into the twentieth and into our own century It
has yet to cease growing and developing as a civil religious idea that
Americans continually look to for guidance as they try and make sense
of their significance in space and time
F983151983154 F983157983154983156983144983141983154 R983141983137983140983145983150983143Bercovitch Sacvan Te Puritan Origins of the American Self 104862510486331048631852021 Reprint New
Haven Yale University Press 104862698308810486251048625
Gamble Richard M In Search of the City on a Hill Te Making and Unmaking
of an American Myth London Continuum 104862698308810486251048626
Greene Jack P Te Intellectual Construction of America Exceptionalism and
Identity from 1048625104862810486331048626 to 1048625104863210486241048624 Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press
104862510486331048633852019McKenna George Te Puritan Origins of American Patriotism New Haven
Yale University Press 10486269830889830881048631
Stout Harry S Te New England Soul Preaching and Religious Culture in Co-
lonial New England 1048625104863310486321048630 Reprint Oxford Oxford University Press 104862698308810486251048626
uveson Ernest Lee Redeemer Nation Te Idea of Americarsquos Millennial Role
Chicago University of Chicago Press 1048625104863310486301048632
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
though in differing ways American exceptionalismrsquos theological roots
are found in the Puritan worldview and in particular those Puritans
who settled and flourished in the New England colonies during theseventeenth and eighteenth centuries
It is important to acknowledge here that the Puritans represent but one
religious group among several in the colonial period Religious diversity
within the Christian tradition in the British North American colonies was
a given since a variety of religious groups were involved in most of the
thirteen coloniesrsquo founding And as the Great Awakening got underway
in the early to middle 10486251048631983088983088s that diversity became even more pronouncedas evangelical groups such as the Baptists and Presbyterians became more
populous But the Puritans were perhaps the most influential intellectual
group during the colonial period In 10486251048632852019852021 ocqueville went as far as to say
that ldquoI see the destiny of America embodied in the first Puritan who
landed on these shores just as the whole human race was represented by
the first manrdquo2 Trough the enormous volume of Puritan writings in the
form of sermons books pamphlets newspapers letters and so on Pu-ritan thought spread from New England to the Middle and Southern
Colonies as well as to the western hinterlands George McKenna wrote
that the Puritans were more than any other religious group behind ldquoan
emerging sense of American nationhood a realization that America was
something more than a patchwork of villages towns and regionsrdquo3
Te history of the Puritans in England and America while fascinating
is beyond the scope of this study Suffice it to say here that many Puritans
in England aer failing to reform the state church from within migrated
to America and established colonies in what became known as New
England in the first part of the 10486251048630983088983088s Teir theological positions were
defined largely by Calvinism and they sought to integrate theology into
a worldview encompassing every aspect of life and thought4 McKenna
noted that Puritan thought provided what became a coherent framework
or scaffolding around which American self-identification was con-
structed It is my contention that three theological ideas in particular
shaped that framework the Puritan understanding of covenant typology
and millennialism
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
mind that every single thing that happens (or does not happen) down
to the minutest of details is directly attributable to Godrsquos intentional
activity in his world A famine a disease a drought or an Indian raidmdashthe Puritans habitually thought God used natural events like these to
directly respond to their backsliding their sinful neglect of their cov-
enant with him
During the second half of the 10486251048630983088983088s the jeremiad arose as an inimi-
table Puritanmdashand by extension Americanmdashliterary genre It took on
new efficacy in the wake of the disaster of King Philiprsquos War (104862510486301048631852021ndash1048625104863010486311048632)
in which the Puritan colonists and their Indian allies fought against theWampanoag tribe under Metacom (King Philip to the English) Both
sides were devastated Te native population was reduced from a quarter
of all inhabitants in New England to a tenth and one in sixteen English
settlers were killed7 Larry Witham wrote ldquoAer King Philip was killed
in August 1048625104863010486311048630 and his severed head stuck on a pike in Plymouth min-
isters poured out their Jeremiah-like interpretations through the printing
pressesrdquo8 Te first drop in a flood of jeremiads was likely Michael Wig-glesworthrsquos 1048625104863010486301048626 poem ldquoGodrsquos Controversy with New Englandrdquo written
in response to a drought Jonathan Mitchel wrote ldquoNehemiah on the Wall
in roublesome imesrdquo a 1048625104863010486301048631 election-day sermon In 104862510486301048631983088 Samuel
Danforth preached his ldquoBrief Recognition of New Englandrsquos Errand into
the Wildernessrdquo which provided one of the first lists of Puritan sins And
in 104862510486319830881048626 Cotton Mather published his monumental Magnalia Christi
Americana which was a providential history of the New England col-
onies Witham called Magnalia ldquoa sustained jeremiadrdquo9
Tis Puritan conception of covenant entailed a special calling on them
as Godrsquos chosen people with a divinely ordained mission Even though
they believed they existed as the people of God they were always cog-
nizant of the enormous responsibility that came with that privileged
position As they read the Old estament they saw not only the ancient
Israelites existing in covenant relationship to God they saw themselves
Typology In the Christian tradition of biblical interpretation ty-
pology has served as a consistent method in demonstrating the sym-
biotic relationship of the Old estament and the New Christian biblical
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 852020852021
Lord much as John the Baptist was to fulfill Isaiah 852020983088852019-852021 when he went
into the wilderness to prepare Israel for the coming of the Christ As
Bercovitch wrote ldquoTe remnant that fled Babylon in 10486251048630852019983088 set sail for thenew promised land especially reserved by God for them Unmis-
takably the New World was part of the history of salvationrdquo14
Millennialism Te third aspect of the Puritan theological structure I
am identifying is the notion that history is progressing toward a Christian
utopia that God is using nations to bring about his kingdom on earthmdash
and as Ernest Lee uveson wrote ldquoTe finger of Providence had pointed
to the young republic of the Westrdquo15 Te millennium is the biblicalthousand-year reign of Christ described in Revelation 1048626983088 to begin aer
the second advent Satan will be bound and imprisoned Christ will per-
sonally reign on the earth and his church will reign with him Te mil-
lennium precedes the final and absolute defeat of Satan the creation of
the new heaven and the new earth and the ushering in of the eternal age
Millennialism is a view of history that sees humankind progressing
toward the second coming and the personal reign of the glorified ChristAccording to this view humans actually take part in laying the
groundwork for the millennial kingdom through obedience spreading
the gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth and establishing the
Christian ethical ideal through the expansion of Christian civilization
Further Godrsquos agents in preparing the world for the millennium are the
nations and particularly those nations that represent him faithfully o
the Puritans and later the American colonists as a whole America was
the millennial nation
Prior to the Reformation Western civilization had not understood
history to be progressing toward any particular telos through the active
agency of human beings During the Middle Ages and through the Ren-
aissance Augustine of Hippo (AD 852019852021852020ndash852020852019983088) provided the West with the
prevailing view of history in his work Te City of God Augustine cast
civilization in terms of two groups or cities one was the city of man the
other the city of God Te city of man for Augustine consisted of the
empires established by human strength and greatness like the Roman
Empire Human empires while powerful were bound up in time and
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
ultimately doomed to fall But the city of God consisted of those who
were faithful to Christ that is the church which for Augustine equated
to the kingdom of God on earth Te city of God would be persecutedby the city of man but ultimately will prevail when Christ returns and
judges the living and the dead at the great white throne (Revelation 104862698308810486251048625-
1048625852021) Te millennium described in Revelation according to Augustine is
not to be taken literally but allegorically Te thousand years in Reve-
lation 1048626983088 denote a long and indefinite period of timemdashthus Augustinersquos
eschatological position is termed amillennialism (ldquono millenniumrdquo no
ldquothousand yearsrdquo) Since his resurrection Christ reigns over his peoplethe church and Satanrsquos binding takes place from Christrsquos resurrection
until the second advent At that time Satan will be released only to meet
his final destruction in the lake of fire Te city of man is doomed to
follow him there16
Te upshot of Augustinersquos view of history is that even though Satan is
bound during the age of the church ills resulting from Adamrsquos fall still
persist Tis condition is not going to change at least not until Christrsquosreturn at the end of the age If evils can still wreak their desolations upon
humans even while Satanrsquos power is muted then surely nothing can be
done by mere mortals to improve their lot It is vain for humans to try
and effect hope in this transitory and decaying world Te only answer
is to wait for a better world in the aerlife Tis was the prevailing view
of things in western Europe during the roughly thousand-year period
from the fall of Rome to the sixteenth century
Te Augustinian view of history was supplanted by a new view one
that came about as a result of the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth
century A general reconsideration of the meaning and authority of the
Bible was central to the project of the Reformation Included in this re-
consideration was a new interpretation of the book of Revelation and
with it the meaning of the millennium Perhaps Revelation pointed to
an actual thousand-year period in the not-too-distant future when true
Christian civilization would reign triumphantly over the forces of the
devil and the Antichrist Could it be possible that God would actively
use the nations to bring about this triumph If so then it would seem
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520201048631
that humanity could bring about the culmination of history aer all In-
stead of forlornly waiting around for Jesus to return humans could effect
the glorious reign of Christ by their own efforts of cooperating withdivine providence as God actively and purposefully brought about the
culmination of history
Many Protestants saw the Reformation as the major turning point in
Godrsquos program for history Te Reformation struck a death blow to the
Roman papacy which English Protestants in particular considered to be
the Antichrist And what a mystery was revealed when America was
discovered in 104862585202010486331048626 a land hidden by providence until the very eve of theReformation Te discovery of America and the dawn of the Refor-
mation occurring at roughly the same time appeared to many Protes-
tants as the beginning of the end of an old order uveson described it
this way ldquoMankind might be over the hump at last Tus the Refor-
mation became the assurance that the long era of superstition injustice
and poverty was ending and that light was breaking over the world A
great age of achievement had begunrdquo17
In the millennial view of history as opposed to the Augustinian view
progress was the defining factor in the human experience18 Te events
of Revelation were not allegories but were literal events taking place at
a future date but nevertheless in real time Tis notion comes through
in the apostle Johnrsquos recounting of Jesusrsquo command to write down every-
thing in his apocalyptic visionmdashldquothe things that you have seen those
that are and those that are to take place aer thisrdquo (Revelation 104862510486251048633) If
anything Jesus seems to be referring to literal ldquothingsrdquo to be ldquoseenrdquo with
the eyesmdashthings in the past present and future time It hardly seemed
possible especially to Protestant thinkers that we will consider shortly
that Jesus could be referring to an allegorized set of circumstances
As the Reformation opened and developed in the sixteenth century
the New England colonies were established in the seventeenth and the
colonial wars in America culminated in the mid-eighteenth the lines
were clearly drawn Te New England Puritans (and most of English
Protestantism) considered the French Roman Catholic kingdom to be
the physical manifestation of the forces of the Antichrist Specifically the
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
Te theological roots of the tree of American exceptionalism go deeper
and are more intricate than the other roots supporting it You mightsay that theology is the taproot of the tree anchoring it firmly to the
ground But exceptionalism is supported by a system of roots Let us
move on from theology and now consider the political roots of the
concept of exceptionalism
Te United States originated in the Revolution as a political union of
independent states Tis union coalesced into a federal republic under
the Constitution which was signed in 1048625104863110486321048631 and went into effect in 1048625104863110486321048633But the union of the thirteen original states did not emerge out of thin
air Te states joined together around the common cause of indepen-
dence from Britain and that cause was undergirded by the liberal ideas
expressed in the Declaration of Independence And the ideas expressed
in the Declaration had their origins even further back Te Western
philosophical tradition has included liberal ideas for a long time but for
our purposes here let us trace those liberal ideas back to England during
its tempestuous seventeenth century
Te English Civil War (104862510486308520201048626ndash104862510486308520211048625) and the Glorious Revolution (1048625104863010486321048632)
were two crucibles in English history that ultimately helped shape that
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
Aer Charles was executed the monarchy was replaced by the Pro-
tectorate under Cromwell until just aer his death In 104862510486301048630983088 the English
monarchy was restored with the coronation of Charles II who ruleduntil 104862510486301048632852021 When Charlesrsquos son James II ascended the throne it was said
that his desire was to return England to Roman Catholicism and rule as
an absolute monarch Parliament was in no mood to take chances with
James and the body invited William of Orange and his wife Mary
(Jamesrsquos Protestant daughter) to cross the Channel land in England and
replace James Te catch was that as monarchs they would have to
recognize the supremacy of Parliament Tey agreed and landed inEngland with fourteen thousand soldiers on November 852021 1048625104863010486321048632 James
having little support and thus no real ability to control events fled for
his life to France Te ascension of William and Mary to the throne in
1048625104863010486321048632 is known as the Glorious Revolutionmdasha bloodless affair unlike the
Civil War
John Locke (104862510486308520191048626ndash10486251048631983088852020) wrote his famous wo reatises on Civil Gov-
ernment which was published in 104862510486301048633983088 largely to bring credibility to theactions of Parliament particularly in inviting the rule of William and
Mary Locke said that governments ruled by the consent of the people
Rulers possessed political power but they possessed it in trust from the
people and they maintained their power by protecting the basic rights
bestowed on them by nature at birth Tus rulers do not have the power
to rule arbitrarily Rulers may only legitimately exercise their power in
such as way as to protect the natural rights of the individual Locke wrote
ldquo[Power] can have no other end or measure when in the hands of the
Magistrate but to preserve the Members of that Society in their Lives
Liberties and Possessions and so cannot be an Absolute Arbitrary power
over their Lives and Fortunes which are as much as possible to be pre-
servedrdquo21 Locke also penned his famous Letter Concerning oleration
which advocated for religious toleration According to Locke the state
only possessed power over temporal affairs It had no jurisdiction over
the individual conscience
Events in England leading up to the Glorious Revolution led to the
formation of two strong political parties oriented around the liberal
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8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520211048625
ideas articulated by Locke in his wo reatises namely the ories and
the Whigs Te ories were conservatives who favored aristocratic priv-
ilege a strong bond between ecclesiastical and civil authority and thepassive obedience of subjects to the politicalecclesiastical order Te
Whigs were firmly against these positions Teir liberalism won the day
in the Glorious Revolution of 1048625104863010486321048632 Seventeenth-century thinkers such
as John Locke Algernon Sidney John Milton and James Harrington ar-
ticulated liberal views such as religious toleration liberty of the press
parliamentary supremacy and rule by consent Later thinkers influenced
by these and other earlier figures sharpened and focused liberal ideas inthe face of what they saw as overreach by George IIrsquos prime minister
Robert Walpole in the 104862510486311048626983088s In particular John renchard and Tomas
Gordon advocated for religious freedom and individual rights in their
104862510486311048626983088ndash104862510486311048626852019 collection of essays titled Catorsquos Letters Tey represented well
the ideas of Real Whig ideology a body of thought that stressed the most
sweeping liberalism yet seen Real Whig thought as expressed by
renchard and Gordon was popular not only in England but also inAmerica especially during the 104862510486311048630983088s and 104862510486311048631983088s During these years Real
Whig thought became the driving intellectual force of the Revolution
Te Real Whigs took Lockersquos views on toleration to their logical terminus
advocating for complete religious freedom Religious freedom became a
hallmark of the writings of renchard and Gordon for example Pauline
Maier wrote of Real Whig political philosophy that ldquothe [American]
revolutionary movement takes on consistency and form only against the
backdrop of English revolutionary traditionrdquo22 And the writings of
renchard and Gordon were those that were among the most influential
Real Whig writings on this side of the Atlantic
How does Real Whig ideology fit into American exceptionalism Te
answer is simplemdashit is manifested through what Mark Noll called
ldquoChristian republicanismrdquo23 Christian republicanism is an amalgamation
of Real Whig ideology and Protestant theology occurring in American
literature and rhetoric in the years leading up to and during the Revo-
lution Te unifying themes between these two strands of thought are
freedom of religious dissension a reaction against ecclesiastical privilege
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
and a millennialism that saw America as Godrsquos chosen nation to bring
about the final defeat of the forces of the Antichrist
Christian republicans in America like Jonathan Mayhew of Bostonsought to biblically justify rebellion against the mother country May-
hewrsquos sermon ldquoA Discourse Concerning Unlimited Submissionrdquo which
he gave on January 852019983088 10486251048631852021983088 (the 10486259830881048625st anniversary of the execution of
Charles I) defended the justice of the Puritansrsquo overthrow of Charles I
Romans 10486258520191048625-852021 served as Mayhewrsquos text and he preached that Charlesrsquos
overthrow was entirely just In his letter to the Romans Paul was not
writing about submitting to a government that was evil but a gov-ernment that was a ldquoservant for your goodrdquo (Romans 1048625852019852020) Just as it is
entirely right for a child or a servant to disobey a parent or a master who
rules them unjustly a people who resist the rule of a tyrant are innocent
of wrongdoing Mayhew appealed to the principle of self-defense heremdasha
people have the right even the responsibility to protect themselves
against a tyrant just as the people did in 104862510486308520201048633 when they executed
Charles I Mayhew thundered
A PEOPLE really oppressed to a great degree by their sovereign cannot
well be insensible when they are so oppressed Nor would they have
any reason to mourn if some HERCULES should appear to dispatch
himmdashFor a nation thus abused to arise unanimously and to resist their
prince even to the dethroning him is not criminal but a reasonable use
of the means and the only means which God has put in their power for
mutual and self-defence24
Mayhew serves as an important figure in the years leading up to the
Revolution for several reasons First Mayhew was a New England
preacher heavily influenced by Real Whig political thought like the idea
that rulers rule by the peoplersquos consent Second he was a Christian who
accepted republican ideas despite the fact that as Mark Noll has pointed
out republicanism is at odds with key aspects of Christian theological
doctrine25 And third Mayhew like many others in his generation bap-
tized Real Whig ideas in the waters of biblical theology Mayhew is rep-
resentative of a Christian republicanism that began occurring in the
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8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520211048631
resented a turning point in history and was destined to advance human
civilization to the millennial reign of Christ as the eighteenth century
progressed Abraham Keteltas preaching in 1048625104863110486311048631 to the Presbyterians inNewburyport Massachusetts equated the cause of America with the
cause of God Americarsquos cause against Great Britain was the cause of
liberty justice rule of law and individual rightsmdashnot only for those who
were living but also for those generations yet to be born
Americarsquos cause for Keteltas was the cause of good against evil As
such it was Godrsquos own cause And Americans could take comfort in the
fact that God will be faithful to champion the American cause becausein doing so he was safeguarding his own cause Keteltas did not envision
the struggle with Britain as merely a political struggle He saw it as part
of the struggle of good against evil that had been going on since the fall
in the Garden of Eden Not only that he saw the Revolution as part of
the same cosmic struggle that Christ himself engaged in with the devil
in his Passion ldquoOur causerdquo wrote Keteltas ldquois not only good but it has
been prudently conducted it is the cause of truth against error andfalsehood the cause of righteousness against iniquity It is the cause
of reformation against popery In short it is the cause of heaven
against hellmdashof the kind Parent of the universe against the prince of
darkness and the destroyer of the human racerdquo31
Keteltas preached this sermon from Psalm 104863185202010486261048626mdashldquoArise O God
plead thine own causerdquo (983147983146983158) His sermon clearly reveals a particular
exegetical method guided by millennialism He envisioned the American
colonies as being engaged in the apocalyptic struggle of the forces of
Christ against the forces of the devil Samuel Sherwood is yet another
example of a preacher reading Scripture and the events of his time in this
way His 1048625104863110486311048630 sermon ldquoTe Churchrsquos Flight into the Wildernessrdquo is one
of the most strikingly millenarian sermons of the time His text was
Revelation 104862510486261048625852020-1048625104863132 and his exegesis is strongly typological Sherwoodrsquos
typology not surprisingly is informed by millenarianism And what is
further interesting about Sherwoodrsquos exegesis of the text is how he con-
flated the church with the American colonies For instance Sherwood
preached that God brought the church into North America a land of
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
o sum up the ideology of American exceptionalism has a multistruc-
tured intellectual root system theological political exegetical and his-
toriographical By the early nineteenth century Americans largely took
it for granted that their nation represented a break from the past and a
decisive turn toward a future defined by progress and advancement And
millions of people emigrated to the United States in the nineteenthcentury to tie their own personal destinies to that of America whose
destiny seemed poised to advance from triumph to triumph
A civil religion with exceptionalism as one of its essential aspects
developed aer the Revolution Te Declaration of Independence was
one of the foundational documents in a civil religious canon that was
taking shape Te Declaration made objective transcendent authori-
tative statements about the nature of humanity the role of the gov-ernment in relation to the people it represented and Godrsquos having estab-
lished a particular order that could not be thwarted or overturned Te
Declaration was followed by other documents that formed the civil reli-
gious canon the Constitution the Bill of Rights Washingtonrsquos Farewell
Address and others
As the nation grew in numbers and in territorial size between the Lou-
isiana Purchase of 10486251048632983088852019 and the Mexican War ending in 104862510486328520201048632 Americanexceptionalism divided into two articulations One of these articulations
was more strongly religious and more certain of Godrsquos providence con-
cerning the future of the United States and its status alongside other na-
tions It was also decidedly racist Te other articulation was more ag-
nostic concerning the providence of God but was nonetheless certain
that God had set it apart to be a moral example to the rest of the world
America could show other nations what a nation conceived in liberty
might look like how it might behave and what ideals it might pursue for
the benefit in theory if not in practice of all humanity
Americans struggled to figure out their place in the nineteenth century
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 1048630852019
aer their break with their mother country Great Britain Tey looked
for their place not only in the world doing ldquoall other Acts and Tings
which Independent States may of right dordquo as the Declaration of Inde-pendence suggested but also their place in human history As they
struggled they did many things that seem strange to us in the twenty-
first century William Walker is an example of such a person But
someone who most Americans have come to admire and acknowledge
as the greatest president ever to hold the officemdashAbraham Lincolnmdashwas
motivated by the idea of American exceptionalism as Walker was Te
tree of American exceptionalism fed by its roots was taking its shape inthe antebellum period during the nineteenth century It continued to
grow and flourish well into the twentieth and into our own century It
has yet to cease growing and developing as a civil religious idea that
Americans continually look to for guidance as they try and make sense
of their significance in space and time
F983151983154 F983157983154983156983144983141983154 R983141983137983140983145983150983143Bercovitch Sacvan Te Puritan Origins of the American Self 104862510486331048631852021 Reprint New
Haven Yale University Press 104862698308810486251048625
Gamble Richard M In Search of the City on a Hill Te Making and Unmaking
of an American Myth London Continuum 104862698308810486251048626
Greene Jack P Te Intellectual Construction of America Exceptionalism and
Identity from 1048625104862810486331048626 to 1048625104863210486241048624 Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press
104862510486331048633852019McKenna George Te Puritan Origins of American Patriotism New Haven
Yale University Press 10486269830889830881048631
Stout Harry S Te New England Soul Preaching and Religious Culture in Co-
lonial New England 1048625104863310486321048630 Reprint Oxford Oxford University Press 104862698308810486251048626
uveson Ernest Lee Redeemer Nation Te Idea of Americarsquos Millennial Role
Chicago University of Chicago Press 1048625104863310486301048632
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
though in differing ways American exceptionalismrsquos theological roots
are found in the Puritan worldview and in particular those Puritans
who settled and flourished in the New England colonies during theseventeenth and eighteenth centuries
It is important to acknowledge here that the Puritans represent but one
religious group among several in the colonial period Religious diversity
within the Christian tradition in the British North American colonies was
a given since a variety of religious groups were involved in most of the
thirteen coloniesrsquo founding And as the Great Awakening got underway
in the early to middle 10486251048631983088983088s that diversity became even more pronouncedas evangelical groups such as the Baptists and Presbyterians became more
populous But the Puritans were perhaps the most influential intellectual
group during the colonial period In 10486251048632852019852021 ocqueville went as far as to say
that ldquoI see the destiny of America embodied in the first Puritan who
landed on these shores just as the whole human race was represented by
the first manrdquo2 Trough the enormous volume of Puritan writings in the
form of sermons books pamphlets newspapers letters and so on Pu-ritan thought spread from New England to the Middle and Southern
Colonies as well as to the western hinterlands George McKenna wrote
that the Puritans were more than any other religious group behind ldquoan
emerging sense of American nationhood a realization that America was
something more than a patchwork of villages towns and regionsrdquo3
Te history of the Puritans in England and America while fascinating
is beyond the scope of this study Suffice it to say here that many Puritans
in England aer failing to reform the state church from within migrated
to America and established colonies in what became known as New
England in the first part of the 10486251048630983088983088s Teir theological positions were
defined largely by Calvinism and they sought to integrate theology into
a worldview encompassing every aspect of life and thought4 McKenna
noted that Puritan thought provided what became a coherent framework
or scaffolding around which American self-identification was con-
structed It is my contention that three theological ideas in particular
shaped that framework the Puritan understanding of covenant typology
and millennialism
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
mind that every single thing that happens (or does not happen) down
to the minutest of details is directly attributable to Godrsquos intentional
activity in his world A famine a disease a drought or an Indian raidmdashthe Puritans habitually thought God used natural events like these to
directly respond to their backsliding their sinful neglect of their cov-
enant with him
During the second half of the 10486251048630983088983088s the jeremiad arose as an inimi-
table Puritanmdashand by extension Americanmdashliterary genre It took on
new efficacy in the wake of the disaster of King Philiprsquos War (104862510486301048631852021ndash1048625104863010486311048632)
in which the Puritan colonists and their Indian allies fought against theWampanoag tribe under Metacom (King Philip to the English) Both
sides were devastated Te native population was reduced from a quarter
of all inhabitants in New England to a tenth and one in sixteen English
settlers were killed7 Larry Witham wrote ldquoAer King Philip was killed
in August 1048625104863010486311048630 and his severed head stuck on a pike in Plymouth min-
isters poured out their Jeremiah-like interpretations through the printing
pressesrdquo8 Te first drop in a flood of jeremiads was likely Michael Wig-glesworthrsquos 1048625104863010486301048626 poem ldquoGodrsquos Controversy with New Englandrdquo written
in response to a drought Jonathan Mitchel wrote ldquoNehemiah on the Wall
in roublesome imesrdquo a 1048625104863010486301048631 election-day sermon In 104862510486301048631983088 Samuel
Danforth preached his ldquoBrief Recognition of New Englandrsquos Errand into
the Wildernessrdquo which provided one of the first lists of Puritan sins And
in 104862510486319830881048626 Cotton Mather published his monumental Magnalia Christi
Americana which was a providential history of the New England col-
onies Witham called Magnalia ldquoa sustained jeremiadrdquo9
Tis Puritan conception of covenant entailed a special calling on them
as Godrsquos chosen people with a divinely ordained mission Even though
they believed they existed as the people of God they were always cog-
nizant of the enormous responsibility that came with that privileged
position As they read the Old estament they saw not only the ancient
Israelites existing in covenant relationship to God they saw themselves
Typology In the Christian tradition of biblical interpretation ty-
pology has served as a consistent method in demonstrating the sym-
biotic relationship of the Old estament and the New Christian biblical
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 852020852021
Lord much as John the Baptist was to fulfill Isaiah 852020983088852019-852021 when he went
into the wilderness to prepare Israel for the coming of the Christ As
Bercovitch wrote ldquoTe remnant that fled Babylon in 10486251048630852019983088 set sail for thenew promised land especially reserved by God for them Unmis-
takably the New World was part of the history of salvationrdquo14
Millennialism Te third aspect of the Puritan theological structure I
am identifying is the notion that history is progressing toward a Christian
utopia that God is using nations to bring about his kingdom on earthmdash
and as Ernest Lee uveson wrote ldquoTe finger of Providence had pointed
to the young republic of the Westrdquo15 Te millennium is the biblicalthousand-year reign of Christ described in Revelation 1048626983088 to begin aer
the second advent Satan will be bound and imprisoned Christ will per-
sonally reign on the earth and his church will reign with him Te mil-
lennium precedes the final and absolute defeat of Satan the creation of
the new heaven and the new earth and the ushering in of the eternal age
Millennialism is a view of history that sees humankind progressing
toward the second coming and the personal reign of the glorified ChristAccording to this view humans actually take part in laying the
groundwork for the millennial kingdom through obedience spreading
the gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth and establishing the
Christian ethical ideal through the expansion of Christian civilization
Further Godrsquos agents in preparing the world for the millennium are the
nations and particularly those nations that represent him faithfully o
the Puritans and later the American colonists as a whole America was
the millennial nation
Prior to the Reformation Western civilization had not understood
history to be progressing toward any particular telos through the active
agency of human beings During the Middle Ages and through the Ren-
aissance Augustine of Hippo (AD 852019852021852020ndash852020852019983088) provided the West with the
prevailing view of history in his work Te City of God Augustine cast
civilization in terms of two groups or cities one was the city of man the
other the city of God Te city of man for Augustine consisted of the
empires established by human strength and greatness like the Roman
Empire Human empires while powerful were bound up in time and
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
ultimately doomed to fall But the city of God consisted of those who
were faithful to Christ that is the church which for Augustine equated
to the kingdom of God on earth Te city of God would be persecutedby the city of man but ultimately will prevail when Christ returns and
judges the living and the dead at the great white throne (Revelation 104862698308810486251048625-
1048625852021) Te millennium described in Revelation according to Augustine is
not to be taken literally but allegorically Te thousand years in Reve-
lation 1048626983088 denote a long and indefinite period of timemdashthus Augustinersquos
eschatological position is termed amillennialism (ldquono millenniumrdquo no
ldquothousand yearsrdquo) Since his resurrection Christ reigns over his peoplethe church and Satanrsquos binding takes place from Christrsquos resurrection
until the second advent At that time Satan will be released only to meet
his final destruction in the lake of fire Te city of man is doomed to
follow him there16
Te upshot of Augustinersquos view of history is that even though Satan is
bound during the age of the church ills resulting from Adamrsquos fall still
persist Tis condition is not going to change at least not until Christrsquosreturn at the end of the age If evils can still wreak their desolations upon
humans even while Satanrsquos power is muted then surely nothing can be
done by mere mortals to improve their lot It is vain for humans to try
and effect hope in this transitory and decaying world Te only answer
is to wait for a better world in the aerlife Tis was the prevailing view
of things in western Europe during the roughly thousand-year period
from the fall of Rome to the sixteenth century
Te Augustinian view of history was supplanted by a new view one
that came about as a result of the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth
century A general reconsideration of the meaning and authority of the
Bible was central to the project of the Reformation Included in this re-
consideration was a new interpretation of the book of Revelation and
with it the meaning of the millennium Perhaps Revelation pointed to
an actual thousand-year period in the not-too-distant future when true
Christian civilization would reign triumphantly over the forces of the
devil and the Antichrist Could it be possible that God would actively
use the nations to bring about this triumph If so then it would seem
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520201048631
that humanity could bring about the culmination of history aer all In-
stead of forlornly waiting around for Jesus to return humans could effect
the glorious reign of Christ by their own efforts of cooperating withdivine providence as God actively and purposefully brought about the
culmination of history
Many Protestants saw the Reformation as the major turning point in
Godrsquos program for history Te Reformation struck a death blow to the
Roman papacy which English Protestants in particular considered to be
the Antichrist And what a mystery was revealed when America was
discovered in 104862585202010486331048626 a land hidden by providence until the very eve of theReformation Te discovery of America and the dawn of the Refor-
mation occurring at roughly the same time appeared to many Protes-
tants as the beginning of the end of an old order uveson described it
this way ldquoMankind might be over the hump at last Tus the Refor-
mation became the assurance that the long era of superstition injustice
and poverty was ending and that light was breaking over the world A
great age of achievement had begunrdquo17
In the millennial view of history as opposed to the Augustinian view
progress was the defining factor in the human experience18 Te events
of Revelation were not allegories but were literal events taking place at
a future date but nevertheless in real time Tis notion comes through
in the apostle Johnrsquos recounting of Jesusrsquo command to write down every-
thing in his apocalyptic visionmdashldquothe things that you have seen those
that are and those that are to take place aer thisrdquo (Revelation 104862510486251048633) If
anything Jesus seems to be referring to literal ldquothingsrdquo to be ldquoseenrdquo with
the eyesmdashthings in the past present and future time It hardly seemed
possible especially to Protestant thinkers that we will consider shortly
that Jesus could be referring to an allegorized set of circumstances
As the Reformation opened and developed in the sixteenth century
the New England colonies were established in the seventeenth and the
colonial wars in America culminated in the mid-eighteenth the lines
were clearly drawn Te New England Puritans (and most of English
Protestantism) considered the French Roman Catholic kingdom to be
the physical manifestation of the forces of the Antichrist Specifically the
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
Te theological roots of the tree of American exceptionalism go deeper
and are more intricate than the other roots supporting it You mightsay that theology is the taproot of the tree anchoring it firmly to the
ground But exceptionalism is supported by a system of roots Let us
move on from theology and now consider the political roots of the
concept of exceptionalism
Te United States originated in the Revolution as a political union of
independent states Tis union coalesced into a federal republic under
the Constitution which was signed in 1048625104863110486321048631 and went into effect in 1048625104863110486321048633But the union of the thirteen original states did not emerge out of thin
air Te states joined together around the common cause of indepen-
dence from Britain and that cause was undergirded by the liberal ideas
expressed in the Declaration of Independence And the ideas expressed
in the Declaration had their origins even further back Te Western
philosophical tradition has included liberal ideas for a long time but for
our purposes here let us trace those liberal ideas back to England during
its tempestuous seventeenth century
Te English Civil War (104862510486308520201048626ndash104862510486308520211048625) and the Glorious Revolution (1048625104863010486321048632)
were two crucibles in English history that ultimately helped shape that
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
Aer Charles was executed the monarchy was replaced by the Pro-
tectorate under Cromwell until just aer his death In 104862510486301048630983088 the English
monarchy was restored with the coronation of Charles II who ruleduntil 104862510486301048632852021 When Charlesrsquos son James II ascended the throne it was said
that his desire was to return England to Roman Catholicism and rule as
an absolute monarch Parliament was in no mood to take chances with
James and the body invited William of Orange and his wife Mary
(Jamesrsquos Protestant daughter) to cross the Channel land in England and
replace James Te catch was that as monarchs they would have to
recognize the supremacy of Parliament Tey agreed and landed inEngland with fourteen thousand soldiers on November 852021 1048625104863010486321048632 James
having little support and thus no real ability to control events fled for
his life to France Te ascension of William and Mary to the throne in
1048625104863010486321048632 is known as the Glorious Revolutionmdasha bloodless affair unlike the
Civil War
John Locke (104862510486308520191048626ndash10486251048631983088852020) wrote his famous wo reatises on Civil Gov-
ernment which was published in 104862510486301048633983088 largely to bring credibility to theactions of Parliament particularly in inviting the rule of William and
Mary Locke said that governments ruled by the consent of the people
Rulers possessed political power but they possessed it in trust from the
people and they maintained their power by protecting the basic rights
bestowed on them by nature at birth Tus rulers do not have the power
to rule arbitrarily Rulers may only legitimately exercise their power in
such as way as to protect the natural rights of the individual Locke wrote
ldquo[Power] can have no other end or measure when in the hands of the
Magistrate but to preserve the Members of that Society in their Lives
Liberties and Possessions and so cannot be an Absolute Arbitrary power
over their Lives and Fortunes which are as much as possible to be pre-
servedrdquo21 Locke also penned his famous Letter Concerning oleration
which advocated for religious toleration According to Locke the state
only possessed power over temporal affairs It had no jurisdiction over
the individual conscience
Events in England leading up to the Glorious Revolution led to the
formation of two strong political parties oriented around the liberal
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520211048625
ideas articulated by Locke in his wo reatises namely the ories and
the Whigs Te ories were conservatives who favored aristocratic priv-
ilege a strong bond between ecclesiastical and civil authority and thepassive obedience of subjects to the politicalecclesiastical order Te
Whigs were firmly against these positions Teir liberalism won the day
in the Glorious Revolution of 1048625104863010486321048632 Seventeenth-century thinkers such
as John Locke Algernon Sidney John Milton and James Harrington ar-
ticulated liberal views such as religious toleration liberty of the press
parliamentary supremacy and rule by consent Later thinkers influenced
by these and other earlier figures sharpened and focused liberal ideas inthe face of what they saw as overreach by George IIrsquos prime minister
Robert Walpole in the 104862510486311048626983088s In particular John renchard and Tomas
Gordon advocated for religious freedom and individual rights in their
104862510486311048626983088ndash104862510486311048626852019 collection of essays titled Catorsquos Letters Tey represented well
the ideas of Real Whig ideology a body of thought that stressed the most
sweeping liberalism yet seen Real Whig thought as expressed by
renchard and Gordon was popular not only in England but also inAmerica especially during the 104862510486311048630983088s and 104862510486311048631983088s During these years Real
Whig thought became the driving intellectual force of the Revolution
Te Real Whigs took Lockersquos views on toleration to their logical terminus
advocating for complete religious freedom Religious freedom became a
hallmark of the writings of renchard and Gordon for example Pauline
Maier wrote of Real Whig political philosophy that ldquothe [American]
revolutionary movement takes on consistency and form only against the
backdrop of English revolutionary traditionrdquo22 And the writings of
renchard and Gordon were those that were among the most influential
Real Whig writings on this side of the Atlantic
How does Real Whig ideology fit into American exceptionalism Te
answer is simplemdashit is manifested through what Mark Noll called
ldquoChristian republicanismrdquo23 Christian republicanism is an amalgamation
of Real Whig ideology and Protestant theology occurring in American
literature and rhetoric in the years leading up to and during the Revo-
lution Te unifying themes between these two strands of thought are
freedom of religious dissension a reaction against ecclesiastical privilege
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
and a millennialism that saw America as Godrsquos chosen nation to bring
about the final defeat of the forces of the Antichrist
Christian republicans in America like Jonathan Mayhew of Bostonsought to biblically justify rebellion against the mother country May-
hewrsquos sermon ldquoA Discourse Concerning Unlimited Submissionrdquo which
he gave on January 852019983088 10486251048631852021983088 (the 10486259830881048625st anniversary of the execution of
Charles I) defended the justice of the Puritansrsquo overthrow of Charles I
Romans 10486258520191048625-852021 served as Mayhewrsquos text and he preached that Charlesrsquos
overthrow was entirely just In his letter to the Romans Paul was not
writing about submitting to a government that was evil but a gov-ernment that was a ldquoservant for your goodrdquo (Romans 1048625852019852020) Just as it is
entirely right for a child or a servant to disobey a parent or a master who
rules them unjustly a people who resist the rule of a tyrant are innocent
of wrongdoing Mayhew appealed to the principle of self-defense heremdasha
people have the right even the responsibility to protect themselves
against a tyrant just as the people did in 104862510486308520201048633 when they executed
Charles I Mayhew thundered
A PEOPLE really oppressed to a great degree by their sovereign cannot
well be insensible when they are so oppressed Nor would they have
any reason to mourn if some HERCULES should appear to dispatch
himmdashFor a nation thus abused to arise unanimously and to resist their
prince even to the dethroning him is not criminal but a reasonable use
of the means and the only means which God has put in their power for
mutual and self-defence24
Mayhew serves as an important figure in the years leading up to the
Revolution for several reasons First Mayhew was a New England
preacher heavily influenced by Real Whig political thought like the idea
that rulers rule by the peoplersquos consent Second he was a Christian who
accepted republican ideas despite the fact that as Mark Noll has pointed
out republicanism is at odds with key aspects of Christian theological
doctrine25 And third Mayhew like many others in his generation bap-
tized Real Whig ideas in the waters of biblical theology Mayhew is rep-
resentative of a Christian republicanism that began occurring in the
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520211048631
resented a turning point in history and was destined to advance human
civilization to the millennial reign of Christ as the eighteenth century
progressed Abraham Keteltas preaching in 1048625104863110486311048631 to the Presbyterians inNewburyport Massachusetts equated the cause of America with the
cause of God Americarsquos cause against Great Britain was the cause of
liberty justice rule of law and individual rightsmdashnot only for those who
were living but also for those generations yet to be born
Americarsquos cause for Keteltas was the cause of good against evil As
such it was Godrsquos own cause And Americans could take comfort in the
fact that God will be faithful to champion the American cause becausein doing so he was safeguarding his own cause Keteltas did not envision
the struggle with Britain as merely a political struggle He saw it as part
of the struggle of good against evil that had been going on since the fall
in the Garden of Eden Not only that he saw the Revolution as part of
the same cosmic struggle that Christ himself engaged in with the devil
in his Passion ldquoOur causerdquo wrote Keteltas ldquois not only good but it has
been prudently conducted it is the cause of truth against error andfalsehood the cause of righteousness against iniquity It is the cause
of reformation against popery In short it is the cause of heaven
against hellmdashof the kind Parent of the universe against the prince of
darkness and the destroyer of the human racerdquo31
Keteltas preached this sermon from Psalm 104863185202010486261048626mdashldquoArise O God
plead thine own causerdquo (983147983146983158) His sermon clearly reveals a particular
exegetical method guided by millennialism He envisioned the American
colonies as being engaged in the apocalyptic struggle of the forces of
Christ against the forces of the devil Samuel Sherwood is yet another
example of a preacher reading Scripture and the events of his time in this
way His 1048625104863110486311048630 sermon ldquoTe Churchrsquos Flight into the Wildernessrdquo is one
of the most strikingly millenarian sermons of the time His text was
Revelation 104862510486261048625852020-1048625104863132 and his exegesis is strongly typological Sherwoodrsquos
typology not surprisingly is informed by millenarianism And what is
further interesting about Sherwoodrsquos exegesis of the text is how he con-
flated the church with the American colonies For instance Sherwood
preached that God brought the church into North America a land of
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
o sum up the ideology of American exceptionalism has a multistruc-
tured intellectual root system theological political exegetical and his-
toriographical By the early nineteenth century Americans largely took
it for granted that their nation represented a break from the past and a
decisive turn toward a future defined by progress and advancement And
millions of people emigrated to the United States in the nineteenthcentury to tie their own personal destinies to that of America whose
destiny seemed poised to advance from triumph to triumph
A civil religion with exceptionalism as one of its essential aspects
developed aer the Revolution Te Declaration of Independence was
one of the foundational documents in a civil religious canon that was
taking shape Te Declaration made objective transcendent authori-
tative statements about the nature of humanity the role of the gov-ernment in relation to the people it represented and Godrsquos having estab-
lished a particular order that could not be thwarted or overturned Te
Declaration was followed by other documents that formed the civil reli-
gious canon the Constitution the Bill of Rights Washingtonrsquos Farewell
Address and others
As the nation grew in numbers and in territorial size between the Lou-
isiana Purchase of 10486251048632983088852019 and the Mexican War ending in 104862510486328520201048632 Americanexceptionalism divided into two articulations One of these articulations
was more strongly religious and more certain of Godrsquos providence con-
cerning the future of the United States and its status alongside other na-
tions It was also decidedly racist Te other articulation was more ag-
nostic concerning the providence of God but was nonetheless certain
that God had set it apart to be a moral example to the rest of the world
America could show other nations what a nation conceived in liberty
might look like how it might behave and what ideals it might pursue for
the benefit in theory if not in practice of all humanity
Americans struggled to figure out their place in the nineteenth century
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 1048630852019
aer their break with their mother country Great Britain Tey looked
for their place not only in the world doing ldquoall other Acts and Tings
which Independent States may of right dordquo as the Declaration of Inde-pendence suggested but also their place in human history As they
struggled they did many things that seem strange to us in the twenty-
first century William Walker is an example of such a person But
someone who most Americans have come to admire and acknowledge
as the greatest president ever to hold the officemdashAbraham Lincolnmdashwas
motivated by the idea of American exceptionalism as Walker was Te
tree of American exceptionalism fed by its roots was taking its shape inthe antebellum period during the nineteenth century It continued to
grow and flourish well into the twentieth and into our own century It
has yet to cease growing and developing as a civil religious idea that
Americans continually look to for guidance as they try and make sense
of their significance in space and time
F983151983154 F983157983154983156983144983141983154 R983141983137983140983145983150983143Bercovitch Sacvan Te Puritan Origins of the American Self 104862510486331048631852021 Reprint New
Haven Yale University Press 104862698308810486251048625
Gamble Richard M In Search of the City on a Hill Te Making and Unmaking
of an American Myth London Continuum 104862698308810486251048626
Greene Jack P Te Intellectual Construction of America Exceptionalism and
Identity from 1048625104862810486331048626 to 1048625104863210486241048624 Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press
104862510486331048633852019McKenna George Te Puritan Origins of American Patriotism New Haven
Yale University Press 10486269830889830881048631
Stout Harry S Te New England Soul Preaching and Religious Culture in Co-
lonial New England 1048625104863310486321048630 Reprint Oxford Oxford University Press 104862698308810486251048626
uveson Ernest Lee Redeemer Nation Te Idea of Americarsquos Millennial Role
Chicago University of Chicago Press 1048625104863310486301048632
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
though in differing ways American exceptionalismrsquos theological roots
are found in the Puritan worldview and in particular those Puritans
who settled and flourished in the New England colonies during theseventeenth and eighteenth centuries
It is important to acknowledge here that the Puritans represent but one
religious group among several in the colonial period Religious diversity
within the Christian tradition in the British North American colonies was
a given since a variety of religious groups were involved in most of the
thirteen coloniesrsquo founding And as the Great Awakening got underway
in the early to middle 10486251048631983088983088s that diversity became even more pronouncedas evangelical groups such as the Baptists and Presbyterians became more
populous But the Puritans were perhaps the most influential intellectual
group during the colonial period In 10486251048632852019852021 ocqueville went as far as to say
that ldquoI see the destiny of America embodied in the first Puritan who
landed on these shores just as the whole human race was represented by
the first manrdquo2 Trough the enormous volume of Puritan writings in the
form of sermons books pamphlets newspapers letters and so on Pu-ritan thought spread from New England to the Middle and Southern
Colonies as well as to the western hinterlands George McKenna wrote
that the Puritans were more than any other religious group behind ldquoan
emerging sense of American nationhood a realization that America was
something more than a patchwork of villages towns and regionsrdquo3
Te history of the Puritans in England and America while fascinating
is beyond the scope of this study Suffice it to say here that many Puritans
in England aer failing to reform the state church from within migrated
to America and established colonies in what became known as New
England in the first part of the 10486251048630983088983088s Teir theological positions were
defined largely by Calvinism and they sought to integrate theology into
a worldview encompassing every aspect of life and thought4 McKenna
noted that Puritan thought provided what became a coherent framework
or scaffolding around which American self-identification was con-
structed It is my contention that three theological ideas in particular
shaped that framework the Puritan understanding of covenant typology
and millennialism
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
mind that every single thing that happens (or does not happen) down
to the minutest of details is directly attributable to Godrsquos intentional
activity in his world A famine a disease a drought or an Indian raidmdashthe Puritans habitually thought God used natural events like these to
directly respond to their backsliding their sinful neglect of their cov-
enant with him
During the second half of the 10486251048630983088983088s the jeremiad arose as an inimi-
table Puritanmdashand by extension Americanmdashliterary genre It took on
new efficacy in the wake of the disaster of King Philiprsquos War (104862510486301048631852021ndash1048625104863010486311048632)
in which the Puritan colonists and their Indian allies fought against theWampanoag tribe under Metacom (King Philip to the English) Both
sides were devastated Te native population was reduced from a quarter
of all inhabitants in New England to a tenth and one in sixteen English
settlers were killed7 Larry Witham wrote ldquoAer King Philip was killed
in August 1048625104863010486311048630 and his severed head stuck on a pike in Plymouth min-
isters poured out their Jeremiah-like interpretations through the printing
pressesrdquo8 Te first drop in a flood of jeremiads was likely Michael Wig-glesworthrsquos 1048625104863010486301048626 poem ldquoGodrsquos Controversy with New Englandrdquo written
in response to a drought Jonathan Mitchel wrote ldquoNehemiah on the Wall
in roublesome imesrdquo a 1048625104863010486301048631 election-day sermon In 104862510486301048631983088 Samuel
Danforth preached his ldquoBrief Recognition of New Englandrsquos Errand into
the Wildernessrdquo which provided one of the first lists of Puritan sins And
in 104862510486319830881048626 Cotton Mather published his monumental Magnalia Christi
Americana which was a providential history of the New England col-
onies Witham called Magnalia ldquoa sustained jeremiadrdquo9
Tis Puritan conception of covenant entailed a special calling on them
as Godrsquos chosen people with a divinely ordained mission Even though
they believed they existed as the people of God they were always cog-
nizant of the enormous responsibility that came with that privileged
position As they read the Old estament they saw not only the ancient
Israelites existing in covenant relationship to God they saw themselves
Typology In the Christian tradition of biblical interpretation ty-
pology has served as a consistent method in demonstrating the sym-
biotic relationship of the Old estament and the New Christian biblical
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 852020852021
Lord much as John the Baptist was to fulfill Isaiah 852020983088852019-852021 when he went
into the wilderness to prepare Israel for the coming of the Christ As
Bercovitch wrote ldquoTe remnant that fled Babylon in 10486251048630852019983088 set sail for thenew promised land especially reserved by God for them Unmis-
takably the New World was part of the history of salvationrdquo14
Millennialism Te third aspect of the Puritan theological structure I
am identifying is the notion that history is progressing toward a Christian
utopia that God is using nations to bring about his kingdom on earthmdash
and as Ernest Lee uveson wrote ldquoTe finger of Providence had pointed
to the young republic of the Westrdquo15 Te millennium is the biblicalthousand-year reign of Christ described in Revelation 1048626983088 to begin aer
the second advent Satan will be bound and imprisoned Christ will per-
sonally reign on the earth and his church will reign with him Te mil-
lennium precedes the final and absolute defeat of Satan the creation of
the new heaven and the new earth and the ushering in of the eternal age
Millennialism is a view of history that sees humankind progressing
toward the second coming and the personal reign of the glorified ChristAccording to this view humans actually take part in laying the
groundwork for the millennial kingdom through obedience spreading
the gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth and establishing the
Christian ethical ideal through the expansion of Christian civilization
Further Godrsquos agents in preparing the world for the millennium are the
nations and particularly those nations that represent him faithfully o
the Puritans and later the American colonists as a whole America was
the millennial nation
Prior to the Reformation Western civilization had not understood
history to be progressing toward any particular telos through the active
agency of human beings During the Middle Ages and through the Ren-
aissance Augustine of Hippo (AD 852019852021852020ndash852020852019983088) provided the West with the
prevailing view of history in his work Te City of God Augustine cast
civilization in terms of two groups or cities one was the city of man the
other the city of God Te city of man for Augustine consisted of the
empires established by human strength and greatness like the Roman
Empire Human empires while powerful were bound up in time and
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
ultimately doomed to fall But the city of God consisted of those who
were faithful to Christ that is the church which for Augustine equated
to the kingdom of God on earth Te city of God would be persecutedby the city of man but ultimately will prevail when Christ returns and
judges the living and the dead at the great white throne (Revelation 104862698308810486251048625-
1048625852021) Te millennium described in Revelation according to Augustine is
not to be taken literally but allegorically Te thousand years in Reve-
lation 1048626983088 denote a long and indefinite period of timemdashthus Augustinersquos
eschatological position is termed amillennialism (ldquono millenniumrdquo no
ldquothousand yearsrdquo) Since his resurrection Christ reigns over his peoplethe church and Satanrsquos binding takes place from Christrsquos resurrection
until the second advent At that time Satan will be released only to meet
his final destruction in the lake of fire Te city of man is doomed to
follow him there16
Te upshot of Augustinersquos view of history is that even though Satan is
bound during the age of the church ills resulting from Adamrsquos fall still
persist Tis condition is not going to change at least not until Christrsquosreturn at the end of the age If evils can still wreak their desolations upon
humans even while Satanrsquos power is muted then surely nothing can be
done by mere mortals to improve their lot It is vain for humans to try
and effect hope in this transitory and decaying world Te only answer
is to wait for a better world in the aerlife Tis was the prevailing view
of things in western Europe during the roughly thousand-year period
from the fall of Rome to the sixteenth century
Te Augustinian view of history was supplanted by a new view one
that came about as a result of the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth
century A general reconsideration of the meaning and authority of the
Bible was central to the project of the Reformation Included in this re-
consideration was a new interpretation of the book of Revelation and
with it the meaning of the millennium Perhaps Revelation pointed to
an actual thousand-year period in the not-too-distant future when true
Christian civilization would reign triumphantly over the forces of the
devil and the Antichrist Could it be possible that God would actively
use the nations to bring about this triumph If so then it would seem
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520201048631
that humanity could bring about the culmination of history aer all In-
stead of forlornly waiting around for Jesus to return humans could effect
the glorious reign of Christ by their own efforts of cooperating withdivine providence as God actively and purposefully brought about the
culmination of history
Many Protestants saw the Reformation as the major turning point in
Godrsquos program for history Te Reformation struck a death blow to the
Roman papacy which English Protestants in particular considered to be
the Antichrist And what a mystery was revealed when America was
discovered in 104862585202010486331048626 a land hidden by providence until the very eve of theReformation Te discovery of America and the dawn of the Refor-
mation occurring at roughly the same time appeared to many Protes-
tants as the beginning of the end of an old order uveson described it
this way ldquoMankind might be over the hump at last Tus the Refor-
mation became the assurance that the long era of superstition injustice
and poverty was ending and that light was breaking over the world A
great age of achievement had begunrdquo17
In the millennial view of history as opposed to the Augustinian view
progress was the defining factor in the human experience18 Te events
of Revelation were not allegories but were literal events taking place at
a future date but nevertheless in real time Tis notion comes through
in the apostle Johnrsquos recounting of Jesusrsquo command to write down every-
thing in his apocalyptic visionmdashldquothe things that you have seen those
that are and those that are to take place aer thisrdquo (Revelation 104862510486251048633) If
anything Jesus seems to be referring to literal ldquothingsrdquo to be ldquoseenrdquo with
the eyesmdashthings in the past present and future time It hardly seemed
possible especially to Protestant thinkers that we will consider shortly
that Jesus could be referring to an allegorized set of circumstances
As the Reformation opened and developed in the sixteenth century
the New England colonies were established in the seventeenth and the
colonial wars in America culminated in the mid-eighteenth the lines
were clearly drawn Te New England Puritans (and most of English
Protestantism) considered the French Roman Catholic kingdom to be
the physical manifestation of the forces of the Antichrist Specifically the
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
Te theological roots of the tree of American exceptionalism go deeper
and are more intricate than the other roots supporting it You mightsay that theology is the taproot of the tree anchoring it firmly to the
ground But exceptionalism is supported by a system of roots Let us
move on from theology and now consider the political roots of the
concept of exceptionalism
Te United States originated in the Revolution as a political union of
independent states Tis union coalesced into a federal republic under
the Constitution which was signed in 1048625104863110486321048631 and went into effect in 1048625104863110486321048633But the union of the thirteen original states did not emerge out of thin
air Te states joined together around the common cause of indepen-
dence from Britain and that cause was undergirded by the liberal ideas
expressed in the Declaration of Independence And the ideas expressed
in the Declaration had their origins even further back Te Western
philosophical tradition has included liberal ideas for a long time but for
our purposes here let us trace those liberal ideas back to England during
its tempestuous seventeenth century
Te English Civil War (104862510486308520201048626ndash104862510486308520211048625) and the Glorious Revolution (1048625104863010486321048632)
were two crucibles in English history that ultimately helped shape that
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
Aer Charles was executed the monarchy was replaced by the Pro-
tectorate under Cromwell until just aer his death In 104862510486301048630983088 the English
monarchy was restored with the coronation of Charles II who ruleduntil 104862510486301048632852021 When Charlesrsquos son James II ascended the throne it was said
that his desire was to return England to Roman Catholicism and rule as
an absolute monarch Parliament was in no mood to take chances with
James and the body invited William of Orange and his wife Mary
(Jamesrsquos Protestant daughter) to cross the Channel land in England and
replace James Te catch was that as monarchs they would have to
recognize the supremacy of Parliament Tey agreed and landed inEngland with fourteen thousand soldiers on November 852021 1048625104863010486321048632 James
having little support and thus no real ability to control events fled for
his life to France Te ascension of William and Mary to the throne in
1048625104863010486321048632 is known as the Glorious Revolutionmdasha bloodless affair unlike the
Civil War
John Locke (104862510486308520191048626ndash10486251048631983088852020) wrote his famous wo reatises on Civil Gov-
ernment which was published in 104862510486301048633983088 largely to bring credibility to theactions of Parliament particularly in inviting the rule of William and
Mary Locke said that governments ruled by the consent of the people
Rulers possessed political power but they possessed it in trust from the
people and they maintained their power by protecting the basic rights
bestowed on them by nature at birth Tus rulers do not have the power
to rule arbitrarily Rulers may only legitimately exercise their power in
such as way as to protect the natural rights of the individual Locke wrote
ldquo[Power] can have no other end or measure when in the hands of the
Magistrate but to preserve the Members of that Society in their Lives
Liberties and Possessions and so cannot be an Absolute Arbitrary power
over their Lives and Fortunes which are as much as possible to be pre-
servedrdquo21 Locke also penned his famous Letter Concerning oleration
which advocated for religious toleration According to Locke the state
only possessed power over temporal affairs It had no jurisdiction over
the individual conscience
Events in England leading up to the Glorious Revolution led to the
formation of two strong political parties oriented around the liberal
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520211048625
ideas articulated by Locke in his wo reatises namely the ories and
the Whigs Te ories were conservatives who favored aristocratic priv-
ilege a strong bond between ecclesiastical and civil authority and thepassive obedience of subjects to the politicalecclesiastical order Te
Whigs were firmly against these positions Teir liberalism won the day
in the Glorious Revolution of 1048625104863010486321048632 Seventeenth-century thinkers such
as John Locke Algernon Sidney John Milton and James Harrington ar-
ticulated liberal views such as religious toleration liberty of the press
parliamentary supremacy and rule by consent Later thinkers influenced
by these and other earlier figures sharpened and focused liberal ideas inthe face of what they saw as overreach by George IIrsquos prime minister
Robert Walpole in the 104862510486311048626983088s In particular John renchard and Tomas
Gordon advocated for religious freedom and individual rights in their
104862510486311048626983088ndash104862510486311048626852019 collection of essays titled Catorsquos Letters Tey represented well
the ideas of Real Whig ideology a body of thought that stressed the most
sweeping liberalism yet seen Real Whig thought as expressed by
renchard and Gordon was popular not only in England but also inAmerica especially during the 104862510486311048630983088s and 104862510486311048631983088s During these years Real
Whig thought became the driving intellectual force of the Revolution
Te Real Whigs took Lockersquos views on toleration to their logical terminus
advocating for complete religious freedom Religious freedom became a
hallmark of the writings of renchard and Gordon for example Pauline
Maier wrote of Real Whig political philosophy that ldquothe [American]
revolutionary movement takes on consistency and form only against the
backdrop of English revolutionary traditionrdquo22 And the writings of
renchard and Gordon were those that were among the most influential
Real Whig writings on this side of the Atlantic
How does Real Whig ideology fit into American exceptionalism Te
answer is simplemdashit is manifested through what Mark Noll called
ldquoChristian republicanismrdquo23 Christian republicanism is an amalgamation
of Real Whig ideology and Protestant theology occurring in American
literature and rhetoric in the years leading up to and during the Revo-
lution Te unifying themes between these two strands of thought are
freedom of religious dissension a reaction against ecclesiastical privilege
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
and a millennialism that saw America as Godrsquos chosen nation to bring
about the final defeat of the forces of the Antichrist
Christian republicans in America like Jonathan Mayhew of Bostonsought to biblically justify rebellion against the mother country May-
hewrsquos sermon ldquoA Discourse Concerning Unlimited Submissionrdquo which
he gave on January 852019983088 10486251048631852021983088 (the 10486259830881048625st anniversary of the execution of
Charles I) defended the justice of the Puritansrsquo overthrow of Charles I
Romans 10486258520191048625-852021 served as Mayhewrsquos text and he preached that Charlesrsquos
overthrow was entirely just In his letter to the Romans Paul was not
writing about submitting to a government that was evil but a gov-ernment that was a ldquoservant for your goodrdquo (Romans 1048625852019852020) Just as it is
entirely right for a child or a servant to disobey a parent or a master who
rules them unjustly a people who resist the rule of a tyrant are innocent
of wrongdoing Mayhew appealed to the principle of self-defense heremdasha
people have the right even the responsibility to protect themselves
against a tyrant just as the people did in 104862510486308520201048633 when they executed
Charles I Mayhew thundered
A PEOPLE really oppressed to a great degree by their sovereign cannot
well be insensible when they are so oppressed Nor would they have
any reason to mourn if some HERCULES should appear to dispatch
himmdashFor a nation thus abused to arise unanimously and to resist their
prince even to the dethroning him is not criminal but a reasonable use
of the means and the only means which God has put in their power for
mutual and self-defence24
Mayhew serves as an important figure in the years leading up to the
Revolution for several reasons First Mayhew was a New England
preacher heavily influenced by Real Whig political thought like the idea
that rulers rule by the peoplersquos consent Second he was a Christian who
accepted republican ideas despite the fact that as Mark Noll has pointed
out republicanism is at odds with key aspects of Christian theological
doctrine25 And third Mayhew like many others in his generation bap-
tized Real Whig ideas in the waters of biblical theology Mayhew is rep-
resentative of a Christian republicanism that began occurring in the
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520211048631
resented a turning point in history and was destined to advance human
civilization to the millennial reign of Christ as the eighteenth century
progressed Abraham Keteltas preaching in 1048625104863110486311048631 to the Presbyterians inNewburyport Massachusetts equated the cause of America with the
cause of God Americarsquos cause against Great Britain was the cause of
liberty justice rule of law and individual rightsmdashnot only for those who
were living but also for those generations yet to be born
Americarsquos cause for Keteltas was the cause of good against evil As
such it was Godrsquos own cause And Americans could take comfort in the
fact that God will be faithful to champion the American cause becausein doing so he was safeguarding his own cause Keteltas did not envision
the struggle with Britain as merely a political struggle He saw it as part
of the struggle of good against evil that had been going on since the fall
in the Garden of Eden Not only that he saw the Revolution as part of
the same cosmic struggle that Christ himself engaged in with the devil
in his Passion ldquoOur causerdquo wrote Keteltas ldquois not only good but it has
been prudently conducted it is the cause of truth against error andfalsehood the cause of righteousness against iniquity It is the cause
of reformation against popery In short it is the cause of heaven
against hellmdashof the kind Parent of the universe against the prince of
darkness and the destroyer of the human racerdquo31
Keteltas preached this sermon from Psalm 104863185202010486261048626mdashldquoArise O God
plead thine own causerdquo (983147983146983158) His sermon clearly reveals a particular
exegetical method guided by millennialism He envisioned the American
colonies as being engaged in the apocalyptic struggle of the forces of
Christ against the forces of the devil Samuel Sherwood is yet another
example of a preacher reading Scripture and the events of his time in this
way His 1048625104863110486311048630 sermon ldquoTe Churchrsquos Flight into the Wildernessrdquo is one
of the most strikingly millenarian sermons of the time His text was
Revelation 104862510486261048625852020-1048625104863132 and his exegesis is strongly typological Sherwoodrsquos
typology not surprisingly is informed by millenarianism And what is
further interesting about Sherwoodrsquos exegesis of the text is how he con-
flated the church with the American colonies For instance Sherwood
preached that God brought the church into North America a land of
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
o sum up the ideology of American exceptionalism has a multistruc-
tured intellectual root system theological political exegetical and his-
toriographical By the early nineteenth century Americans largely took
it for granted that their nation represented a break from the past and a
decisive turn toward a future defined by progress and advancement And
millions of people emigrated to the United States in the nineteenthcentury to tie their own personal destinies to that of America whose
destiny seemed poised to advance from triumph to triumph
A civil religion with exceptionalism as one of its essential aspects
developed aer the Revolution Te Declaration of Independence was
one of the foundational documents in a civil religious canon that was
taking shape Te Declaration made objective transcendent authori-
tative statements about the nature of humanity the role of the gov-ernment in relation to the people it represented and Godrsquos having estab-
lished a particular order that could not be thwarted or overturned Te
Declaration was followed by other documents that formed the civil reli-
gious canon the Constitution the Bill of Rights Washingtonrsquos Farewell
Address and others
As the nation grew in numbers and in territorial size between the Lou-
isiana Purchase of 10486251048632983088852019 and the Mexican War ending in 104862510486328520201048632 Americanexceptionalism divided into two articulations One of these articulations
was more strongly religious and more certain of Godrsquos providence con-
cerning the future of the United States and its status alongside other na-
tions It was also decidedly racist Te other articulation was more ag-
nostic concerning the providence of God but was nonetheless certain
that God had set it apart to be a moral example to the rest of the world
America could show other nations what a nation conceived in liberty
might look like how it might behave and what ideals it might pursue for
the benefit in theory if not in practice of all humanity
Americans struggled to figure out their place in the nineteenth century
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 1048630852019
aer their break with their mother country Great Britain Tey looked
for their place not only in the world doing ldquoall other Acts and Tings
which Independent States may of right dordquo as the Declaration of Inde-pendence suggested but also their place in human history As they
struggled they did many things that seem strange to us in the twenty-
first century William Walker is an example of such a person But
someone who most Americans have come to admire and acknowledge
as the greatest president ever to hold the officemdashAbraham Lincolnmdashwas
motivated by the idea of American exceptionalism as Walker was Te
tree of American exceptionalism fed by its roots was taking its shape inthe antebellum period during the nineteenth century It continued to
grow and flourish well into the twentieth and into our own century It
has yet to cease growing and developing as a civil religious idea that
Americans continually look to for guidance as they try and make sense
of their significance in space and time
F983151983154 F983157983154983156983144983141983154 R983141983137983140983145983150983143Bercovitch Sacvan Te Puritan Origins of the American Self 104862510486331048631852021 Reprint New
Haven Yale University Press 104862698308810486251048625
Gamble Richard M In Search of the City on a Hill Te Making and Unmaking
of an American Myth London Continuum 104862698308810486251048626
Greene Jack P Te Intellectual Construction of America Exceptionalism and
Identity from 1048625104862810486331048626 to 1048625104863210486241048624 Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press
104862510486331048633852019McKenna George Te Puritan Origins of American Patriotism New Haven
Yale University Press 10486269830889830881048631
Stout Harry S Te New England Soul Preaching and Religious Culture in Co-
lonial New England 1048625104863310486321048630 Reprint Oxford Oxford University Press 104862698308810486251048626
uveson Ernest Lee Redeemer Nation Te Idea of Americarsquos Millennial Role
Chicago University of Chicago Press 1048625104863310486301048632
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
mind that every single thing that happens (or does not happen) down
to the minutest of details is directly attributable to Godrsquos intentional
activity in his world A famine a disease a drought or an Indian raidmdashthe Puritans habitually thought God used natural events like these to
directly respond to their backsliding their sinful neglect of their cov-
enant with him
During the second half of the 10486251048630983088983088s the jeremiad arose as an inimi-
table Puritanmdashand by extension Americanmdashliterary genre It took on
new efficacy in the wake of the disaster of King Philiprsquos War (104862510486301048631852021ndash1048625104863010486311048632)
in which the Puritan colonists and their Indian allies fought against theWampanoag tribe under Metacom (King Philip to the English) Both
sides were devastated Te native population was reduced from a quarter
of all inhabitants in New England to a tenth and one in sixteen English
settlers were killed7 Larry Witham wrote ldquoAer King Philip was killed
in August 1048625104863010486311048630 and his severed head stuck on a pike in Plymouth min-
isters poured out their Jeremiah-like interpretations through the printing
pressesrdquo8 Te first drop in a flood of jeremiads was likely Michael Wig-glesworthrsquos 1048625104863010486301048626 poem ldquoGodrsquos Controversy with New Englandrdquo written
in response to a drought Jonathan Mitchel wrote ldquoNehemiah on the Wall
in roublesome imesrdquo a 1048625104863010486301048631 election-day sermon In 104862510486301048631983088 Samuel
Danforth preached his ldquoBrief Recognition of New Englandrsquos Errand into
the Wildernessrdquo which provided one of the first lists of Puritan sins And
in 104862510486319830881048626 Cotton Mather published his monumental Magnalia Christi
Americana which was a providential history of the New England col-
onies Witham called Magnalia ldquoa sustained jeremiadrdquo9
Tis Puritan conception of covenant entailed a special calling on them
as Godrsquos chosen people with a divinely ordained mission Even though
they believed they existed as the people of God they were always cog-
nizant of the enormous responsibility that came with that privileged
position As they read the Old estament they saw not only the ancient
Israelites existing in covenant relationship to God they saw themselves
Typology In the Christian tradition of biblical interpretation ty-
pology has served as a consistent method in demonstrating the sym-
biotic relationship of the Old estament and the New Christian biblical
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 852020852021
Lord much as John the Baptist was to fulfill Isaiah 852020983088852019-852021 when he went
into the wilderness to prepare Israel for the coming of the Christ As
Bercovitch wrote ldquoTe remnant that fled Babylon in 10486251048630852019983088 set sail for thenew promised land especially reserved by God for them Unmis-
takably the New World was part of the history of salvationrdquo14
Millennialism Te third aspect of the Puritan theological structure I
am identifying is the notion that history is progressing toward a Christian
utopia that God is using nations to bring about his kingdom on earthmdash
and as Ernest Lee uveson wrote ldquoTe finger of Providence had pointed
to the young republic of the Westrdquo15 Te millennium is the biblicalthousand-year reign of Christ described in Revelation 1048626983088 to begin aer
the second advent Satan will be bound and imprisoned Christ will per-
sonally reign on the earth and his church will reign with him Te mil-
lennium precedes the final and absolute defeat of Satan the creation of
the new heaven and the new earth and the ushering in of the eternal age
Millennialism is a view of history that sees humankind progressing
toward the second coming and the personal reign of the glorified ChristAccording to this view humans actually take part in laying the
groundwork for the millennial kingdom through obedience spreading
the gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth and establishing the
Christian ethical ideal through the expansion of Christian civilization
Further Godrsquos agents in preparing the world for the millennium are the
nations and particularly those nations that represent him faithfully o
the Puritans and later the American colonists as a whole America was
the millennial nation
Prior to the Reformation Western civilization had not understood
history to be progressing toward any particular telos through the active
agency of human beings During the Middle Ages and through the Ren-
aissance Augustine of Hippo (AD 852019852021852020ndash852020852019983088) provided the West with the
prevailing view of history in his work Te City of God Augustine cast
civilization in terms of two groups or cities one was the city of man the
other the city of God Te city of man for Augustine consisted of the
empires established by human strength and greatness like the Roman
Empire Human empires while powerful were bound up in time and
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
ultimately doomed to fall But the city of God consisted of those who
were faithful to Christ that is the church which for Augustine equated
to the kingdom of God on earth Te city of God would be persecutedby the city of man but ultimately will prevail when Christ returns and
judges the living and the dead at the great white throne (Revelation 104862698308810486251048625-
1048625852021) Te millennium described in Revelation according to Augustine is
not to be taken literally but allegorically Te thousand years in Reve-
lation 1048626983088 denote a long and indefinite period of timemdashthus Augustinersquos
eschatological position is termed amillennialism (ldquono millenniumrdquo no
ldquothousand yearsrdquo) Since his resurrection Christ reigns over his peoplethe church and Satanrsquos binding takes place from Christrsquos resurrection
until the second advent At that time Satan will be released only to meet
his final destruction in the lake of fire Te city of man is doomed to
follow him there16
Te upshot of Augustinersquos view of history is that even though Satan is
bound during the age of the church ills resulting from Adamrsquos fall still
persist Tis condition is not going to change at least not until Christrsquosreturn at the end of the age If evils can still wreak their desolations upon
humans even while Satanrsquos power is muted then surely nothing can be
done by mere mortals to improve their lot It is vain for humans to try
and effect hope in this transitory and decaying world Te only answer
is to wait for a better world in the aerlife Tis was the prevailing view
of things in western Europe during the roughly thousand-year period
from the fall of Rome to the sixteenth century
Te Augustinian view of history was supplanted by a new view one
that came about as a result of the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth
century A general reconsideration of the meaning and authority of the
Bible was central to the project of the Reformation Included in this re-
consideration was a new interpretation of the book of Revelation and
with it the meaning of the millennium Perhaps Revelation pointed to
an actual thousand-year period in the not-too-distant future when true
Christian civilization would reign triumphantly over the forces of the
devil and the Antichrist Could it be possible that God would actively
use the nations to bring about this triumph If so then it would seem
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520201048631
that humanity could bring about the culmination of history aer all In-
stead of forlornly waiting around for Jesus to return humans could effect
the glorious reign of Christ by their own efforts of cooperating withdivine providence as God actively and purposefully brought about the
culmination of history
Many Protestants saw the Reformation as the major turning point in
Godrsquos program for history Te Reformation struck a death blow to the
Roman papacy which English Protestants in particular considered to be
the Antichrist And what a mystery was revealed when America was
discovered in 104862585202010486331048626 a land hidden by providence until the very eve of theReformation Te discovery of America and the dawn of the Refor-
mation occurring at roughly the same time appeared to many Protes-
tants as the beginning of the end of an old order uveson described it
this way ldquoMankind might be over the hump at last Tus the Refor-
mation became the assurance that the long era of superstition injustice
and poverty was ending and that light was breaking over the world A
great age of achievement had begunrdquo17
In the millennial view of history as opposed to the Augustinian view
progress was the defining factor in the human experience18 Te events
of Revelation were not allegories but were literal events taking place at
a future date but nevertheless in real time Tis notion comes through
in the apostle Johnrsquos recounting of Jesusrsquo command to write down every-
thing in his apocalyptic visionmdashldquothe things that you have seen those
that are and those that are to take place aer thisrdquo (Revelation 104862510486251048633) If
anything Jesus seems to be referring to literal ldquothingsrdquo to be ldquoseenrdquo with
the eyesmdashthings in the past present and future time It hardly seemed
possible especially to Protestant thinkers that we will consider shortly
that Jesus could be referring to an allegorized set of circumstances
As the Reformation opened and developed in the sixteenth century
the New England colonies were established in the seventeenth and the
colonial wars in America culminated in the mid-eighteenth the lines
were clearly drawn Te New England Puritans (and most of English
Protestantism) considered the French Roman Catholic kingdom to be
the physical manifestation of the forces of the Antichrist Specifically the
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
Te theological roots of the tree of American exceptionalism go deeper
and are more intricate than the other roots supporting it You mightsay that theology is the taproot of the tree anchoring it firmly to the
ground But exceptionalism is supported by a system of roots Let us
move on from theology and now consider the political roots of the
concept of exceptionalism
Te United States originated in the Revolution as a political union of
independent states Tis union coalesced into a federal republic under
the Constitution which was signed in 1048625104863110486321048631 and went into effect in 1048625104863110486321048633But the union of the thirteen original states did not emerge out of thin
air Te states joined together around the common cause of indepen-
dence from Britain and that cause was undergirded by the liberal ideas
expressed in the Declaration of Independence And the ideas expressed
in the Declaration had their origins even further back Te Western
philosophical tradition has included liberal ideas for a long time but for
our purposes here let us trace those liberal ideas back to England during
its tempestuous seventeenth century
Te English Civil War (104862510486308520201048626ndash104862510486308520211048625) and the Glorious Revolution (1048625104863010486321048632)
were two crucibles in English history that ultimately helped shape that
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
Aer Charles was executed the monarchy was replaced by the Pro-
tectorate under Cromwell until just aer his death In 104862510486301048630983088 the English
monarchy was restored with the coronation of Charles II who ruleduntil 104862510486301048632852021 When Charlesrsquos son James II ascended the throne it was said
that his desire was to return England to Roman Catholicism and rule as
an absolute monarch Parliament was in no mood to take chances with
James and the body invited William of Orange and his wife Mary
(Jamesrsquos Protestant daughter) to cross the Channel land in England and
replace James Te catch was that as monarchs they would have to
recognize the supremacy of Parliament Tey agreed and landed inEngland with fourteen thousand soldiers on November 852021 1048625104863010486321048632 James
having little support and thus no real ability to control events fled for
his life to France Te ascension of William and Mary to the throne in
1048625104863010486321048632 is known as the Glorious Revolutionmdasha bloodless affair unlike the
Civil War
John Locke (104862510486308520191048626ndash10486251048631983088852020) wrote his famous wo reatises on Civil Gov-
ernment which was published in 104862510486301048633983088 largely to bring credibility to theactions of Parliament particularly in inviting the rule of William and
Mary Locke said that governments ruled by the consent of the people
Rulers possessed political power but they possessed it in trust from the
people and they maintained their power by protecting the basic rights
bestowed on them by nature at birth Tus rulers do not have the power
to rule arbitrarily Rulers may only legitimately exercise their power in
such as way as to protect the natural rights of the individual Locke wrote
ldquo[Power] can have no other end or measure when in the hands of the
Magistrate but to preserve the Members of that Society in their Lives
Liberties and Possessions and so cannot be an Absolute Arbitrary power
over their Lives and Fortunes which are as much as possible to be pre-
servedrdquo21 Locke also penned his famous Letter Concerning oleration
which advocated for religious toleration According to Locke the state
only possessed power over temporal affairs It had no jurisdiction over
the individual conscience
Events in England leading up to the Glorious Revolution led to the
formation of two strong political parties oriented around the liberal
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520211048625
ideas articulated by Locke in his wo reatises namely the ories and
the Whigs Te ories were conservatives who favored aristocratic priv-
ilege a strong bond between ecclesiastical and civil authority and thepassive obedience of subjects to the politicalecclesiastical order Te
Whigs were firmly against these positions Teir liberalism won the day
in the Glorious Revolution of 1048625104863010486321048632 Seventeenth-century thinkers such
as John Locke Algernon Sidney John Milton and James Harrington ar-
ticulated liberal views such as religious toleration liberty of the press
parliamentary supremacy and rule by consent Later thinkers influenced
by these and other earlier figures sharpened and focused liberal ideas inthe face of what they saw as overreach by George IIrsquos prime minister
Robert Walpole in the 104862510486311048626983088s In particular John renchard and Tomas
Gordon advocated for religious freedom and individual rights in their
104862510486311048626983088ndash104862510486311048626852019 collection of essays titled Catorsquos Letters Tey represented well
the ideas of Real Whig ideology a body of thought that stressed the most
sweeping liberalism yet seen Real Whig thought as expressed by
renchard and Gordon was popular not only in England but also inAmerica especially during the 104862510486311048630983088s and 104862510486311048631983088s During these years Real
Whig thought became the driving intellectual force of the Revolution
Te Real Whigs took Lockersquos views on toleration to their logical terminus
advocating for complete religious freedom Religious freedom became a
hallmark of the writings of renchard and Gordon for example Pauline
Maier wrote of Real Whig political philosophy that ldquothe [American]
revolutionary movement takes on consistency and form only against the
backdrop of English revolutionary traditionrdquo22 And the writings of
renchard and Gordon were those that were among the most influential
Real Whig writings on this side of the Atlantic
How does Real Whig ideology fit into American exceptionalism Te
answer is simplemdashit is manifested through what Mark Noll called
ldquoChristian republicanismrdquo23 Christian republicanism is an amalgamation
of Real Whig ideology and Protestant theology occurring in American
literature and rhetoric in the years leading up to and during the Revo-
lution Te unifying themes between these two strands of thought are
freedom of religious dissension a reaction against ecclesiastical privilege
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
and a millennialism that saw America as Godrsquos chosen nation to bring
about the final defeat of the forces of the Antichrist
Christian republicans in America like Jonathan Mayhew of Bostonsought to biblically justify rebellion against the mother country May-
hewrsquos sermon ldquoA Discourse Concerning Unlimited Submissionrdquo which
he gave on January 852019983088 10486251048631852021983088 (the 10486259830881048625st anniversary of the execution of
Charles I) defended the justice of the Puritansrsquo overthrow of Charles I
Romans 10486258520191048625-852021 served as Mayhewrsquos text and he preached that Charlesrsquos
overthrow was entirely just In his letter to the Romans Paul was not
writing about submitting to a government that was evil but a gov-ernment that was a ldquoservant for your goodrdquo (Romans 1048625852019852020) Just as it is
entirely right for a child or a servant to disobey a parent or a master who
rules them unjustly a people who resist the rule of a tyrant are innocent
of wrongdoing Mayhew appealed to the principle of self-defense heremdasha
people have the right even the responsibility to protect themselves
against a tyrant just as the people did in 104862510486308520201048633 when they executed
Charles I Mayhew thundered
A PEOPLE really oppressed to a great degree by their sovereign cannot
well be insensible when they are so oppressed Nor would they have
any reason to mourn if some HERCULES should appear to dispatch
himmdashFor a nation thus abused to arise unanimously and to resist their
prince even to the dethroning him is not criminal but a reasonable use
of the means and the only means which God has put in their power for
mutual and self-defence24
Mayhew serves as an important figure in the years leading up to the
Revolution for several reasons First Mayhew was a New England
preacher heavily influenced by Real Whig political thought like the idea
that rulers rule by the peoplersquos consent Second he was a Christian who
accepted republican ideas despite the fact that as Mark Noll has pointed
out republicanism is at odds with key aspects of Christian theological
doctrine25 And third Mayhew like many others in his generation bap-
tized Real Whig ideas in the waters of biblical theology Mayhew is rep-
resentative of a Christian republicanism that began occurring in the
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520211048631
resented a turning point in history and was destined to advance human
civilization to the millennial reign of Christ as the eighteenth century
progressed Abraham Keteltas preaching in 1048625104863110486311048631 to the Presbyterians inNewburyport Massachusetts equated the cause of America with the
cause of God Americarsquos cause against Great Britain was the cause of
liberty justice rule of law and individual rightsmdashnot only for those who
were living but also for those generations yet to be born
Americarsquos cause for Keteltas was the cause of good against evil As
such it was Godrsquos own cause And Americans could take comfort in the
fact that God will be faithful to champion the American cause becausein doing so he was safeguarding his own cause Keteltas did not envision
the struggle with Britain as merely a political struggle He saw it as part
of the struggle of good against evil that had been going on since the fall
in the Garden of Eden Not only that he saw the Revolution as part of
the same cosmic struggle that Christ himself engaged in with the devil
in his Passion ldquoOur causerdquo wrote Keteltas ldquois not only good but it has
been prudently conducted it is the cause of truth against error andfalsehood the cause of righteousness against iniquity It is the cause
of reformation against popery In short it is the cause of heaven
against hellmdashof the kind Parent of the universe against the prince of
darkness and the destroyer of the human racerdquo31
Keteltas preached this sermon from Psalm 104863185202010486261048626mdashldquoArise O God
plead thine own causerdquo (983147983146983158) His sermon clearly reveals a particular
exegetical method guided by millennialism He envisioned the American
colonies as being engaged in the apocalyptic struggle of the forces of
Christ against the forces of the devil Samuel Sherwood is yet another
example of a preacher reading Scripture and the events of his time in this
way His 1048625104863110486311048630 sermon ldquoTe Churchrsquos Flight into the Wildernessrdquo is one
of the most strikingly millenarian sermons of the time His text was
Revelation 104862510486261048625852020-1048625104863132 and his exegesis is strongly typological Sherwoodrsquos
typology not surprisingly is informed by millenarianism And what is
further interesting about Sherwoodrsquos exegesis of the text is how he con-
flated the church with the American colonies For instance Sherwood
preached that God brought the church into North America a land of
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
o sum up the ideology of American exceptionalism has a multistruc-
tured intellectual root system theological political exegetical and his-
toriographical By the early nineteenth century Americans largely took
it for granted that their nation represented a break from the past and a
decisive turn toward a future defined by progress and advancement And
millions of people emigrated to the United States in the nineteenthcentury to tie their own personal destinies to that of America whose
destiny seemed poised to advance from triumph to triumph
A civil religion with exceptionalism as one of its essential aspects
developed aer the Revolution Te Declaration of Independence was
one of the foundational documents in a civil religious canon that was
taking shape Te Declaration made objective transcendent authori-
tative statements about the nature of humanity the role of the gov-ernment in relation to the people it represented and Godrsquos having estab-
lished a particular order that could not be thwarted or overturned Te
Declaration was followed by other documents that formed the civil reli-
gious canon the Constitution the Bill of Rights Washingtonrsquos Farewell
Address and others
As the nation grew in numbers and in territorial size between the Lou-
isiana Purchase of 10486251048632983088852019 and the Mexican War ending in 104862510486328520201048632 Americanexceptionalism divided into two articulations One of these articulations
was more strongly religious and more certain of Godrsquos providence con-
cerning the future of the United States and its status alongside other na-
tions It was also decidedly racist Te other articulation was more ag-
nostic concerning the providence of God but was nonetheless certain
that God had set it apart to be a moral example to the rest of the world
America could show other nations what a nation conceived in liberty
might look like how it might behave and what ideals it might pursue for
the benefit in theory if not in practice of all humanity
Americans struggled to figure out their place in the nineteenth century
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 1048630852019
aer their break with their mother country Great Britain Tey looked
for their place not only in the world doing ldquoall other Acts and Tings
which Independent States may of right dordquo as the Declaration of Inde-pendence suggested but also their place in human history As they
struggled they did many things that seem strange to us in the twenty-
first century William Walker is an example of such a person But
someone who most Americans have come to admire and acknowledge
as the greatest president ever to hold the officemdashAbraham Lincolnmdashwas
motivated by the idea of American exceptionalism as Walker was Te
tree of American exceptionalism fed by its roots was taking its shape inthe antebellum period during the nineteenth century It continued to
grow and flourish well into the twentieth and into our own century It
has yet to cease growing and developing as a civil religious idea that
Americans continually look to for guidance as they try and make sense
of their significance in space and time
F983151983154 F983157983154983156983144983141983154 R983141983137983140983145983150983143Bercovitch Sacvan Te Puritan Origins of the American Self 104862510486331048631852021 Reprint New
Haven Yale University Press 104862698308810486251048625
Gamble Richard M In Search of the City on a Hill Te Making and Unmaking
of an American Myth London Continuum 104862698308810486251048626
Greene Jack P Te Intellectual Construction of America Exceptionalism and
Identity from 1048625104862810486331048626 to 1048625104863210486241048624 Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press
104862510486331048633852019McKenna George Te Puritan Origins of American Patriotism New Haven
Yale University Press 10486269830889830881048631
Stout Harry S Te New England Soul Preaching and Religious Culture in Co-
lonial New England 1048625104863310486321048630 Reprint Oxford Oxford University Press 104862698308810486251048626
uveson Ernest Lee Redeemer Nation Te Idea of Americarsquos Millennial Role
Chicago University of Chicago Press 1048625104863310486301048632
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
mind that every single thing that happens (or does not happen) down
to the minutest of details is directly attributable to Godrsquos intentional
activity in his world A famine a disease a drought or an Indian raidmdashthe Puritans habitually thought God used natural events like these to
directly respond to their backsliding their sinful neglect of their cov-
enant with him
During the second half of the 10486251048630983088983088s the jeremiad arose as an inimi-
table Puritanmdashand by extension Americanmdashliterary genre It took on
new efficacy in the wake of the disaster of King Philiprsquos War (104862510486301048631852021ndash1048625104863010486311048632)
in which the Puritan colonists and their Indian allies fought against theWampanoag tribe under Metacom (King Philip to the English) Both
sides were devastated Te native population was reduced from a quarter
of all inhabitants in New England to a tenth and one in sixteen English
settlers were killed7 Larry Witham wrote ldquoAer King Philip was killed
in August 1048625104863010486311048630 and his severed head stuck on a pike in Plymouth min-
isters poured out their Jeremiah-like interpretations through the printing
pressesrdquo8 Te first drop in a flood of jeremiads was likely Michael Wig-glesworthrsquos 1048625104863010486301048626 poem ldquoGodrsquos Controversy with New Englandrdquo written
in response to a drought Jonathan Mitchel wrote ldquoNehemiah on the Wall
in roublesome imesrdquo a 1048625104863010486301048631 election-day sermon In 104862510486301048631983088 Samuel
Danforth preached his ldquoBrief Recognition of New Englandrsquos Errand into
the Wildernessrdquo which provided one of the first lists of Puritan sins And
in 104862510486319830881048626 Cotton Mather published his monumental Magnalia Christi
Americana which was a providential history of the New England col-
onies Witham called Magnalia ldquoa sustained jeremiadrdquo9
Tis Puritan conception of covenant entailed a special calling on them
as Godrsquos chosen people with a divinely ordained mission Even though
they believed they existed as the people of God they were always cog-
nizant of the enormous responsibility that came with that privileged
position As they read the Old estament they saw not only the ancient
Israelites existing in covenant relationship to God they saw themselves
Typology In the Christian tradition of biblical interpretation ty-
pology has served as a consistent method in demonstrating the sym-
biotic relationship of the Old estament and the New Christian biblical
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 852020852021
Lord much as John the Baptist was to fulfill Isaiah 852020983088852019-852021 when he went
into the wilderness to prepare Israel for the coming of the Christ As
Bercovitch wrote ldquoTe remnant that fled Babylon in 10486251048630852019983088 set sail for thenew promised land especially reserved by God for them Unmis-
takably the New World was part of the history of salvationrdquo14
Millennialism Te third aspect of the Puritan theological structure I
am identifying is the notion that history is progressing toward a Christian
utopia that God is using nations to bring about his kingdom on earthmdash
and as Ernest Lee uveson wrote ldquoTe finger of Providence had pointed
to the young republic of the Westrdquo15 Te millennium is the biblicalthousand-year reign of Christ described in Revelation 1048626983088 to begin aer
the second advent Satan will be bound and imprisoned Christ will per-
sonally reign on the earth and his church will reign with him Te mil-
lennium precedes the final and absolute defeat of Satan the creation of
the new heaven and the new earth and the ushering in of the eternal age
Millennialism is a view of history that sees humankind progressing
toward the second coming and the personal reign of the glorified ChristAccording to this view humans actually take part in laying the
groundwork for the millennial kingdom through obedience spreading
the gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth and establishing the
Christian ethical ideal through the expansion of Christian civilization
Further Godrsquos agents in preparing the world for the millennium are the
nations and particularly those nations that represent him faithfully o
the Puritans and later the American colonists as a whole America was
the millennial nation
Prior to the Reformation Western civilization had not understood
history to be progressing toward any particular telos through the active
agency of human beings During the Middle Ages and through the Ren-
aissance Augustine of Hippo (AD 852019852021852020ndash852020852019983088) provided the West with the
prevailing view of history in his work Te City of God Augustine cast
civilization in terms of two groups or cities one was the city of man the
other the city of God Te city of man for Augustine consisted of the
empires established by human strength and greatness like the Roman
Empire Human empires while powerful were bound up in time and
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
ultimately doomed to fall But the city of God consisted of those who
were faithful to Christ that is the church which for Augustine equated
to the kingdom of God on earth Te city of God would be persecutedby the city of man but ultimately will prevail when Christ returns and
judges the living and the dead at the great white throne (Revelation 104862698308810486251048625-
1048625852021) Te millennium described in Revelation according to Augustine is
not to be taken literally but allegorically Te thousand years in Reve-
lation 1048626983088 denote a long and indefinite period of timemdashthus Augustinersquos
eschatological position is termed amillennialism (ldquono millenniumrdquo no
ldquothousand yearsrdquo) Since his resurrection Christ reigns over his peoplethe church and Satanrsquos binding takes place from Christrsquos resurrection
until the second advent At that time Satan will be released only to meet
his final destruction in the lake of fire Te city of man is doomed to
follow him there16
Te upshot of Augustinersquos view of history is that even though Satan is
bound during the age of the church ills resulting from Adamrsquos fall still
persist Tis condition is not going to change at least not until Christrsquosreturn at the end of the age If evils can still wreak their desolations upon
humans even while Satanrsquos power is muted then surely nothing can be
done by mere mortals to improve their lot It is vain for humans to try
and effect hope in this transitory and decaying world Te only answer
is to wait for a better world in the aerlife Tis was the prevailing view
of things in western Europe during the roughly thousand-year period
from the fall of Rome to the sixteenth century
Te Augustinian view of history was supplanted by a new view one
that came about as a result of the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth
century A general reconsideration of the meaning and authority of the
Bible was central to the project of the Reformation Included in this re-
consideration was a new interpretation of the book of Revelation and
with it the meaning of the millennium Perhaps Revelation pointed to
an actual thousand-year period in the not-too-distant future when true
Christian civilization would reign triumphantly over the forces of the
devil and the Antichrist Could it be possible that God would actively
use the nations to bring about this triumph If so then it would seem
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520201048631
that humanity could bring about the culmination of history aer all In-
stead of forlornly waiting around for Jesus to return humans could effect
the glorious reign of Christ by their own efforts of cooperating withdivine providence as God actively and purposefully brought about the
culmination of history
Many Protestants saw the Reformation as the major turning point in
Godrsquos program for history Te Reformation struck a death blow to the
Roman papacy which English Protestants in particular considered to be
the Antichrist And what a mystery was revealed when America was
discovered in 104862585202010486331048626 a land hidden by providence until the very eve of theReformation Te discovery of America and the dawn of the Refor-
mation occurring at roughly the same time appeared to many Protes-
tants as the beginning of the end of an old order uveson described it
this way ldquoMankind might be over the hump at last Tus the Refor-
mation became the assurance that the long era of superstition injustice
and poverty was ending and that light was breaking over the world A
great age of achievement had begunrdquo17
In the millennial view of history as opposed to the Augustinian view
progress was the defining factor in the human experience18 Te events
of Revelation were not allegories but were literal events taking place at
a future date but nevertheless in real time Tis notion comes through
in the apostle Johnrsquos recounting of Jesusrsquo command to write down every-
thing in his apocalyptic visionmdashldquothe things that you have seen those
that are and those that are to take place aer thisrdquo (Revelation 104862510486251048633) If
anything Jesus seems to be referring to literal ldquothingsrdquo to be ldquoseenrdquo with
the eyesmdashthings in the past present and future time It hardly seemed
possible especially to Protestant thinkers that we will consider shortly
that Jesus could be referring to an allegorized set of circumstances
As the Reformation opened and developed in the sixteenth century
the New England colonies were established in the seventeenth and the
colonial wars in America culminated in the mid-eighteenth the lines
were clearly drawn Te New England Puritans (and most of English
Protestantism) considered the French Roman Catholic kingdom to be
the physical manifestation of the forces of the Antichrist Specifically the
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
Te theological roots of the tree of American exceptionalism go deeper
and are more intricate than the other roots supporting it You mightsay that theology is the taproot of the tree anchoring it firmly to the
ground But exceptionalism is supported by a system of roots Let us
move on from theology and now consider the political roots of the
concept of exceptionalism
Te United States originated in the Revolution as a political union of
independent states Tis union coalesced into a federal republic under
the Constitution which was signed in 1048625104863110486321048631 and went into effect in 1048625104863110486321048633But the union of the thirteen original states did not emerge out of thin
air Te states joined together around the common cause of indepen-
dence from Britain and that cause was undergirded by the liberal ideas
expressed in the Declaration of Independence And the ideas expressed
in the Declaration had their origins even further back Te Western
philosophical tradition has included liberal ideas for a long time but for
our purposes here let us trace those liberal ideas back to England during
its tempestuous seventeenth century
Te English Civil War (104862510486308520201048626ndash104862510486308520211048625) and the Glorious Revolution (1048625104863010486321048632)
were two crucibles in English history that ultimately helped shape that
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
Aer Charles was executed the monarchy was replaced by the Pro-
tectorate under Cromwell until just aer his death In 104862510486301048630983088 the English
monarchy was restored with the coronation of Charles II who ruleduntil 104862510486301048632852021 When Charlesrsquos son James II ascended the throne it was said
that his desire was to return England to Roman Catholicism and rule as
an absolute monarch Parliament was in no mood to take chances with
James and the body invited William of Orange and his wife Mary
(Jamesrsquos Protestant daughter) to cross the Channel land in England and
replace James Te catch was that as monarchs they would have to
recognize the supremacy of Parliament Tey agreed and landed inEngland with fourteen thousand soldiers on November 852021 1048625104863010486321048632 James
having little support and thus no real ability to control events fled for
his life to France Te ascension of William and Mary to the throne in
1048625104863010486321048632 is known as the Glorious Revolutionmdasha bloodless affair unlike the
Civil War
John Locke (104862510486308520191048626ndash10486251048631983088852020) wrote his famous wo reatises on Civil Gov-
ernment which was published in 104862510486301048633983088 largely to bring credibility to theactions of Parliament particularly in inviting the rule of William and
Mary Locke said that governments ruled by the consent of the people
Rulers possessed political power but they possessed it in trust from the
people and they maintained their power by protecting the basic rights
bestowed on them by nature at birth Tus rulers do not have the power
to rule arbitrarily Rulers may only legitimately exercise their power in
such as way as to protect the natural rights of the individual Locke wrote
ldquo[Power] can have no other end or measure when in the hands of the
Magistrate but to preserve the Members of that Society in their Lives
Liberties and Possessions and so cannot be an Absolute Arbitrary power
over their Lives and Fortunes which are as much as possible to be pre-
servedrdquo21 Locke also penned his famous Letter Concerning oleration
which advocated for religious toleration According to Locke the state
only possessed power over temporal affairs It had no jurisdiction over
the individual conscience
Events in England leading up to the Glorious Revolution led to the
formation of two strong political parties oriented around the liberal
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520211048625
ideas articulated by Locke in his wo reatises namely the ories and
the Whigs Te ories were conservatives who favored aristocratic priv-
ilege a strong bond between ecclesiastical and civil authority and thepassive obedience of subjects to the politicalecclesiastical order Te
Whigs were firmly against these positions Teir liberalism won the day
in the Glorious Revolution of 1048625104863010486321048632 Seventeenth-century thinkers such
as John Locke Algernon Sidney John Milton and James Harrington ar-
ticulated liberal views such as religious toleration liberty of the press
parliamentary supremacy and rule by consent Later thinkers influenced
by these and other earlier figures sharpened and focused liberal ideas inthe face of what they saw as overreach by George IIrsquos prime minister
Robert Walpole in the 104862510486311048626983088s In particular John renchard and Tomas
Gordon advocated for religious freedom and individual rights in their
104862510486311048626983088ndash104862510486311048626852019 collection of essays titled Catorsquos Letters Tey represented well
the ideas of Real Whig ideology a body of thought that stressed the most
sweeping liberalism yet seen Real Whig thought as expressed by
renchard and Gordon was popular not only in England but also inAmerica especially during the 104862510486311048630983088s and 104862510486311048631983088s During these years Real
Whig thought became the driving intellectual force of the Revolution
Te Real Whigs took Lockersquos views on toleration to their logical terminus
advocating for complete religious freedom Religious freedom became a
hallmark of the writings of renchard and Gordon for example Pauline
Maier wrote of Real Whig political philosophy that ldquothe [American]
revolutionary movement takes on consistency and form only against the
backdrop of English revolutionary traditionrdquo22 And the writings of
renchard and Gordon were those that were among the most influential
Real Whig writings on this side of the Atlantic
How does Real Whig ideology fit into American exceptionalism Te
answer is simplemdashit is manifested through what Mark Noll called
ldquoChristian republicanismrdquo23 Christian republicanism is an amalgamation
of Real Whig ideology and Protestant theology occurring in American
literature and rhetoric in the years leading up to and during the Revo-
lution Te unifying themes between these two strands of thought are
freedom of religious dissension a reaction against ecclesiastical privilege
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
and a millennialism that saw America as Godrsquos chosen nation to bring
about the final defeat of the forces of the Antichrist
Christian republicans in America like Jonathan Mayhew of Bostonsought to biblically justify rebellion against the mother country May-
hewrsquos sermon ldquoA Discourse Concerning Unlimited Submissionrdquo which
he gave on January 852019983088 10486251048631852021983088 (the 10486259830881048625st anniversary of the execution of
Charles I) defended the justice of the Puritansrsquo overthrow of Charles I
Romans 10486258520191048625-852021 served as Mayhewrsquos text and he preached that Charlesrsquos
overthrow was entirely just In his letter to the Romans Paul was not
writing about submitting to a government that was evil but a gov-ernment that was a ldquoservant for your goodrdquo (Romans 1048625852019852020) Just as it is
entirely right for a child or a servant to disobey a parent or a master who
rules them unjustly a people who resist the rule of a tyrant are innocent
of wrongdoing Mayhew appealed to the principle of self-defense heremdasha
people have the right even the responsibility to protect themselves
against a tyrant just as the people did in 104862510486308520201048633 when they executed
Charles I Mayhew thundered
A PEOPLE really oppressed to a great degree by their sovereign cannot
well be insensible when they are so oppressed Nor would they have
any reason to mourn if some HERCULES should appear to dispatch
himmdashFor a nation thus abused to arise unanimously and to resist their
prince even to the dethroning him is not criminal but a reasonable use
of the means and the only means which God has put in their power for
mutual and self-defence24
Mayhew serves as an important figure in the years leading up to the
Revolution for several reasons First Mayhew was a New England
preacher heavily influenced by Real Whig political thought like the idea
that rulers rule by the peoplersquos consent Second he was a Christian who
accepted republican ideas despite the fact that as Mark Noll has pointed
out republicanism is at odds with key aspects of Christian theological
doctrine25 And third Mayhew like many others in his generation bap-
tized Real Whig ideas in the waters of biblical theology Mayhew is rep-
resentative of a Christian republicanism that began occurring in the
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520211048631
resented a turning point in history and was destined to advance human
civilization to the millennial reign of Christ as the eighteenth century
progressed Abraham Keteltas preaching in 1048625104863110486311048631 to the Presbyterians inNewburyport Massachusetts equated the cause of America with the
cause of God Americarsquos cause against Great Britain was the cause of
liberty justice rule of law and individual rightsmdashnot only for those who
were living but also for those generations yet to be born
Americarsquos cause for Keteltas was the cause of good against evil As
such it was Godrsquos own cause And Americans could take comfort in the
fact that God will be faithful to champion the American cause becausein doing so he was safeguarding his own cause Keteltas did not envision
the struggle with Britain as merely a political struggle He saw it as part
of the struggle of good against evil that had been going on since the fall
in the Garden of Eden Not only that he saw the Revolution as part of
the same cosmic struggle that Christ himself engaged in with the devil
in his Passion ldquoOur causerdquo wrote Keteltas ldquois not only good but it has
been prudently conducted it is the cause of truth against error andfalsehood the cause of righteousness against iniquity It is the cause
of reformation against popery In short it is the cause of heaven
against hellmdashof the kind Parent of the universe against the prince of
darkness and the destroyer of the human racerdquo31
Keteltas preached this sermon from Psalm 104863185202010486261048626mdashldquoArise O God
plead thine own causerdquo (983147983146983158) His sermon clearly reveals a particular
exegetical method guided by millennialism He envisioned the American
colonies as being engaged in the apocalyptic struggle of the forces of
Christ against the forces of the devil Samuel Sherwood is yet another
example of a preacher reading Scripture and the events of his time in this
way His 1048625104863110486311048630 sermon ldquoTe Churchrsquos Flight into the Wildernessrdquo is one
of the most strikingly millenarian sermons of the time His text was
Revelation 104862510486261048625852020-1048625104863132 and his exegesis is strongly typological Sherwoodrsquos
typology not surprisingly is informed by millenarianism And what is
further interesting about Sherwoodrsquos exegesis of the text is how he con-
flated the church with the American colonies For instance Sherwood
preached that God brought the church into North America a land of
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
o sum up the ideology of American exceptionalism has a multistruc-
tured intellectual root system theological political exegetical and his-
toriographical By the early nineteenth century Americans largely took
it for granted that their nation represented a break from the past and a
decisive turn toward a future defined by progress and advancement And
millions of people emigrated to the United States in the nineteenthcentury to tie their own personal destinies to that of America whose
destiny seemed poised to advance from triumph to triumph
A civil religion with exceptionalism as one of its essential aspects
developed aer the Revolution Te Declaration of Independence was
one of the foundational documents in a civil religious canon that was
taking shape Te Declaration made objective transcendent authori-
tative statements about the nature of humanity the role of the gov-ernment in relation to the people it represented and Godrsquos having estab-
lished a particular order that could not be thwarted or overturned Te
Declaration was followed by other documents that formed the civil reli-
gious canon the Constitution the Bill of Rights Washingtonrsquos Farewell
Address and others
As the nation grew in numbers and in territorial size between the Lou-
isiana Purchase of 10486251048632983088852019 and the Mexican War ending in 104862510486328520201048632 Americanexceptionalism divided into two articulations One of these articulations
was more strongly religious and more certain of Godrsquos providence con-
cerning the future of the United States and its status alongside other na-
tions It was also decidedly racist Te other articulation was more ag-
nostic concerning the providence of God but was nonetheless certain
that God had set it apart to be a moral example to the rest of the world
America could show other nations what a nation conceived in liberty
might look like how it might behave and what ideals it might pursue for
the benefit in theory if not in practice of all humanity
Americans struggled to figure out their place in the nineteenth century
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 1048630852019
aer their break with their mother country Great Britain Tey looked
for their place not only in the world doing ldquoall other Acts and Tings
which Independent States may of right dordquo as the Declaration of Inde-pendence suggested but also their place in human history As they
struggled they did many things that seem strange to us in the twenty-
first century William Walker is an example of such a person But
someone who most Americans have come to admire and acknowledge
as the greatest president ever to hold the officemdashAbraham Lincolnmdashwas
motivated by the idea of American exceptionalism as Walker was Te
tree of American exceptionalism fed by its roots was taking its shape inthe antebellum period during the nineteenth century It continued to
grow and flourish well into the twentieth and into our own century It
has yet to cease growing and developing as a civil religious idea that
Americans continually look to for guidance as they try and make sense
of their significance in space and time
F983151983154 F983157983154983156983144983141983154 R983141983137983140983145983150983143Bercovitch Sacvan Te Puritan Origins of the American Self 104862510486331048631852021 Reprint New
Haven Yale University Press 104862698308810486251048625
Gamble Richard M In Search of the City on a Hill Te Making and Unmaking
of an American Myth London Continuum 104862698308810486251048626
Greene Jack P Te Intellectual Construction of America Exceptionalism and
Identity from 1048625104862810486331048626 to 1048625104863210486241048624 Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press
104862510486331048633852019McKenna George Te Puritan Origins of American Patriotism New Haven
Yale University Press 10486269830889830881048631
Stout Harry S Te New England Soul Preaching and Religious Culture in Co-
lonial New England 1048625104863310486321048630 Reprint Oxford Oxford University Press 104862698308810486251048626
uveson Ernest Lee Redeemer Nation Te Idea of Americarsquos Millennial Role
Chicago University of Chicago Press 1048625104863310486301048632
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 852020852021
Lord much as John the Baptist was to fulfill Isaiah 852020983088852019-852021 when he went
into the wilderness to prepare Israel for the coming of the Christ As
Bercovitch wrote ldquoTe remnant that fled Babylon in 10486251048630852019983088 set sail for thenew promised land especially reserved by God for them Unmis-
takably the New World was part of the history of salvationrdquo14
Millennialism Te third aspect of the Puritan theological structure I
am identifying is the notion that history is progressing toward a Christian
utopia that God is using nations to bring about his kingdom on earthmdash
and as Ernest Lee uveson wrote ldquoTe finger of Providence had pointed
to the young republic of the Westrdquo15 Te millennium is the biblicalthousand-year reign of Christ described in Revelation 1048626983088 to begin aer
the second advent Satan will be bound and imprisoned Christ will per-
sonally reign on the earth and his church will reign with him Te mil-
lennium precedes the final and absolute defeat of Satan the creation of
the new heaven and the new earth and the ushering in of the eternal age
Millennialism is a view of history that sees humankind progressing
toward the second coming and the personal reign of the glorified ChristAccording to this view humans actually take part in laying the
groundwork for the millennial kingdom through obedience spreading
the gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth and establishing the
Christian ethical ideal through the expansion of Christian civilization
Further Godrsquos agents in preparing the world for the millennium are the
nations and particularly those nations that represent him faithfully o
the Puritans and later the American colonists as a whole America was
the millennial nation
Prior to the Reformation Western civilization had not understood
history to be progressing toward any particular telos through the active
agency of human beings During the Middle Ages and through the Ren-
aissance Augustine of Hippo (AD 852019852021852020ndash852020852019983088) provided the West with the
prevailing view of history in his work Te City of God Augustine cast
civilization in terms of two groups or cities one was the city of man the
other the city of God Te city of man for Augustine consisted of the
empires established by human strength and greatness like the Roman
Empire Human empires while powerful were bound up in time and
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
ultimately doomed to fall But the city of God consisted of those who
were faithful to Christ that is the church which for Augustine equated
to the kingdom of God on earth Te city of God would be persecutedby the city of man but ultimately will prevail when Christ returns and
judges the living and the dead at the great white throne (Revelation 104862698308810486251048625-
1048625852021) Te millennium described in Revelation according to Augustine is
not to be taken literally but allegorically Te thousand years in Reve-
lation 1048626983088 denote a long and indefinite period of timemdashthus Augustinersquos
eschatological position is termed amillennialism (ldquono millenniumrdquo no
ldquothousand yearsrdquo) Since his resurrection Christ reigns over his peoplethe church and Satanrsquos binding takes place from Christrsquos resurrection
until the second advent At that time Satan will be released only to meet
his final destruction in the lake of fire Te city of man is doomed to
follow him there16
Te upshot of Augustinersquos view of history is that even though Satan is
bound during the age of the church ills resulting from Adamrsquos fall still
persist Tis condition is not going to change at least not until Christrsquosreturn at the end of the age If evils can still wreak their desolations upon
humans even while Satanrsquos power is muted then surely nothing can be
done by mere mortals to improve their lot It is vain for humans to try
and effect hope in this transitory and decaying world Te only answer
is to wait for a better world in the aerlife Tis was the prevailing view
of things in western Europe during the roughly thousand-year period
from the fall of Rome to the sixteenth century
Te Augustinian view of history was supplanted by a new view one
that came about as a result of the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth
century A general reconsideration of the meaning and authority of the
Bible was central to the project of the Reformation Included in this re-
consideration was a new interpretation of the book of Revelation and
with it the meaning of the millennium Perhaps Revelation pointed to
an actual thousand-year period in the not-too-distant future when true
Christian civilization would reign triumphantly over the forces of the
devil and the Antichrist Could it be possible that God would actively
use the nations to bring about this triumph If so then it would seem
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520201048631
that humanity could bring about the culmination of history aer all In-
stead of forlornly waiting around for Jesus to return humans could effect
the glorious reign of Christ by their own efforts of cooperating withdivine providence as God actively and purposefully brought about the
culmination of history
Many Protestants saw the Reformation as the major turning point in
Godrsquos program for history Te Reformation struck a death blow to the
Roman papacy which English Protestants in particular considered to be
the Antichrist And what a mystery was revealed when America was
discovered in 104862585202010486331048626 a land hidden by providence until the very eve of theReformation Te discovery of America and the dawn of the Refor-
mation occurring at roughly the same time appeared to many Protes-
tants as the beginning of the end of an old order uveson described it
this way ldquoMankind might be over the hump at last Tus the Refor-
mation became the assurance that the long era of superstition injustice
and poverty was ending and that light was breaking over the world A
great age of achievement had begunrdquo17
In the millennial view of history as opposed to the Augustinian view
progress was the defining factor in the human experience18 Te events
of Revelation were not allegories but were literal events taking place at
a future date but nevertheless in real time Tis notion comes through
in the apostle Johnrsquos recounting of Jesusrsquo command to write down every-
thing in his apocalyptic visionmdashldquothe things that you have seen those
that are and those that are to take place aer thisrdquo (Revelation 104862510486251048633) If
anything Jesus seems to be referring to literal ldquothingsrdquo to be ldquoseenrdquo with
the eyesmdashthings in the past present and future time It hardly seemed
possible especially to Protestant thinkers that we will consider shortly
that Jesus could be referring to an allegorized set of circumstances
As the Reformation opened and developed in the sixteenth century
the New England colonies were established in the seventeenth and the
colonial wars in America culminated in the mid-eighteenth the lines
were clearly drawn Te New England Puritans (and most of English
Protestantism) considered the French Roman Catholic kingdom to be
the physical manifestation of the forces of the Antichrist Specifically the
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
Te theological roots of the tree of American exceptionalism go deeper
and are more intricate than the other roots supporting it You mightsay that theology is the taproot of the tree anchoring it firmly to the
ground But exceptionalism is supported by a system of roots Let us
move on from theology and now consider the political roots of the
concept of exceptionalism
Te United States originated in the Revolution as a political union of
independent states Tis union coalesced into a federal republic under
the Constitution which was signed in 1048625104863110486321048631 and went into effect in 1048625104863110486321048633But the union of the thirteen original states did not emerge out of thin
air Te states joined together around the common cause of indepen-
dence from Britain and that cause was undergirded by the liberal ideas
expressed in the Declaration of Independence And the ideas expressed
in the Declaration had their origins even further back Te Western
philosophical tradition has included liberal ideas for a long time but for
our purposes here let us trace those liberal ideas back to England during
its tempestuous seventeenth century
Te English Civil War (104862510486308520201048626ndash104862510486308520211048625) and the Glorious Revolution (1048625104863010486321048632)
were two crucibles in English history that ultimately helped shape that
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
Aer Charles was executed the monarchy was replaced by the Pro-
tectorate under Cromwell until just aer his death In 104862510486301048630983088 the English
monarchy was restored with the coronation of Charles II who ruleduntil 104862510486301048632852021 When Charlesrsquos son James II ascended the throne it was said
that his desire was to return England to Roman Catholicism and rule as
an absolute monarch Parliament was in no mood to take chances with
James and the body invited William of Orange and his wife Mary
(Jamesrsquos Protestant daughter) to cross the Channel land in England and
replace James Te catch was that as monarchs they would have to
recognize the supremacy of Parliament Tey agreed and landed inEngland with fourteen thousand soldiers on November 852021 1048625104863010486321048632 James
having little support and thus no real ability to control events fled for
his life to France Te ascension of William and Mary to the throne in
1048625104863010486321048632 is known as the Glorious Revolutionmdasha bloodless affair unlike the
Civil War
John Locke (104862510486308520191048626ndash10486251048631983088852020) wrote his famous wo reatises on Civil Gov-
ernment which was published in 104862510486301048633983088 largely to bring credibility to theactions of Parliament particularly in inviting the rule of William and
Mary Locke said that governments ruled by the consent of the people
Rulers possessed political power but they possessed it in trust from the
people and they maintained their power by protecting the basic rights
bestowed on them by nature at birth Tus rulers do not have the power
to rule arbitrarily Rulers may only legitimately exercise their power in
such as way as to protect the natural rights of the individual Locke wrote
ldquo[Power] can have no other end or measure when in the hands of the
Magistrate but to preserve the Members of that Society in their Lives
Liberties and Possessions and so cannot be an Absolute Arbitrary power
over their Lives and Fortunes which are as much as possible to be pre-
servedrdquo21 Locke also penned his famous Letter Concerning oleration
which advocated for religious toleration According to Locke the state
only possessed power over temporal affairs It had no jurisdiction over
the individual conscience
Events in England leading up to the Glorious Revolution led to the
formation of two strong political parties oriented around the liberal
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520211048625
ideas articulated by Locke in his wo reatises namely the ories and
the Whigs Te ories were conservatives who favored aristocratic priv-
ilege a strong bond between ecclesiastical and civil authority and thepassive obedience of subjects to the politicalecclesiastical order Te
Whigs were firmly against these positions Teir liberalism won the day
in the Glorious Revolution of 1048625104863010486321048632 Seventeenth-century thinkers such
as John Locke Algernon Sidney John Milton and James Harrington ar-
ticulated liberal views such as religious toleration liberty of the press
parliamentary supremacy and rule by consent Later thinkers influenced
by these and other earlier figures sharpened and focused liberal ideas inthe face of what they saw as overreach by George IIrsquos prime minister
Robert Walpole in the 104862510486311048626983088s In particular John renchard and Tomas
Gordon advocated for religious freedom and individual rights in their
104862510486311048626983088ndash104862510486311048626852019 collection of essays titled Catorsquos Letters Tey represented well
the ideas of Real Whig ideology a body of thought that stressed the most
sweeping liberalism yet seen Real Whig thought as expressed by
renchard and Gordon was popular not only in England but also inAmerica especially during the 104862510486311048630983088s and 104862510486311048631983088s During these years Real
Whig thought became the driving intellectual force of the Revolution
Te Real Whigs took Lockersquos views on toleration to their logical terminus
advocating for complete religious freedom Religious freedom became a
hallmark of the writings of renchard and Gordon for example Pauline
Maier wrote of Real Whig political philosophy that ldquothe [American]
revolutionary movement takes on consistency and form only against the
backdrop of English revolutionary traditionrdquo22 And the writings of
renchard and Gordon were those that were among the most influential
Real Whig writings on this side of the Atlantic
How does Real Whig ideology fit into American exceptionalism Te
answer is simplemdashit is manifested through what Mark Noll called
ldquoChristian republicanismrdquo23 Christian republicanism is an amalgamation
of Real Whig ideology and Protestant theology occurring in American
literature and rhetoric in the years leading up to and during the Revo-
lution Te unifying themes between these two strands of thought are
freedom of religious dissension a reaction against ecclesiastical privilege
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
and a millennialism that saw America as Godrsquos chosen nation to bring
about the final defeat of the forces of the Antichrist
Christian republicans in America like Jonathan Mayhew of Bostonsought to biblically justify rebellion against the mother country May-
hewrsquos sermon ldquoA Discourse Concerning Unlimited Submissionrdquo which
he gave on January 852019983088 10486251048631852021983088 (the 10486259830881048625st anniversary of the execution of
Charles I) defended the justice of the Puritansrsquo overthrow of Charles I
Romans 10486258520191048625-852021 served as Mayhewrsquos text and he preached that Charlesrsquos
overthrow was entirely just In his letter to the Romans Paul was not
writing about submitting to a government that was evil but a gov-ernment that was a ldquoservant for your goodrdquo (Romans 1048625852019852020) Just as it is
entirely right for a child or a servant to disobey a parent or a master who
rules them unjustly a people who resist the rule of a tyrant are innocent
of wrongdoing Mayhew appealed to the principle of self-defense heremdasha
people have the right even the responsibility to protect themselves
against a tyrant just as the people did in 104862510486308520201048633 when they executed
Charles I Mayhew thundered
A PEOPLE really oppressed to a great degree by their sovereign cannot
well be insensible when they are so oppressed Nor would they have
any reason to mourn if some HERCULES should appear to dispatch
himmdashFor a nation thus abused to arise unanimously and to resist their
prince even to the dethroning him is not criminal but a reasonable use
of the means and the only means which God has put in their power for
mutual and self-defence24
Mayhew serves as an important figure in the years leading up to the
Revolution for several reasons First Mayhew was a New England
preacher heavily influenced by Real Whig political thought like the idea
that rulers rule by the peoplersquos consent Second he was a Christian who
accepted republican ideas despite the fact that as Mark Noll has pointed
out republicanism is at odds with key aspects of Christian theological
doctrine25 And third Mayhew like many others in his generation bap-
tized Real Whig ideas in the waters of biblical theology Mayhew is rep-
resentative of a Christian republicanism that began occurring in the
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520211048631
resented a turning point in history and was destined to advance human
civilization to the millennial reign of Christ as the eighteenth century
progressed Abraham Keteltas preaching in 1048625104863110486311048631 to the Presbyterians inNewburyport Massachusetts equated the cause of America with the
cause of God Americarsquos cause against Great Britain was the cause of
liberty justice rule of law and individual rightsmdashnot only for those who
were living but also for those generations yet to be born
Americarsquos cause for Keteltas was the cause of good against evil As
such it was Godrsquos own cause And Americans could take comfort in the
fact that God will be faithful to champion the American cause becausein doing so he was safeguarding his own cause Keteltas did not envision
the struggle with Britain as merely a political struggle He saw it as part
of the struggle of good against evil that had been going on since the fall
in the Garden of Eden Not only that he saw the Revolution as part of
the same cosmic struggle that Christ himself engaged in with the devil
in his Passion ldquoOur causerdquo wrote Keteltas ldquois not only good but it has
been prudently conducted it is the cause of truth against error andfalsehood the cause of righteousness against iniquity It is the cause
of reformation against popery In short it is the cause of heaven
against hellmdashof the kind Parent of the universe against the prince of
darkness and the destroyer of the human racerdquo31
Keteltas preached this sermon from Psalm 104863185202010486261048626mdashldquoArise O God
plead thine own causerdquo (983147983146983158) His sermon clearly reveals a particular
exegetical method guided by millennialism He envisioned the American
colonies as being engaged in the apocalyptic struggle of the forces of
Christ against the forces of the devil Samuel Sherwood is yet another
example of a preacher reading Scripture and the events of his time in this
way His 1048625104863110486311048630 sermon ldquoTe Churchrsquos Flight into the Wildernessrdquo is one
of the most strikingly millenarian sermons of the time His text was
Revelation 104862510486261048625852020-1048625104863132 and his exegesis is strongly typological Sherwoodrsquos
typology not surprisingly is informed by millenarianism And what is
further interesting about Sherwoodrsquos exegesis of the text is how he con-
flated the church with the American colonies For instance Sherwood
preached that God brought the church into North America a land of
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
o sum up the ideology of American exceptionalism has a multistruc-
tured intellectual root system theological political exegetical and his-
toriographical By the early nineteenth century Americans largely took
it for granted that their nation represented a break from the past and a
decisive turn toward a future defined by progress and advancement And
millions of people emigrated to the United States in the nineteenthcentury to tie their own personal destinies to that of America whose
destiny seemed poised to advance from triumph to triumph
A civil religion with exceptionalism as one of its essential aspects
developed aer the Revolution Te Declaration of Independence was
one of the foundational documents in a civil religious canon that was
taking shape Te Declaration made objective transcendent authori-
tative statements about the nature of humanity the role of the gov-ernment in relation to the people it represented and Godrsquos having estab-
lished a particular order that could not be thwarted or overturned Te
Declaration was followed by other documents that formed the civil reli-
gious canon the Constitution the Bill of Rights Washingtonrsquos Farewell
Address and others
As the nation grew in numbers and in territorial size between the Lou-
isiana Purchase of 10486251048632983088852019 and the Mexican War ending in 104862510486328520201048632 Americanexceptionalism divided into two articulations One of these articulations
was more strongly religious and more certain of Godrsquos providence con-
cerning the future of the United States and its status alongside other na-
tions It was also decidedly racist Te other articulation was more ag-
nostic concerning the providence of God but was nonetheless certain
that God had set it apart to be a moral example to the rest of the world
America could show other nations what a nation conceived in liberty
might look like how it might behave and what ideals it might pursue for
the benefit in theory if not in practice of all humanity
Americans struggled to figure out their place in the nineteenth century
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 1048630852019
aer their break with their mother country Great Britain Tey looked
for their place not only in the world doing ldquoall other Acts and Tings
which Independent States may of right dordquo as the Declaration of Inde-pendence suggested but also their place in human history As they
struggled they did many things that seem strange to us in the twenty-
first century William Walker is an example of such a person But
someone who most Americans have come to admire and acknowledge
as the greatest president ever to hold the officemdashAbraham Lincolnmdashwas
motivated by the idea of American exceptionalism as Walker was Te
tree of American exceptionalism fed by its roots was taking its shape inthe antebellum period during the nineteenth century It continued to
grow and flourish well into the twentieth and into our own century It
has yet to cease growing and developing as a civil religious idea that
Americans continually look to for guidance as they try and make sense
of their significance in space and time
F983151983154 F983157983154983156983144983141983154 R983141983137983140983145983150983143Bercovitch Sacvan Te Puritan Origins of the American Self 104862510486331048631852021 Reprint New
Haven Yale University Press 104862698308810486251048625
Gamble Richard M In Search of the City on a Hill Te Making and Unmaking
of an American Myth London Continuum 104862698308810486251048626
Greene Jack P Te Intellectual Construction of America Exceptionalism and
Identity from 1048625104862810486331048626 to 1048625104863210486241048624 Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press
104862510486331048633852019McKenna George Te Puritan Origins of American Patriotism New Haven
Yale University Press 10486269830889830881048631
Stout Harry S Te New England Soul Preaching and Religious Culture in Co-
lonial New England 1048625104863310486321048630 Reprint Oxford Oxford University Press 104862698308810486251048626
uveson Ernest Lee Redeemer Nation Te Idea of Americarsquos Millennial Role
Chicago University of Chicago Press 1048625104863310486301048632
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 852020852021
Lord much as John the Baptist was to fulfill Isaiah 852020983088852019-852021 when he went
into the wilderness to prepare Israel for the coming of the Christ As
Bercovitch wrote ldquoTe remnant that fled Babylon in 10486251048630852019983088 set sail for thenew promised land especially reserved by God for them Unmis-
takably the New World was part of the history of salvationrdquo14
Millennialism Te third aspect of the Puritan theological structure I
am identifying is the notion that history is progressing toward a Christian
utopia that God is using nations to bring about his kingdom on earthmdash
and as Ernest Lee uveson wrote ldquoTe finger of Providence had pointed
to the young republic of the Westrdquo15 Te millennium is the biblicalthousand-year reign of Christ described in Revelation 1048626983088 to begin aer
the second advent Satan will be bound and imprisoned Christ will per-
sonally reign on the earth and his church will reign with him Te mil-
lennium precedes the final and absolute defeat of Satan the creation of
the new heaven and the new earth and the ushering in of the eternal age
Millennialism is a view of history that sees humankind progressing
toward the second coming and the personal reign of the glorified ChristAccording to this view humans actually take part in laying the
groundwork for the millennial kingdom through obedience spreading
the gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth and establishing the
Christian ethical ideal through the expansion of Christian civilization
Further Godrsquos agents in preparing the world for the millennium are the
nations and particularly those nations that represent him faithfully o
the Puritans and later the American colonists as a whole America was
the millennial nation
Prior to the Reformation Western civilization had not understood
history to be progressing toward any particular telos through the active
agency of human beings During the Middle Ages and through the Ren-
aissance Augustine of Hippo (AD 852019852021852020ndash852020852019983088) provided the West with the
prevailing view of history in his work Te City of God Augustine cast
civilization in terms of two groups or cities one was the city of man the
other the city of God Te city of man for Augustine consisted of the
empires established by human strength and greatness like the Roman
Empire Human empires while powerful were bound up in time and
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
ultimately doomed to fall But the city of God consisted of those who
were faithful to Christ that is the church which for Augustine equated
to the kingdom of God on earth Te city of God would be persecutedby the city of man but ultimately will prevail when Christ returns and
judges the living and the dead at the great white throne (Revelation 104862698308810486251048625-
1048625852021) Te millennium described in Revelation according to Augustine is
not to be taken literally but allegorically Te thousand years in Reve-
lation 1048626983088 denote a long and indefinite period of timemdashthus Augustinersquos
eschatological position is termed amillennialism (ldquono millenniumrdquo no
ldquothousand yearsrdquo) Since his resurrection Christ reigns over his peoplethe church and Satanrsquos binding takes place from Christrsquos resurrection
until the second advent At that time Satan will be released only to meet
his final destruction in the lake of fire Te city of man is doomed to
follow him there16
Te upshot of Augustinersquos view of history is that even though Satan is
bound during the age of the church ills resulting from Adamrsquos fall still
persist Tis condition is not going to change at least not until Christrsquosreturn at the end of the age If evils can still wreak their desolations upon
humans even while Satanrsquos power is muted then surely nothing can be
done by mere mortals to improve their lot It is vain for humans to try
and effect hope in this transitory and decaying world Te only answer
is to wait for a better world in the aerlife Tis was the prevailing view
of things in western Europe during the roughly thousand-year period
from the fall of Rome to the sixteenth century
Te Augustinian view of history was supplanted by a new view one
that came about as a result of the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth
century A general reconsideration of the meaning and authority of the
Bible was central to the project of the Reformation Included in this re-
consideration was a new interpretation of the book of Revelation and
with it the meaning of the millennium Perhaps Revelation pointed to
an actual thousand-year period in the not-too-distant future when true
Christian civilization would reign triumphantly over the forces of the
devil and the Antichrist Could it be possible that God would actively
use the nations to bring about this triumph If so then it would seem
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520201048631
that humanity could bring about the culmination of history aer all In-
stead of forlornly waiting around for Jesus to return humans could effect
the glorious reign of Christ by their own efforts of cooperating withdivine providence as God actively and purposefully brought about the
culmination of history
Many Protestants saw the Reformation as the major turning point in
Godrsquos program for history Te Reformation struck a death blow to the
Roman papacy which English Protestants in particular considered to be
the Antichrist And what a mystery was revealed when America was
discovered in 104862585202010486331048626 a land hidden by providence until the very eve of theReformation Te discovery of America and the dawn of the Refor-
mation occurring at roughly the same time appeared to many Protes-
tants as the beginning of the end of an old order uveson described it
this way ldquoMankind might be over the hump at last Tus the Refor-
mation became the assurance that the long era of superstition injustice
and poverty was ending and that light was breaking over the world A
great age of achievement had begunrdquo17
In the millennial view of history as opposed to the Augustinian view
progress was the defining factor in the human experience18 Te events
of Revelation were not allegories but were literal events taking place at
a future date but nevertheless in real time Tis notion comes through
in the apostle Johnrsquos recounting of Jesusrsquo command to write down every-
thing in his apocalyptic visionmdashldquothe things that you have seen those
that are and those that are to take place aer thisrdquo (Revelation 104862510486251048633) If
anything Jesus seems to be referring to literal ldquothingsrdquo to be ldquoseenrdquo with
the eyesmdashthings in the past present and future time It hardly seemed
possible especially to Protestant thinkers that we will consider shortly
that Jesus could be referring to an allegorized set of circumstances
As the Reformation opened and developed in the sixteenth century
the New England colonies were established in the seventeenth and the
colonial wars in America culminated in the mid-eighteenth the lines
were clearly drawn Te New England Puritans (and most of English
Protestantism) considered the French Roman Catholic kingdom to be
the physical manifestation of the forces of the Antichrist Specifically the
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
Te theological roots of the tree of American exceptionalism go deeper
and are more intricate than the other roots supporting it You mightsay that theology is the taproot of the tree anchoring it firmly to the
ground But exceptionalism is supported by a system of roots Let us
move on from theology and now consider the political roots of the
concept of exceptionalism
Te United States originated in the Revolution as a political union of
independent states Tis union coalesced into a federal republic under
the Constitution which was signed in 1048625104863110486321048631 and went into effect in 1048625104863110486321048633But the union of the thirteen original states did not emerge out of thin
air Te states joined together around the common cause of indepen-
dence from Britain and that cause was undergirded by the liberal ideas
expressed in the Declaration of Independence And the ideas expressed
in the Declaration had their origins even further back Te Western
philosophical tradition has included liberal ideas for a long time but for
our purposes here let us trace those liberal ideas back to England during
its tempestuous seventeenth century
Te English Civil War (104862510486308520201048626ndash104862510486308520211048625) and the Glorious Revolution (1048625104863010486321048632)
were two crucibles in English history that ultimately helped shape that
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
Aer Charles was executed the monarchy was replaced by the Pro-
tectorate under Cromwell until just aer his death In 104862510486301048630983088 the English
monarchy was restored with the coronation of Charles II who ruleduntil 104862510486301048632852021 When Charlesrsquos son James II ascended the throne it was said
that his desire was to return England to Roman Catholicism and rule as
an absolute monarch Parliament was in no mood to take chances with
James and the body invited William of Orange and his wife Mary
(Jamesrsquos Protestant daughter) to cross the Channel land in England and
replace James Te catch was that as monarchs they would have to
recognize the supremacy of Parliament Tey agreed and landed inEngland with fourteen thousand soldiers on November 852021 1048625104863010486321048632 James
having little support and thus no real ability to control events fled for
his life to France Te ascension of William and Mary to the throne in
1048625104863010486321048632 is known as the Glorious Revolutionmdasha bloodless affair unlike the
Civil War
John Locke (104862510486308520191048626ndash10486251048631983088852020) wrote his famous wo reatises on Civil Gov-
ernment which was published in 104862510486301048633983088 largely to bring credibility to theactions of Parliament particularly in inviting the rule of William and
Mary Locke said that governments ruled by the consent of the people
Rulers possessed political power but they possessed it in trust from the
people and they maintained their power by protecting the basic rights
bestowed on them by nature at birth Tus rulers do not have the power
to rule arbitrarily Rulers may only legitimately exercise their power in
such as way as to protect the natural rights of the individual Locke wrote
ldquo[Power] can have no other end or measure when in the hands of the
Magistrate but to preserve the Members of that Society in their Lives
Liberties and Possessions and so cannot be an Absolute Arbitrary power
over their Lives and Fortunes which are as much as possible to be pre-
servedrdquo21 Locke also penned his famous Letter Concerning oleration
which advocated for religious toleration According to Locke the state
only possessed power over temporal affairs It had no jurisdiction over
the individual conscience
Events in England leading up to the Glorious Revolution led to the
formation of two strong political parties oriented around the liberal
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520211048625
ideas articulated by Locke in his wo reatises namely the ories and
the Whigs Te ories were conservatives who favored aristocratic priv-
ilege a strong bond between ecclesiastical and civil authority and thepassive obedience of subjects to the politicalecclesiastical order Te
Whigs were firmly against these positions Teir liberalism won the day
in the Glorious Revolution of 1048625104863010486321048632 Seventeenth-century thinkers such
as John Locke Algernon Sidney John Milton and James Harrington ar-
ticulated liberal views such as religious toleration liberty of the press
parliamentary supremacy and rule by consent Later thinkers influenced
by these and other earlier figures sharpened and focused liberal ideas inthe face of what they saw as overreach by George IIrsquos prime minister
Robert Walpole in the 104862510486311048626983088s In particular John renchard and Tomas
Gordon advocated for religious freedom and individual rights in their
104862510486311048626983088ndash104862510486311048626852019 collection of essays titled Catorsquos Letters Tey represented well
the ideas of Real Whig ideology a body of thought that stressed the most
sweeping liberalism yet seen Real Whig thought as expressed by
renchard and Gordon was popular not only in England but also inAmerica especially during the 104862510486311048630983088s and 104862510486311048631983088s During these years Real
Whig thought became the driving intellectual force of the Revolution
Te Real Whigs took Lockersquos views on toleration to their logical terminus
advocating for complete religious freedom Religious freedom became a
hallmark of the writings of renchard and Gordon for example Pauline
Maier wrote of Real Whig political philosophy that ldquothe [American]
revolutionary movement takes on consistency and form only against the
backdrop of English revolutionary traditionrdquo22 And the writings of
renchard and Gordon were those that were among the most influential
Real Whig writings on this side of the Atlantic
How does Real Whig ideology fit into American exceptionalism Te
answer is simplemdashit is manifested through what Mark Noll called
ldquoChristian republicanismrdquo23 Christian republicanism is an amalgamation
of Real Whig ideology and Protestant theology occurring in American
literature and rhetoric in the years leading up to and during the Revo-
lution Te unifying themes between these two strands of thought are
freedom of religious dissension a reaction against ecclesiastical privilege
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
and a millennialism that saw America as Godrsquos chosen nation to bring
about the final defeat of the forces of the Antichrist
Christian republicans in America like Jonathan Mayhew of Bostonsought to biblically justify rebellion against the mother country May-
hewrsquos sermon ldquoA Discourse Concerning Unlimited Submissionrdquo which
he gave on January 852019983088 10486251048631852021983088 (the 10486259830881048625st anniversary of the execution of
Charles I) defended the justice of the Puritansrsquo overthrow of Charles I
Romans 10486258520191048625-852021 served as Mayhewrsquos text and he preached that Charlesrsquos
overthrow was entirely just In his letter to the Romans Paul was not
writing about submitting to a government that was evil but a gov-ernment that was a ldquoservant for your goodrdquo (Romans 1048625852019852020) Just as it is
entirely right for a child or a servant to disobey a parent or a master who
rules them unjustly a people who resist the rule of a tyrant are innocent
of wrongdoing Mayhew appealed to the principle of self-defense heremdasha
people have the right even the responsibility to protect themselves
against a tyrant just as the people did in 104862510486308520201048633 when they executed
Charles I Mayhew thundered
A PEOPLE really oppressed to a great degree by their sovereign cannot
well be insensible when they are so oppressed Nor would they have
any reason to mourn if some HERCULES should appear to dispatch
himmdashFor a nation thus abused to arise unanimously and to resist their
prince even to the dethroning him is not criminal but a reasonable use
of the means and the only means which God has put in their power for
mutual and self-defence24
Mayhew serves as an important figure in the years leading up to the
Revolution for several reasons First Mayhew was a New England
preacher heavily influenced by Real Whig political thought like the idea
that rulers rule by the peoplersquos consent Second he was a Christian who
accepted republican ideas despite the fact that as Mark Noll has pointed
out republicanism is at odds with key aspects of Christian theological
doctrine25 And third Mayhew like many others in his generation bap-
tized Real Whig ideas in the waters of biblical theology Mayhew is rep-
resentative of a Christian republicanism that began occurring in the
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520211048631
resented a turning point in history and was destined to advance human
civilization to the millennial reign of Christ as the eighteenth century
progressed Abraham Keteltas preaching in 1048625104863110486311048631 to the Presbyterians inNewburyport Massachusetts equated the cause of America with the
cause of God Americarsquos cause against Great Britain was the cause of
liberty justice rule of law and individual rightsmdashnot only for those who
were living but also for those generations yet to be born
Americarsquos cause for Keteltas was the cause of good against evil As
such it was Godrsquos own cause And Americans could take comfort in the
fact that God will be faithful to champion the American cause becausein doing so he was safeguarding his own cause Keteltas did not envision
the struggle with Britain as merely a political struggle He saw it as part
of the struggle of good against evil that had been going on since the fall
in the Garden of Eden Not only that he saw the Revolution as part of
the same cosmic struggle that Christ himself engaged in with the devil
in his Passion ldquoOur causerdquo wrote Keteltas ldquois not only good but it has
been prudently conducted it is the cause of truth against error andfalsehood the cause of righteousness against iniquity It is the cause
of reformation against popery In short it is the cause of heaven
against hellmdashof the kind Parent of the universe against the prince of
darkness and the destroyer of the human racerdquo31
Keteltas preached this sermon from Psalm 104863185202010486261048626mdashldquoArise O God
plead thine own causerdquo (983147983146983158) His sermon clearly reveals a particular
exegetical method guided by millennialism He envisioned the American
colonies as being engaged in the apocalyptic struggle of the forces of
Christ against the forces of the devil Samuel Sherwood is yet another
example of a preacher reading Scripture and the events of his time in this
way His 1048625104863110486311048630 sermon ldquoTe Churchrsquos Flight into the Wildernessrdquo is one
of the most strikingly millenarian sermons of the time His text was
Revelation 104862510486261048625852020-1048625104863132 and his exegesis is strongly typological Sherwoodrsquos
typology not surprisingly is informed by millenarianism And what is
further interesting about Sherwoodrsquos exegesis of the text is how he con-
flated the church with the American colonies For instance Sherwood
preached that God brought the church into North America a land of
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
o sum up the ideology of American exceptionalism has a multistruc-
tured intellectual root system theological political exegetical and his-
toriographical By the early nineteenth century Americans largely took
it for granted that their nation represented a break from the past and a
decisive turn toward a future defined by progress and advancement And
millions of people emigrated to the United States in the nineteenthcentury to tie their own personal destinies to that of America whose
destiny seemed poised to advance from triumph to triumph
A civil religion with exceptionalism as one of its essential aspects
developed aer the Revolution Te Declaration of Independence was
one of the foundational documents in a civil religious canon that was
taking shape Te Declaration made objective transcendent authori-
tative statements about the nature of humanity the role of the gov-ernment in relation to the people it represented and Godrsquos having estab-
lished a particular order that could not be thwarted or overturned Te
Declaration was followed by other documents that formed the civil reli-
gious canon the Constitution the Bill of Rights Washingtonrsquos Farewell
Address and others
As the nation grew in numbers and in territorial size between the Lou-
isiana Purchase of 10486251048632983088852019 and the Mexican War ending in 104862510486328520201048632 Americanexceptionalism divided into two articulations One of these articulations
was more strongly religious and more certain of Godrsquos providence con-
cerning the future of the United States and its status alongside other na-
tions It was also decidedly racist Te other articulation was more ag-
nostic concerning the providence of God but was nonetheless certain
that God had set it apart to be a moral example to the rest of the world
America could show other nations what a nation conceived in liberty
might look like how it might behave and what ideals it might pursue for
the benefit in theory if not in practice of all humanity
Americans struggled to figure out their place in the nineteenth century
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 1048630852019
aer their break with their mother country Great Britain Tey looked
for their place not only in the world doing ldquoall other Acts and Tings
which Independent States may of right dordquo as the Declaration of Inde-pendence suggested but also their place in human history As they
struggled they did many things that seem strange to us in the twenty-
first century William Walker is an example of such a person But
someone who most Americans have come to admire and acknowledge
as the greatest president ever to hold the officemdashAbraham Lincolnmdashwas
motivated by the idea of American exceptionalism as Walker was Te
tree of American exceptionalism fed by its roots was taking its shape inthe antebellum period during the nineteenth century It continued to
grow and flourish well into the twentieth and into our own century It
has yet to cease growing and developing as a civil religious idea that
Americans continually look to for guidance as they try and make sense
of their significance in space and time
F983151983154 F983157983154983156983144983141983154 R983141983137983140983145983150983143Bercovitch Sacvan Te Puritan Origins of the American Self 104862510486331048631852021 Reprint New
Haven Yale University Press 104862698308810486251048625
Gamble Richard M In Search of the City on a Hill Te Making and Unmaking
of an American Myth London Continuum 104862698308810486251048626
Greene Jack P Te Intellectual Construction of America Exceptionalism and
Identity from 1048625104862810486331048626 to 1048625104863210486241048624 Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press
104862510486331048633852019McKenna George Te Puritan Origins of American Patriotism New Haven
Yale University Press 10486269830889830881048631
Stout Harry S Te New England Soul Preaching and Religious Culture in Co-
lonial New England 1048625104863310486321048630 Reprint Oxford Oxford University Press 104862698308810486251048626
uveson Ernest Lee Redeemer Nation Te Idea of Americarsquos Millennial Role
Chicago University of Chicago Press 1048625104863310486301048632
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 852020852021
Lord much as John the Baptist was to fulfill Isaiah 852020983088852019-852021 when he went
into the wilderness to prepare Israel for the coming of the Christ As
Bercovitch wrote ldquoTe remnant that fled Babylon in 10486251048630852019983088 set sail for thenew promised land especially reserved by God for them Unmis-
takably the New World was part of the history of salvationrdquo14
Millennialism Te third aspect of the Puritan theological structure I
am identifying is the notion that history is progressing toward a Christian
utopia that God is using nations to bring about his kingdom on earthmdash
and as Ernest Lee uveson wrote ldquoTe finger of Providence had pointed
to the young republic of the Westrdquo15 Te millennium is the biblicalthousand-year reign of Christ described in Revelation 1048626983088 to begin aer
the second advent Satan will be bound and imprisoned Christ will per-
sonally reign on the earth and his church will reign with him Te mil-
lennium precedes the final and absolute defeat of Satan the creation of
the new heaven and the new earth and the ushering in of the eternal age
Millennialism is a view of history that sees humankind progressing
toward the second coming and the personal reign of the glorified ChristAccording to this view humans actually take part in laying the
groundwork for the millennial kingdom through obedience spreading
the gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth and establishing the
Christian ethical ideal through the expansion of Christian civilization
Further Godrsquos agents in preparing the world for the millennium are the
nations and particularly those nations that represent him faithfully o
the Puritans and later the American colonists as a whole America was
the millennial nation
Prior to the Reformation Western civilization had not understood
history to be progressing toward any particular telos through the active
agency of human beings During the Middle Ages and through the Ren-
aissance Augustine of Hippo (AD 852019852021852020ndash852020852019983088) provided the West with the
prevailing view of history in his work Te City of God Augustine cast
civilization in terms of two groups or cities one was the city of man the
other the city of God Te city of man for Augustine consisted of the
empires established by human strength and greatness like the Roman
Empire Human empires while powerful were bound up in time and
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
ultimately doomed to fall But the city of God consisted of those who
were faithful to Christ that is the church which for Augustine equated
to the kingdom of God on earth Te city of God would be persecutedby the city of man but ultimately will prevail when Christ returns and
judges the living and the dead at the great white throne (Revelation 104862698308810486251048625-
1048625852021) Te millennium described in Revelation according to Augustine is
not to be taken literally but allegorically Te thousand years in Reve-
lation 1048626983088 denote a long and indefinite period of timemdashthus Augustinersquos
eschatological position is termed amillennialism (ldquono millenniumrdquo no
ldquothousand yearsrdquo) Since his resurrection Christ reigns over his peoplethe church and Satanrsquos binding takes place from Christrsquos resurrection
until the second advent At that time Satan will be released only to meet
his final destruction in the lake of fire Te city of man is doomed to
follow him there16
Te upshot of Augustinersquos view of history is that even though Satan is
bound during the age of the church ills resulting from Adamrsquos fall still
persist Tis condition is not going to change at least not until Christrsquosreturn at the end of the age If evils can still wreak their desolations upon
humans even while Satanrsquos power is muted then surely nothing can be
done by mere mortals to improve their lot It is vain for humans to try
and effect hope in this transitory and decaying world Te only answer
is to wait for a better world in the aerlife Tis was the prevailing view
of things in western Europe during the roughly thousand-year period
from the fall of Rome to the sixteenth century
Te Augustinian view of history was supplanted by a new view one
that came about as a result of the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth
century A general reconsideration of the meaning and authority of the
Bible was central to the project of the Reformation Included in this re-
consideration was a new interpretation of the book of Revelation and
with it the meaning of the millennium Perhaps Revelation pointed to
an actual thousand-year period in the not-too-distant future when true
Christian civilization would reign triumphantly over the forces of the
devil and the Antichrist Could it be possible that God would actively
use the nations to bring about this triumph If so then it would seem
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520201048631
that humanity could bring about the culmination of history aer all In-
stead of forlornly waiting around for Jesus to return humans could effect
the glorious reign of Christ by their own efforts of cooperating withdivine providence as God actively and purposefully brought about the
culmination of history
Many Protestants saw the Reformation as the major turning point in
Godrsquos program for history Te Reformation struck a death blow to the
Roman papacy which English Protestants in particular considered to be
the Antichrist And what a mystery was revealed when America was
discovered in 104862585202010486331048626 a land hidden by providence until the very eve of theReformation Te discovery of America and the dawn of the Refor-
mation occurring at roughly the same time appeared to many Protes-
tants as the beginning of the end of an old order uveson described it
this way ldquoMankind might be over the hump at last Tus the Refor-
mation became the assurance that the long era of superstition injustice
and poverty was ending and that light was breaking over the world A
great age of achievement had begunrdquo17
In the millennial view of history as opposed to the Augustinian view
progress was the defining factor in the human experience18 Te events
of Revelation were not allegories but were literal events taking place at
a future date but nevertheless in real time Tis notion comes through
in the apostle Johnrsquos recounting of Jesusrsquo command to write down every-
thing in his apocalyptic visionmdashldquothe things that you have seen those
that are and those that are to take place aer thisrdquo (Revelation 104862510486251048633) If
anything Jesus seems to be referring to literal ldquothingsrdquo to be ldquoseenrdquo with
the eyesmdashthings in the past present and future time It hardly seemed
possible especially to Protestant thinkers that we will consider shortly
that Jesus could be referring to an allegorized set of circumstances
As the Reformation opened and developed in the sixteenth century
the New England colonies were established in the seventeenth and the
colonial wars in America culminated in the mid-eighteenth the lines
were clearly drawn Te New England Puritans (and most of English
Protestantism) considered the French Roman Catholic kingdom to be
the physical manifestation of the forces of the Antichrist Specifically the
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
Te theological roots of the tree of American exceptionalism go deeper
and are more intricate than the other roots supporting it You mightsay that theology is the taproot of the tree anchoring it firmly to the
ground But exceptionalism is supported by a system of roots Let us
move on from theology and now consider the political roots of the
concept of exceptionalism
Te United States originated in the Revolution as a political union of
independent states Tis union coalesced into a federal republic under
the Constitution which was signed in 1048625104863110486321048631 and went into effect in 1048625104863110486321048633But the union of the thirteen original states did not emerge out of thin
air Te states joined together around the common cause of indepen-
dence from Britain and that cause was undergirded by the liberal ideas
expressed in the Declaration of Independence And the ideas expressed
in the Declaration had their origins even further back Te Western
philosophical tradition has included liberal ideas for a long time but for
our purposes here let us trace those liberal ideas back to England during
its tempestuous seventeenth century
Te English Civil War (104862510486308520201048626ndash104862510486308520211048625) and the Glorious Revolution (1048625104863010486321048632)
were two crucibles in English history that ultimately helped shape that
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
Aer Charles was executed the monarchy was replaced by the Pro-
tectorate under Cromwell until just aer his death In 104862510486301048630983088 the English
monarchy was restored with the coronation of Charles II who ruleduntil 104862510486301048632852021 When Charlesrsquos son James II ascended the throne it was said
that his desire was to return England to Roman Catholicism and rule as
an absolute monarch Parliament was in no mood to take chances with
James and the body invited William of Orange and his wife Mary
(Jamesrsquos Protestant daughter) to cross the Channel land in England and
replace James Te catch was that as monarchs they would have to
recognize the supremacy of Parliament Tey agreed and landed inEngland with fourteen thousand soldiers on November 852021 1048625104863010486321048632 James
having little support and thus no real ability to control events fled for
his life to France Te ascension of William and Mary to the throne in
1048625104863010486321048632 is known as the Glorious Revolutionmdasha bloodless affair unlike the
Civil War
John Locke (104862510486308520191048626ndash10486251048631983088852020) wrote his famous wo reatises on Civil Gov-
ernment which was published in 104862510486301048633983088 largely to bring credibility to theactions of Parliament particularly in inviting the rule of William and
Mary Locke said that governments ruled by the consent of the people
Rulers possessed political power but they possessed it in trust from the
people and they maintained their power by protecting the basic rights
bestowed on them by nature at birth Tus rulers do not have the power
to rule arbitrarily Rulers may only legitimately exercise their power in
such as way as to protect the natural rights of the individual Locke wrote
ldquo[Power] can have no other end or measure when in the hands of the
Magistrate but to preserve the Members of that Society in their Lives
Liberties and Possessions and so cannot be an Absolute Arbitrary power
over their Lives and Fortunes which are as much as possible to be pre-
servedrdquo21 Locke also penned his famous Letter Concerning oleration
which advocated for religious toleration According to Locke the state
only possessed power over temporal affairs It had no jurisdiction over
the individual conscience
Events in England leading up to the Glorious Revolution led to the
formation of two strong political parties oriented around the liberal
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520211048625
ideas articulated by Locke in his wo reatises namely the ories and
the Whigs Te ories were conservatives who favored aristocratic priv-
ilege a strong bond between ecclesiastical and civil authority and thepassive obedience of subjects to the politicalecclesiastical order Te
Whigs were firmly against these positions Teir liberalism won the day
in the Glorious Revolution of 1048625104863010486321048632 Seventeenth-century thinkers such
as John Locke Algernon Sidney John Milton and James Harrington ar-
ticulated liberal views such as religious toleration liberty of the press
parliamentary supremacy and rule by consent Later thinkers influenced
by these and other earlier figures sharpened and focused liberal ideas inthe face of what they saw as overreach by George IIrsquos prime minister
Robert Walpole in the 104862510486311048626983088s In particular John renchard and Tomas
Gordon advocated for religious freedom and individual rights in their
104862510486311048626983088ndash104862510486311048626852019 collection of essays titled Catorsquos Letters Tey represented well
the ideas of Real Whig ideology a body of thought that stressed the most
sweeping liberalism yet seen Real Whig thought as expressed by
renchard and Gordon was popular not only in England but also inAmerica especially during the 104862510486311048630983088s and 104862510486311048631983088s During these years Real
Whig thought became the driving intellectual force of the Revolution
Te Real Whigs took Lockersquos views on toleration to their logical terminus
advocating for complete religious freedom Religious freedom became a
hallmark of the writings of renchard and Gordon for example Pauline
Maier wrote of Real Whig political philosophy that ldquothe [American]
revolutionary movement takes on consistency and form only against the
backdrop of English revolutionary traditionrdquo22 And the writings of
renchard and Gordon were those that were among the most influential
Real Whig writings on this side of the Atlantic
How does Real Whig ideology fit into American exceptionalism Te
answer is simplemdashit is manifested through what Mark Noll called
ldquoChristian republicanismrdquo23 Christian republicanism is an amalgamation
of Real Whig ideology and Protestant theology occurring in American
literature and rhetoric in the years leading up to and during the Revo-
lution Te unifying themes between these two strands of thought are
freedom of religious dissension a reaction against ecclesiastical privilege
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
and a millennialism that saw America as Godrsquos chosen nation to bring
about the final defeat of the forces of the Antichrist
Christian republicans in America like Jonathan Mayhew of Bostonsought to biblically justify rebellion against the mother country May-
hewrsquos sermon ldquoA Discourse Concerning Unlimited Submissionrdquo which
he gave on January 852019983088 10486251048631852021983088 (the 10486259830881048625st anniversary of the execution of
Charles I) defended the justice of the Puritansrsquo overthrow of Charles I
Romans 10486258520191048625-852021 served as Mayhewrsquos text and he preached that Charlesrsquos
overthrow was entirely just In his letter to the Romans Paul was not
writing about submitting to a government that was evil but a gov-ernment that was a ldquoservant for your goodrdquo (Romans 1048625852019852020) Just as it is
entirely right for a child or a servant to disobey a parent or a master who
rules them unjustly a people who resist the rule of a tyrant are innocent
of wrongdoing Mayhew appealed to the principle of self-defense heremdasha
people have the right even the responsibility to protect themselves
against a tyrant just as the people did in 104862510486308520201048633 when they executed
Charles I Mayhew thundered
A PEOPLE really oppressed to a great degree by their sovereign cannot
well be insensible when they are so oppressed Nor would they have
any reason to mourn if some HERCULES should appear to dispatch
himmdashFor a nation thus abused to arise unanimously and to resist their
prince even to the dethroning him is not criminal but a reasonable use
of the means and the only means which God has put in their power for
mutual and self-defence24
Mayhew serves as an important figure in the years leading up to the
Revolution for several reasons First Mayhew was a New England
preacher heavily influenced by Real Whig political thought like the idea
that rulers rule by the peoplersquos consent Second he was a Christian who
accepted republican ideas despite the fact that as Mark Noll has pointed
out republicanism is at odds with key aspects of Christian theological
doctrine25 And third Mayhew like many others in his generation bap-
tized Real Whig ideas in the waters of biblical theology Mayhew is rep-
resentative of a Christian republicanism that began occurring in the
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520211048631
resented a turning point in history and was destined to advance human
civilization to the millennial reign of Christ as the eighteenth century
progressed Abraham Keteltas preaching in 1048625104863110486311048631 to the Presbyterians inNewburyport Massachusetts equated the cause of America with the
cause of God Americarsquos cause against Great Britain was the cause of
liberty justice rule of law and individual rightsmdashnot only for those who
were living but also for those generations yet to be born
Americarsquos cause for Keteltas was the cause of good against evil As
such it was Godrsquos own cause And Americans could take comfort in the
fact that God will be faithful to champion the American cause becausein doing so he was safeguarding his own cause Keteltas did not envision
the struggle with Britain as merely a political struggle He saw it as part
of the struggle of good against evil that had been going on since the fall
in the Garden of Eden Not only that he saw the Revolution as part of
the same cosmic struggle that Christ himself engaged in with the devil
in his Passion ldquoOur causerdquo wrote Keteltas ldquois not only good but it has
been prudently conducted it is the cause of truth against error andfalsehood the cause of righteousness against iniquity It is the cause
of reformation against popery In short it is the cause of heaven
against hellmdashof the kind Parent of the universe against the prince of
darkness and the destroyer of the human racerdquo31
Keteltas preached this sermon from Psalm 104863185202010486261048626mdashldquoArise O God
plead thine own causerdquo (983147983146983158) His sermon clearly reveals a particular
exegetical method guided by millennialism He envisioned the American
colonies as being engaged in the apocalyptic struggle of the forces of
Christ against the forces of the devil Samuel Sherwood is yet another
example of a preacher reading Scripture and the events of his time in this
way His 1048625104863110486311048630 sermon ldquoTe Churchrsquos Flight into the Wildernessrdquo is one
of the most strikingly millenarian sermons of the time His text was
Revelation 104862510486261048625852020-1048625104863132 and his exegesis is strongly typological Sherwoodrsquos
typology not surprisingly is informed by millenarianism And what is
further interesting about Sherwoodrsquos exegesis of the text is how he con-
flated the church with the American colonies For instance Sherwood
preached that God brought the church into North America a land of
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
o sum up the ideology of American exceptionalism has a multistruc-
tured intellectual root system theological political exegetical and his-
toriographical By the early nineteenth century Americans largely took
it for granted that their nation represented a break from the past and a
decisive turn toward a future defined by progress and advancement And
millions of people emigrated to the United States in the nineteenthcentury to tie their own personal destinies to that of America whose
destiny seemed poised to advance from triumph to triumph
A civil religion with exceptionalism as one of its essential aspects
developed aer the Revolution Te Declaration of Independence was
one of the foundational documents in a civil religious canon that was
taking shape Te Declaration made objective transcendent authori-
tative statements about the nature of humanity the role of the gov-ernment in relation to the people it represented and Godrsquos having estab-
lished a particular order that could not be thwarted or overturned Te
Declaration was followed by other documents that formed the civil reli-
gious canon the Constitution the Bill of Rights Washingtonrsquos Farewell
Address and others
As the nation grew in numbers and in territorial size between the Lou-
isiana Purchase of 10486251048632983088852019 and the Mexican War ending in 104862510486328520201048632 Americanexceptionalism divided into two articulations One of these articulations
was more strongly religious and more certain of Godrsquos providence con-
cerning the future of the United States and its status alongside other na-
tions It was also decidedly racist Te other articulation was more ag-
nostic concerning the providence of God but was nonetheless certain
that God had set it apart to be a moral example to the rest of the world
America could show other nations what a nation conceived in liberty
might look like how it might behave and what ideals it might pursue for
the benefit in theory if not in practice of all humanity
Americans struggled to figure out their place in the nineteenth century
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 1048630852019
aer their break with their mother country Great Britain Tey looked
for their place not only in the world doing ldquoall other Acts and Tings
which Independent States may of right dordquo as the Declaration of Inde-pendence suggested but also their place in human history As they
struggled they did many things that seem strange to us in the twenty-
first century William Walker is an example of such a person But
someone who most Americans have come to admire and acknowledge
as the greatest president ever to hold the officemdashAbraham Lincolnmdashwas
motivated by the idea of American exceptionalism as Walker was Te
tree of American exceptionalism fed by its roots was taking its shape inthe antebellum period during the nineteenth century It continued to
grow and flourish well into the twentieth and into our own century It
has yet to cease growing and developing as a civil religious idea that
Americans continually look to for guidance as they try and make sense
of their significance in space and time
F983151983154 F983157983154983156983144983141983154 R983141983137983140983145983150983143Bercovitch Sacvan Te Puritan Origins of the American Self 104862510486331048631852021 Reprint New
Haven Yale University Press 104862698308810486251048625
Gamble Richard M In Search of the City on a Hill Te Making and Unmaking
of an American Myth London Continuum 104862698308810486251048626
Greene Jack P Te Intellectual Construction of America Exceptionalism and
Identity from 1048625104862810486331048626 to 1048625104863210486241048624 Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press
104862510486331048633852019McKenna George Te Puritan Origins of American Patriotism New Haven
Yale University Press 10486269830889830881048631
Stout Harry S Te New England Soul Preaching and Religious Culture in Co-
lonial New England 1048625104863310486321048630 Reprint Oxford Oxford University Press 104862698308810486251048626
uveson Ernest Lee Redeemer Nation Te Idea of Americarsquos Millennial Role
Chicago University of Chicago Press 1048625104863310486301048632
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
ultimately doomed to fall But the city of God consisted of those who
were faithful to Christ that is the church which for Augustine equated
to the kingdom of God on earth Te city of God would be persecutedby the city of man but ultimately will prevail when Christ returns and
judges the living and the dead at the great white throne (Revelation 104862698308810486251048625-
1048625852021) Te millennium described in Revelation according to Augustine is
not to be taken literally but allegorically Te thousand years in Reve-
lation 1048626983088 denote a long and indefinite period of timemdashthus Augustinersquos
eschatological position is termed amillennialism (ldquono millenniumrdquo no
ldquothousand yearsrdquo) Since his resurrection Christ reigns over his peoplethe church and Satanrsquos binding takes place from Christrsquos resurrection
until the second advent At that time Satan will be released only to meet
his final destruction in the lake of fire Te city of man is doomed to
follow him there16
Te upshot of Augustinersquos view of history is that even though Satan is
bound during the age of the church ills resulting from Adamrsquos fall still
persist Tis condition is not going to change at least not until Christrsquosreturn at the end of the age If evils can still wreak their desolations upon
humans even while Satanrsquos power is muted then surely nothing can be
done by mere mortals to improve their lot It is vain for humans to try
and effect hope in this transitory and decaying world Te only answer
is to wait for a better world in the aerlife Tis was the prevailing view
of things in western Europe during the roughly thousand-year period
from the fall of Rome to the sixteenth century
Te Augustinian view of history was supplanted by a new view one
that came about as a result of the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth
century A general reconsideration of the meaning and authority of the
Bible was central to the project of the Reformation Included in this re-
consideration was a new interpretation of the book of Revelation and
with it the meaning of the millennium Perhaps Revelation pointed to
an actual thousand-year period in the not-too-distant future when true
Christian civilization would reign triumphantly over the forces of the
devil and the Antichrist Could it be possible that God would actively
use the nations to bring about this triumph If so then it would seem
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520201048631
that humanity could bring about the culmination of history aer all In-
stead of forlornly waiting around for Jesus to return humans could effect
the glorious reign of Christ by their own efforts of cooperating withdivine providence as God actively and purposefully brought about the
culmination of history
Many Protestants saw the Reformation as the major turning point in
Godrsquos program for history Te Reformation struck a death blow to the
Roman papacy which English Protestants in particular considered to be
the Antichrist And what a mystery was revealed when America was
discovered in 104862585202010486331048626 a land hidden by providence until the very eve of theReformation Te discovery of America and the dawn of the Refor-
mation occurring at roughly the same time appeared to many Protes-
tants as the beginning of the end of an old order uveson described it
this way ldquoMankind might be over the hump at last Tus the Refor-
mation became the assurance that the long era of superstition injustice
and poverty was ending and that light was breaking over the world A
great age of achievement had begunrdquo17
In the millennial view of history as opposed to the Augustinian view
progress was the defining factor in the human experience18 Te events
of Revelation were not allegories but were literal events taking place at
a future date but nevertheless in real time Tis notion comes through
in the apostle Johnrsquos recounting of Jesusrsquo command to write down every-
thing in his apocalyptic visionmdashldquothe things that you have seen those
that are and those that are to take place aer thisrdquo (Revelation 104862510486251048633) If
anything Jesus seems to be referring to literal ldquothingsrdquo to be ldquoseenrdquo with
the eyesmdashthings in the past present and future time It hardly seemed
possible especially to Protestant thinkers that we will consider shortly
that Jesus could be referring to an allegorized set of circumstances
As the Reformation opened and developed in the sixteenth century
the New England colonies were established in the seventeenth and the
colonial wars in America culminated in the mid-eighteenth the lines
were clearly drawn Te New England Puritans (and most of English
Protestantism) considered the French Roman Catholic kingdom to be
the physical manifestation of the forces of the Antichrist Specifically the
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
Te theological roots of the tree of American exceptionalism go deeper
and are more intricate than the other roots supporting it You mightsay that theology is the taproot of the tree anchoring it firmly to the
ground But exceptionalism is supported by a system of roots Let us
move on from theology and now consider the political roots of the
concept of exceptionalism
Te United States originated in the Revolution as a political union of
independent states Tis union coalesced into a federal republic under
the Constitution which was signed in 1048625104863110486321048631 and went into effect in 1048625104863110486321048633But the union of the thirteen original states did not emerge out of thin
air Te states joined together around the common cause of indepen-
dence from Britain and that cause was undergirded by the liberal ideas
expressed in the Declaration of Independence And the ideas expressed
in the Declaration had their origins even further back Te Western
philosophical tradition has included liberal ideas for a long time but for
our purposes here let us trace those liberal ideas back to England during
its tempestuous seventeenth century
Te English Civil War (104862510486308520201048626ndash104862510486308520211048625) and the Glorious Revolution (1048625104863010486321048632)
were two crucibles in English history that ultimately helped shape that
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
Aer Charles was executed the monarchy was replaced by the Pro-
tectorate under Cromwell until just aer his death In 104862510486301048630983088 the English
monarchy was restored with the coronation of Charles II who ruleduntil 104862510486301048632852021 When Charlesrsquos son James II ascended the throne it was said
that his desire was to return England to Roman Catholicism and rule as
an absolute monarch Parliament was in no mood to take chances with
James and the body invited William of Orange and his wife Mary
(Jamesrsquos Protestant daughter) to cross the Channel land in England and
replace James Te catch was that as monarchs they would have to
recognize the supremacy of Parliament Tey agreed and landed inEngland with fourteen thousand soldiers on November 852021 1048625104863010486321048632 James
having little support and thus no real ability to control events fled for
his life to France Te ascension of William and Mary to the throne in
1048625104863010486321048632 is known as the Glorious Revolutionmdasha bloodless affair unlike the
Civil War
John Locke (104862510486308520191048626ndash10486251048631983088852020) wrote his famous wo reatises on Civil Gov-
ernment which was published in 104862510486301048633983088 largely to bring credibility to theactions of Parliament particularly in inviting the rule of William and
Mary Locke said that governments ruled by the consent of the people
Rulers possessed political power but they possessed it in trust from the
people and they maintained their power by protecting the basic rights
bestowed on them by nature at birth Tus rulers do not have the power
to rule arbitrarily Rulers may only legitimately exercise their power in
such as way as to protect the natural rights of the individual Locke wrote
ldquo[Power] can have no other end or measure when in the hands of the
Magistrate but to preserve the Members of that Society in their Lives
Liberties and Possessions and so cannot be an Absolute Arbitrary power
over their Lives and Fortunes which are as much as possible to be pre-
servedrdquo21 Locke also penned his famous Letter Concerning oleration
which advocated for religious toleration According to Locke the state
only possessed power over temporal affairs It had no jurisdiction over
the individual conscience
Events in England leading up to the Glorious Revolution led to the
formation of two strong political parties oriented around the liberal
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520211048625
ideas articulated by Locke in his wo reatises namely the ories and
the Whigs Te ories were conservatives who favored aristocratic priv-
ilege a strong bond between ecclesiastical and civil authority and thepassive obedience of subjects to the politicalecclesiastical order Te
Whigs were firmly against these positions Teir liberalism won the day
in the Glorious Revolution of 1048625104863010486321048632 Seventeenth-century thinkers such
as John Locke Algernon Sidney John Milton and James Harrington ar-
ticulated liberal views such as religious toleration liberty of the press
parliamentary supremacy and rule by consent Later thinkers influenced
by these and other earlier figures sharpened and focused liberal ideas inthe face of what they saw as overreach by George IIrsquos prime minister
Robert Walpole in the 104862510486311048626983088s In particular John renchard and Tomas
Gordon advocated for religious freedom and individual rights in their
104862510486311048626983088ndash104862510486311048626852019 collection of essays titled Catorsquos Letters Tey represented well
the ideas of Real Whig ideology a body of thought that stressed the most
sweeping liberalism yet seen Real Whig thought as expressed by
renchard and Gordon was popular not only in England but also inAmerica especially during the 104862510486311048630983088s and 104862510486311048631983088s During these years Real
Whig thought became the driving intellectual force of the Revolution
Te Real Whigs took Lockersquos views on toleration to their logical terminus
advocating for complete religious freedom Religious freedom became a
hallmark of the writings of renchard and Gordon for example Pauline
Maier wrote of Real Whig political philosophy that ldquothe [American]
revolutionary movement takes on consistency and form only against the
backdrop of English revolutionary traditionrdquo22 And the writings of
renchard and Gordon were those that were among the most influential
Real Whig writings on this side of the Atlantic
How does Real Whig ideology fit into American exceptionalism Te
answer is simplemdashit is manifested through what Mark Noll called
ldquoChristian republicanismrdquo23 Christian republicanism is an amalgamation
of Real Whig ideology and Protestant theology occurring in American
literature and rhetoric in the years leading up to and during the Revo-
lution Te unifying themes between these two strands of thought are
freedom of religious dissension a reaction against ecclesiastical privilege
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
and a millennialism that saw America as Godrsquos chosen nation to bring
about the final defeat of the forces of the Antichrist
Christian republicans in America like Jonathan Mayhew of Bostonsought to biblically justify rebellion against the mother country May-
hewrsquos sermon ldquoA Discourse Concerning Unlimited Submissionrdquo which
he gave on January 852019983088 10486251048631852021983088 (the 10486259830881048625st anniversary of the execution of
Charles I) defended the justice of the Puritansrsquo overthrow of Charles I
Romans 10486258520191048625-852021 served as Mayhewrsquos text and he preached that Charlesrsquos
overthrow was entirely just In his letter to the Romans Paul was not
writing about submitting to a government that was evil but a gov-ernment that was a ldquoservant for your goodrdquo (Romans 1048625852019852020) Just as it is
entirely right for a child or a servant to disobey a parent or a master who
rules them unjustly a people who resist the rule of a tyrant are innocent
of wrongdoing Mayhew appealed to the principle of self-defense heremdasha
people have the right even the responsibility to protect themselves
against a tyrant just as the people did in 104862510486308520201048633 when they executed
Charles I Mayhew thundered
A PEOPLE really oppressed to a great degree by their sovereign cannot
well be insensible when they are so oppressed Nor would they have
any reason to mourn if some HERCULES should appear to dispatch
himmdashFor a nation thus abused to arise unanimously and to resist their
prince even to the dethroning him is not criminal but a reasonable use
of the means and the only means which God has put in their power for
mutual and self-defence24
Mayhew serves as an important figure in the years leading up to the
Revolution for several reasons First Mayhew was a New England
preacher heavily influenced by Real Whig political thought like the idea
that rulers rule by the peoplersquos consent Second he was a Christian who
accepted republican ideas despite the fact that as Mark Noll has pointed
out republicanism is at odds with key aspects of Christian theological
doctrine25 And third Mayhew like many others in his generation bap-
tized Real Whig ideas in the waters of biblical theology Mayhew is rep-
resentative of a Christian republicanism that began occurring in the
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520211048631
resented a turning point in history and was destined to advance human
civilization to the millennial reign of Christ as the eighteenth century
progressed Abraham Keteltas preaching in 1048625104863110486311048631 to the Presbyterians inNewburyport Massachusetts equated the cause of America with the
cause of God Americarsquos cause against Great Britain was the cause of
liberty justice rule of law and individual rightsmdashnot only for those who
were living but also for those generations yet to be born
Americarsquos cause for Keteltas was the cause of good against evil As
such it was Godrsquos own cause And Americans could take comfort in the
fact that God will be faithful to champion the American cause becausein doing so he was safeguarding his own cause Keteltas did not envision
the struggle with Britain as merely a political struggle He saw it as part
of the struggle of good against evil that had been going on since the fall
in the Garden of Eden Not only that he saw the Revolution as part of
the same cosmic struggle that Christ himself engaged in with the devil
in his Passion ldquoOur causerdquo wrote Keteltas ldquois not only good but it has
been prudently conducted it is the cause of truth against error andfalsehood the cause of righteousness against iniquity It is the cause
of reformation against popery In short it is the cause of heaven
against hellmdashof the kind Parent of the universe against the prince of
darkness and the destroyer of the human racerdquo31
Keteltas preached this sermon from Psalm 104863185202010486261048626mdashldquoArise O God
plead thine own causerdquo (983147983146983158) His sermon clearly reveals a particular
exegetical method guided by millennialism He envisioned the American
colonies as being engaged in the apocalyptic struggle of the forces of
Christ against the forces of the devil Samuel Sherwood is yet another
example of a preacher reading Scripture and the events of his time in this
way His 1048625104863110486311048630 sermon ldquoTe Churchrsquos Flight into the Wildernessrdquo is one
of the most strikingly millenarian sermons of the time His text was
Revelation 104862510486261048625852020-1048625104863132 and his exegesis is strongly typological Sherwoodrsquos
typology not surprisingly is informed by millenarianism And what is
further interesting about Sherwoodrsquos exegesis of the text is how he con-
flated the church with the American colonies For instance Sherwood
preached that God brought the church into North America a land of
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
o sum up the ideology of American exceptionalism has a multistruc-
tured intellectual root system theological political exegetical and his-
toriographical By the early nineteenth century Americans largely took
it for granted that their nation represented a break from the past and a
decisive turn toward a future defined by progress and advancement And
millions of people emigrated to the United States in the nineteenthcentury to tie their own personal destinies to that of America whose
destiny seemed poised to advance from triumph to triumph
A civil religion with exceptionalism as one of its essential aspects
developed aer the Revolution Te Declaration of Independence was
one of the foundational documents in a civil religious canon that was
taking shape Te Declaration made objective transcendent authori-
tative statements about the nature of humanity the role of the gov-ernment in relation to the people it represented and Godrsquos having estab-
lished a particular order that could not be thwarted or overturned Te
Declaration was followed by other documents that formed the civil reli-
gious canon the Constitution the Bill of Rights Washingtonrsquos Farewell
Address and others
As the nation grew in numbers and in territorial size between the Lou-
isiana Purchase of 10486251048632983088852019 and the Mexican War ending in 104862510486328520201048632 Americanexceptionalism divided into two articulations One of these articulations
was more strongly religious and more certain of Godrsquos providence con-
cerning the future of the United States and its status alongside other na-
tions It was also decidedly racist Te other articulation was more ag-
nostic concerning the providence of God but was nonetheless certain
that God had set it apart to be a moral example to the rest of the world
America could show other nations what a nation conceived in liberty
might look like how it might behave and what ideals it might pursue for
the benefit in theory if not in practice of all humanity
Americans struggled to figure out their place in the nineteenth century
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 1048630852019
aer their break with their mother country Great Britain Tey looked
for their place not only in the world doing ldquoall other Acts and Tings
which Independent States may of right dordquo as the Declaration of Inde-pendence suggested but also their place in human history As they
struggled they did many things that seem strange to us in the twenty-
first century William Walker is an example of such a person But
someone who most Americans have come to admire and acknowledge
as the greatest president ever to hold the officemdashAbraham Lincolnmdashwas
motivated by the idea of American exceptionalism as Walker was Te
tree of American exceptionalism fed by its roots was taking its shape inthe antebellum period during the nineteenth century It continued to
grow and flourish well into the twentieth and into our own century It
has yet to cease growing and developing as a civil religious idea that
Americans continually look to for guidance as they try and make sense
of their significance in space and time
F983151983154 F983157983154983156983144983141983154 R983141983137983140983145983150983143Bercovitch Sacvan Te Puritan Origins of the American Self 104862510486331048631852021 Reprint New
Haven Yale University Press 104862698308810486251048625
Gamble Richard M In Search of the City on a Hill Te Making and Unmaking
of an American Myth London Continuum 104862698308810486251048626
Greene Jack P Te Intellectual Construction of America Exceptionalism and
Identity from 1048625104862810486331048626 to 1048625104863210486241048624 Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press
104862510486331048633852019McKenna George Te Puritan Origins of American Patriotism New Haven
Yale University Press 10486269830889830881048631
Stout Harry S Te New England Soul Preaching and Religious Culture in Co-
lonial New England 1048625104863310486321048630 Reprint Oxford Oxford University Press 104862698308810486251048626
uveson Ernest Lee Redeemer Nation Te Idea of Americarsquos Millennial Role
Chicago University of Chicago Press 1048625104863310486301048632
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520201048631
that humanity could bring about the culmination of history aer all In-
stead of forlornly waiting around for Jesus to return humans could effect
the glorious reign of Christ by their own efforts of cooperating withdivine providence as God actively and purposefully brought about the
culmination of history
Many Protestants saw the Reformation as the major turning point in
Godrsquos program for history Te Reformation struck a death blow to the
Roman papacy which English Protestants in particular considered to be
the Antichrist And what a mystery was revealed when America was
discovered in 104862585202010486331048626 a land hidden by providence until the very eve of theReformation Te discovery of America and the dawn of the Refor-
mation occurring at roughly the same time appeared to many Protes-
tants as the beginning of the end of an old order uveson described it
this way ldquoMankind might be over the hump at last Tus the Refor-
mation became the assurance that the long era of superstition injustice
and poverty was ending and that light was breaking over the world A
great age of achievement had begunrdquo17
In the millennial view of history as opposed to the Augustinian view
progress was the defining factor in the human experience18 Te events
of Revelation were not allegories but were literal events taking place at
a future date but nevertheless in real time Tis notion comes through
in the apostle Johnrsquos recounting of Jesusrsquo command to write down every-
thing in his apocalyptic visionmdashldquothe things that you have seen those
that are and those that are to take place aer thisrdquo (Revelation 104862510486251048633) If
anything Jesus seems to be referring to literal ldquothingsrdquo to be ldquoseenrdquo with
the eyesmdashthings in the past present and future time It hardly seemed
possible especially to Protestant thinkers that we will consider shortly
that Jesus could be referring to an allegorized set of circumstances
As the Reformation opened and developed in the sixteenth century
the New England colonies were established in the seventeenth and the
colonial wars in America culminated in the mid-eighteenth the lines
were clearly drawn Te New England Puritans (and most of English
Protestantism) considered the French Roman Catholic kingdom to be
the physical manifestation of the forces of the Antichrist Specifically the
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
Te theological roots of the tree of American exceptionalism go deeper
and are more intricate than the other roots supporting it You mightsay that theology is the taproot of the tree anchoring it firmly to the
ground But exceptionalism is supported by a system of roots Let us
move on from theology and now consider the political roots of the
concept of exceptionalism
Te United States originated in the Revolution as a political union of
independent states Tis union coalesced into a federal republic under
the Constitution which was signed in 1048625104863110486321048631 and went into effect in 1048625104863110486321048633But the union of the thirteen original states did not emerge out of thin
air Te states joined together around the common cause of indepen-
dence from Britain and that cause was undergirded by the liberal ideas
expressed in the Declaration of Independence And the ideas expressed
in the Declaration had their origins even further back Te Western
philosophical tradition has included liberal ideas for a long time but for
our purposes here let us trace those liberal ideas back to England during
its tempestuous seventeenth century
Te English Civil War (104862510486308520201048626ndash104862510486308520211048625) and the Glorious Revolution (1048625104863010486321048632)
were two crucibles in English history that ultimately helped shape that
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
Aer Charles was executed the monarchy was replaced by the Pro-
tectorate under Cromwell until just aer his death In 104862510486301048630983088 the English
monarchy was restored with the coronation of Charles II who ruleduntil 104862510486301048632852021 When Charlesrsquos son James II ascended the throne it was said
that his desire was to return England to Roman Catholicism and rule as
an absolute monarch Parliament was in no mood to take chances with
James and the body invited William of Orange and his wife Mary
(Jamesrsquos Protestant daughter) to cross the Channel land in England and
replace James Te catch was that as monarchs they would have to
recognize the supremacy of Parliament Tey agreed and landed inEngland with fourteen thousand soldiers on November 852021 1048625104863010486321048632 James
having little support and thus no real ability to control events fled for
his life to France Te ascension of William and Mary to the throne in
1048625104863010486321048632 is known as the Glorious Revolutionmdasha bloodless affair unlike the
Civil War
John Locke (104862510486308520191048626ndash10486251048631983088852020) wrote his famous wo reatises on Civil Gov-
ernment which was published in 104862510486301048633983088 largely to bring credibility to theactions of Parliament particularly in inviting the rule of William and
Mary Locke said that governments ruled by the consent of the people
Rulers possessed political power but they possessed it in trust from the
people and they maintained their power by protecting the basic rights
bestowed on them by nature at birth Tus rulers do not have the power
to rule arbitrarily Rulers may only legitimately exercise their power in
such as way as to protect the natural rights of the individual Locke wrote
ldquo[Power] can have no other end or measure when in the hands of the
Magistrate but to preserve the Members of that Society in their Lives
Liberties and Possessions and so cannot be an Absolute Arbitrary power
over their Lives and Fortunes which are as much as possible to be pre-
servedrdquo21 Locke also penned his famous Letter Concerning oleration
which advocated for religious toleration According to Locke the state
only possessed power over temporal affairs It had no jurisdiction over
the individual conscience
Events in England leading up to the Glorious Revolution led to the
formation of two strong political parties oriented around the liberal
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520211048625
ideas articulated by Locke in his wo reatises namely the ories and
the Whigs Te ories were conservatives who favored aristocratic priv-
ilege a strong bond between ecclesiastical and civil authority and thepassive obedience of subjects to the politicalecclesiastical order Te
Whigs were firmly against these positions Teir liberalism won the day
in the Glorious Revolution of 1048625104863010486321048632 Seventeenth-century thinkers such
as John Locke Algernon Sidney John Milton and James Harrington ar-
ticulated liberal views such as religious toleration liberty of the press
parliamentary supremacy and rule by consent Later thinkers influenced
by these and other earlier figures sharpened and focused liberal ideas inthe face of what they saw as overreach by George IIrsquos prime minister
Robert Walpole in the 104862510486311048626983088s In particular John renchard and Tomas
Gordon advocated for religious freedom and individual rights in their
104862510486311048626983088ndash104862510486311048626852019 collection of essays titled Catorsquos Letters Tey represented well
the ideas of Real Whig ideology a body of thought that stressed the most
sweeping liberalism yet seen Real Whig thought as expressed by
renchard and Gordon was popular not only in England but also inAmerica especially during the 104862510486311048630983088s and 104862510486311048631983088s During these years Real
Whig thought became the driving intellectual force of the Revolution
Te Real Whigs took Lockersquos views on toleration to their logical terminus
advocating for complete religious freedom Religious freedom became a
hallmark of the writings of renchard and Gordon for example Pauline
Maier wrote of Real Whig political philosophy that ldquothe [American]
revolutionary movement takes on consistency and form only against the
backdrop of English revolutionary traditionrdquo22 And the writings of
renchard and Gordon were those that were among the most influential
Real Whig writings on this side of the Atlantic
How does Real Whig ideology fit into American exceptionalism Te
answer is simplemdashit is manifested through what Mark Noll called
ldquoChristian republicanismrdquo23 Christian republicanism is an amalgamation
of Real Whig ideology and Protestant theology occurring in American
literature and rhetoric in the years leading up to and during the Revo-
lution Te unifying themes between these two strands of thought are
freedom of religious dissension a reaction against ecclesiastical privilege
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
and a millennialism that saw America as Godrsquos chosen nation to bring
about the final defeat of the forces of the Antichrist
Christian republicans in America like Jonathan Mayhew of Bostonsought to biblically justify rebellion against the mother country May-
hewrsquos sermon ldquoA Discourse Concerning Unlimited Submissionrdquo which
he gave on January 852019983088 10486251048631852021983088 (the 10486259830881048625st anniversary of the execution of
Charles I) defended the justice of the Puritansrsquo overthrow of Charles I
Romans 10486258520191048625-852021 served as Mayhewrsquos text and he preached that Charlesrsquos
overthrow was entirely just In his letter to the Romans Paul was not
writing about submitting to a government that was evil but a gov-ernment that was a ldquoservant for your goodrdquo (Romans 1048625852019852020) Just as it is
entirely right for a child or a servant to disobey a parent or a master who
rules them unjustly a people who resist the rule of a tyrant are innocent
of wrongdoing Mayhew appealed to the principle of self-defense heremdasha
people have the right even the responsibility to protect themselves
against a tyrant just as the people did in 104862510486308520201048633 when they executed
Charles I Mayhew thundered
A PEOPLE really oppressed to a great degree by their sovereign cannot
well be insensible when they are so oppressed Nor would they have
any reason to mourn if some HERCULES should appear to dispatch
himmdashFor a nation thus abused to arise unanimously and to resist their
prince even to the dethroning him is not criminal but a reasonable use
of the means and the only means which God has put in their power for
mutual and self-defence24
Mayhew serves as an important figure in the years leading up to the
Revolution for several reasons First Mayhew was a New England
preacher heavily influenced by Real Whig political thought like the idea
that rulers rule by the peoplersquos consent Second he was a Christian who
accepted republican ideas despite the fact that as Mark Noll has pointed
out republicanism is at odds with key aspects of Christian theological
doctrine25 And third Mayhew like many others in his generation bap-
tized Real Whig ideas in the waters of biblical theology Mayhew is rep-
resentative of a Christian republicanism that began occurring in the
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520211048631
resented a turning point in history and was destined to advance human
civilization to the millennial reign of Christ as the eighteenth century
progressed Abraham Keteltas preaching in 1048625104863110486311048631 to the Presbyterians inNewburyport Massachusetts equated the cause of America with the
cause of God Americarsquos cause against Great Britain was the cause of
liberty justice rule of law and individual rightsmdashnot only for those who
were living but also for those generations yet to be born
Americarsquos cause for Keteltas was the cause of good against evil As
such it was Godrsquos own cause And Americans could take comfort in the
fact that God will be faithful to champion the American cause becausein doing so he was safeguarding his own cause Keteltas did not envision
the struggle with Britain as merely a political struggle He saw it as part
of the struggle of good against evil that had been going on since the fall
in the Garden of Eden Not only that he saw the Revolution as part of
the same cosmic struggle that Christ himself engaged in with the devil
in his Passion ldquoOur causerdquo wrote Keteltas ldquois not only good but it has
been prudently conducted it is the cause of truth against error andfalsehood the cause of righteousness against iniquity It is the cause
of reformation against popery In short it is the cause of heaven
against hellmdashof the kind Parent of the universe against the prince of
darkness and the destroyer of the human racerdquo31
Keteltas preached this sermon from Psalm 104863185202010486261048626mdashldquoArise O God
plead thine own causerdquo (983147983146983158) His sermon clearly reveals a particular
exegetical method guided by millennialism He envisioned the American
colonies as being engaged in the apocalyptic struggle of the forces of
Christ against the forces of the devil Samuel Sherwood is yet another
example of a preacher reading Scripture and the events of his time in this
way His 1048625104863110486311048630 sermon ldquoTe Churchrsquos Flight into the Wildernessrdquo is one
of the most strikingly millenarian sermons of the time His text was
Revelation 104862510486261048625852020-1048625104863132 and his exegesis is strongly typological Sherwoodrsquos
typology not surprisingly is informed by millenarianism And what is
further interesting about Sherwoodrsquos exegesis of the text is how he con-
flated the church with the American colonies For instance Sherwood
preached that God brought the church into North America a land of
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
o sum up the ideology of American exceptionalism has a multistruc-
tured intellectual root system theological political exegetical and his-
toriographical By the early nineteenth century Americans largely took
it for granted that their nation represented a break from the past and a
decisive turn toward a future defined by progress and advancement And
millions of people emigrated to the United States in the nineteenthcentury to tie their own personal destinies to that of America whose
destiny seemed poised to advance from triumph to triumph
A civil religion with exceptionalism as one of its essential aspects
developed aer the Revolution Te Declaration of Independence was
one of the foundational documents in a civil religious canon that was
taking shape Te Declaration made objective transcendent authori-
tative statements about the nature of humanity the role of the gov-ernment in relation to the people it represented and Godrsquos having estab-
lished a particular order that could not be thwarted or overturned Te
Declaration was followed by other documents that formed the civil reli-
gious canon the Constitution the Bill of Rights Washingtonrsquos Farewell
Address and others
As the nation grew in numbers and in territorial size between the Lou-
isiana Purchase of 10486251048632983088852019 and the Mexican War ending in 104862510486328520201048632 Americanexceptionalism divided into two articulations One of these articulations
was more strongly religious and more certain of Godrsquos providence con-
cerning the future of the United States and its status alongside other na-
tions It was also decidedly racist Te other articulation was more ag-
nostic concerning the providence of God but was nonetheless certain
that God had set it apart to be a moral example to the rest of the world
America could show other nations what a nation conceived in liberty
might look like how it might behave and what ideals it might pursue for
the benefit in theory if not in practice of all humanity
Americans struggled to figure out their place in the nineteenth century
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 1048630852019
aer their break with their mother country Great Britain Tey looked
for their place not only in the world doing ldquoall other Acts and Tings
which Independent States may of right dordquo as the Declaration of Inde-pendence suggested but also their place in human history As they
struggled they did many things that seem strange to us in the twenty-
first century William Walker is an example of such a person But
someone who most Americans have come to admire and acknowledge
as the greatest president ever to hold the officemdashAbraham Lincolnmdashwas
motivated by the idea of American exceptionalism as Walker was Te
tree of American exceptionalism fed by its roots was taking its shape inthe antebellum period during the nineteenth century It continued to
grow and flourish well into the twentieth and into our own century It
has yet to cease growing and developing as a civil religious idea that
Americans continually look to for guidance as they try and make sense
of their significance in space and time
F983151983154 F983157983154983156983144983141983154 R983141983137983140983145983150983143Bercovitch Sacvan Te Puritan Origins of the American Self 104862510486331048631852021 Reprint New
Haven Yale University Press 104862698308810486251048625
Gamble Richard M In Search of the City on a Hill Te Making and Unmaking
of an American Myth London Continuum 104862698308810486251048626
Greene Jack P Te Intellectual Construction of America Exceptionalism and
Identity from 1048625104862810486331048626 to 1048625104863210486241048624 Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press
104862510486331048633852019McKenna George Te Puritan Origins of American Patriotism New Haven
Yale University Press 10486269830889830881048631
Stout Harry S Te New England Soul Preaching and Religious Culture in Co-
lonial New England 1048625104863310486321048630 Reprint Oxford Oxford University Press 104862698308810486251048626
uveson Ernest Lee Redeemer Nation Te Idea of Americarsquos Millennial Role
Chicago University of Chicago Press 1048625104863310486301048632
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
Te theological roots of the tree of American exceptionalism go deeper
and are more intricate than the other roots supporting it You mightsay that theology is the taproot of the tree anchoring it firmly to the
ground But exceptionalism is supported by a system of roots Let us
move on from theology and now consider the political roots of the
concept of exceptionalism
Te United States originated in the Revolution as a political union of
independent states Tis union coalesced into a federal republic under
the Constitution which was signed in 1048625104863110486321048631 and went into effect in 1048625104863110486321048633But the union of the thirteen original states did not emerge out of thin
air Te states joined together around the common cause of indepen-
dence from Britain and that cause was undergirded by the liberal ideas
expressed in the Declaration of Independence And the ideas expressed
in the Declaration had their origins even further back Te Western
philosophical tradition has included liberal ideas for a long time but for
our purposes here let us trace those liberal ideas back to England during
its tempestuous seventeenth century
Te English Civil War (104862510486308520201048626ndash104862510486308520211048625) and the Glorious Revolution (1048625104863010486321048632)
were two crucibles in English history that ultimately helped shape that
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
Aer Charles was executed the monarchy was replaced by the Pro-
tectorate under Cromwell until just aer his death In 104862510486301048630983088 the English
monarchy was restored with the coronation of Charles II who ruleduntil 104862510486301048632852021 When Charlesrsquos son James II ascended the throne it was said
that his desire was to return England to Roman Catholicism and rule as
an absolute monarch Parliament was in no mood to take chances with
James and the body invited William of Orange and his wife Mary
(Jamesrsquos Protestant daughter) to cross the Channel land in England and
replace James Te catch was that as monarchs they would have to
recognize the supremacy of Parliament Tey agreed and landed inEngland with fourteen thousand soldiers on November 852021 1048625104863010486321048632 James
having little support and thus no real ability to control events fled for
his life to France Te ascension of William and Mary to the throne in
1048625104863010486321048632 is known as the Glorious Revolutionmdasha bloodless affair unlike the
Civil War
John Locke (104862510486308520191048626ndash10486251048631983088852020) wrote his famous wo reatises on Civil Gov-
ernment which was published in 104862510486301048633983088 largely to bring credibility to theactions of Parliament particularly in inviting the rule of William and
Mary Locke said that governments ruled by the consent of the people
Rulers possessed political power but they possessed it in trust from the
people and they maintained their power by protecting the basic rights
bestowed on them by nature at birth Tus rulers do not have the power
to rule arbitrarily Rulers may only legitimately exercise their power in
such as way as to protect the natural rights of the individual Locke wrote
ldquo[Power] can have no other end or measure when in the hands of the
Magistrate but to preserve the Members of that Society in their Lives
Liberties and Possessions and so cannot be an Absolute Arbitrary power
over their Lives and Fortunes which are as much as possible to be pre-
servedrdquo21 Locke also penned his famous Letter Concerning oleration
which advocated for religious toleration According to Locke the state
only possessed power over temporal affairs It had no jurisdiction over
the individual conscience
Events in England leading up to the Glorious Revolution led to the
formation of two strong political parties oriented around the liberal
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520211048625
ideas articulated by Locke in his wo reatises namely the ories and
the Whigs Te ories were conservatives who favored aristocratic priv-
ilege a strong bond between ecclesiastical and civil authority and thepassive obedience of subjects to the politicalecclesiastical order Te
Whigs were firmly against these positions Teir liberalism won the day
in the Glorious Revolution of 1048625104863010486321048632 Seventeenth-century thinkers such
as John Locke Algernon Sidney John Milton and James Harrington ar-
ticulated liberal views such as religious toleration liberty of the press
parliamentary supremacy and rule by consent Later thinkers influenced
by these and other earlier figures sharpened and focused liberal ideas inthe face of what they saw as overreach by George IIrsquos prime minister
Robert Walpole in the 104862510486311048626983088s In particular John renchard and Tomas
Gordon advocated for religious freedom and individual rights in their
104862510486311048626983088ndash104862510486311048626852019 collection of essays titled Catorsquos Letters Tey represented well
the ideas of Real Whig ideology a body of thought that stressed the most
sweeping liberalism yet seen Real Whig thought as expressed by
renchard and Gordon was popular not only in England but also inAmerica especially during the 104862510486311048630983088s and 104862510486311048631983088s During these years Real
Whig thought became the driving intellectual force of the Revolution
Te Real Whigs took Lockersquos views on toleration to their logical terminus
advocating for complete religious freedom Religious freedom became a
hallmark of the writings of renchard and Gordon for example Pauline
Maier wrote of Real Whig political philosophy that ldquothe [American]
revolutionary movement takes on consistency and form only against the
backdrop of English revolutionary traditionrdquo22 And the writings of
renchard and Gordon were those that were among the most influential
Real Whig writings on this side of the Atlantic
How does Real Whig ideology fit into American exceptionalism Te
answer is simplemdashit is manifested through what Mark Noll called
ldquoChristian republicanismrdquo23 Christian republicanism is an amalgamation
of Real Whig ideology and Protestant theology occurring in American
literature and rhetoric in the years leading up to and during the Revo-
lution Te unifying themes between these two strands of thought are
freedom of religious dissension a reaction against ecclesiastical privilege
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
and a millennialism that saw America as Godrsquos chosen nation to bring
about the final defeat of the forces of the Antichrist
Christian republicans in America like Jonathan Mayhew of Bostonsought to biblically justify rebellion against the mother country May-
hewrsquos sermon ldquoA Discourse Concerning Unlimited Submissionrdquo which
he gave on January 852019983088 10486251048631852021983088 (the 10486259830881048625st anniversary of the execution of
Charles I) defended the justice of the Puritansrsquo overthrow of Charles I
Romans 10486258520191048625-852021 served as Mayhewrsquos text and he preached that Charlesrsquos
overthrow was entirely just In his letter to the Romans Paul was not
writing about submitting to a government that was evil but a gov-ernment that was a ldquoservant for your goodrdquo (Romans 1048625852019852020) Just as it is
entirely right for a child or a servant to disobey a parent or a master who
rules them unjustly a people who resist the rule of a tyrant are innocent
of wrongdoing Mayhew appealed to the principle of self-defense heremdasha
people have the right even the responsibility to protect themselves
against a tyrant just as the people did in 104862510486308520201048633 when they executed
Charles I Mayhew thundered
A PEOPLE really oppressed to a great degree by their sovereign cannot
well be insensible when they are so oppressed Nor would they have
any reason to mourn if some HERCULES should appear to dispatch
himmdashFor a nation thus abused to arise unanimously and to resist their
prince even to the dethroning him is not criminal but a reasonable use
of the means and the only means which God has put in their power for
mutual and self-defence24
Mayhew serves as an important figure in the years leading up to the
Revolution for several reasons First Mayhew was a New England
preacher heavily influenced by Real Whig political thought like the idea
that rulers rule by the peoplersquos consent Second he was a Christian who
accepted republican ideas despite the fact that as Mark Noll has pointed
out republicanism is at odds with key aspects of Christian theological
doctrine25 And third Mayhew like many others in his generation bap-
tized Real Whig ideas in the waters of biblical theology Mayhew is rep-
resentative of a Christian republicanism that began occurring in the
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520211048631
resented a turning point in history and was destined to advance human
civilization to the millennial reign of Christ as the eighteenth century
progressed Abraham Keteltas preaching in 1048625104863110486311048631 to the Presbyterians inNewburyport Massachusetts equated the cause of America with the
cause of God Americarsquos cause against Great Britain was the cause of
liberty justice rule of law and individual rightsmdashnot only for those who
were living but also for those generations yet to be born
Americarsquos cause for Keteltas was the cause of good against evil As
such it was Godrsquos own cause And Americans could take comfort in the
fact that God will be faithful to champion the American cause becausein doing so he was safeguarding his own cause Keteltas did not envision
the struggle with Britain as merely a political struggle He saw it as part
of the struggle of good against evil that had been going on since the fall
in the Garden of Eden Not only that he saw the Revolution as part of
the same cosmic struggle that Christ himself engaged in with the devil
in his Passion ldquoOur causerdquo wrote Keteltas ldquois not only good but it has
been prudently conducted it is the cause of truth against error andfalsehood the cause of righteousness against iniquity It is the cause
of reformation against popery In short it is the cause of heaven
against hellmdashof the kind Parent of the universe against the prince of
darkness and the destroyer of the human racerdquo31
Keteltas preached this sermon from Psalm 104863185202010486261048626mdashldquoArise O God
plead thine own causerdquo (983147983146983158) His sermon clearly reveals a particular
exegetical method guided by millennialism He envisioned the American
colonies as being engaged in the apocalyptic struggle of the forces of
Christ against the forces of the devil Samuel Sherwood is yet another
example of a preacher reading Scripture and the events of his time in this
way His 1048625104863110486311048630 sermon ldquoTe Churchrsquos Flight into the Wildernessrdquo is one
of the most strikingly millenarian sermons of the time His text was
Revelation 104862510486261048625852020-1048625104863132 and his exegesis is strongly typological Sherwoodrsquos
typology not surprisingly is informed by millenarianism And what is
further interesting about Sherwoodrsquos exegesis of the text is how he con-
flated the church with the American colonies For instance Sherwood
preached that God brought the church into North America a land of
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
o sum up the ideology of American exceptionalism has a multistruc-
tured intellectual root system theological political exegetical and his-
toriographical By the early nineteenth century Americans largely took
it for granted that their nation represented a break from the past and a
decisive turn toward a future defined by progress and advancement And
millions of people emigrated to the United States in the nineteenthcentury to tie their own personal destinies to that of America whose
destiny seemed poised to advance from triumph to triumph
A civil religion with exceptionalism as one of its essential aspects
developed aer the Revolution Te Declaration of Independence was
one of the foundational documents in a civil religious canon that was
taking shape Te Declaration made objective transcendent authori-
tative statements about the nature of humanity the role of the gov-ernment in relation to the people it represented and Godrsquos having estab-
lished a particular order that could not be thwarted or overturned Te
Declaration was followed by other documents that formed the civil reli-
gious canon the Constitution the Bill of Rights Washingtonrsquos Farewell
Address and others
As the nation grew in numbers and in territorial size between the Lou-
isiana Purchase of 10486251048632983088852019 and the Mexican War ending in 104862510486328520201048632 Americanexceptionalism divided into two articulations One of these articulations
was more strongly religious and more certain of Godrsquos providence con-
cerning the future of the United States and its status alongside other na-
tions It was also decidedly racist Te other articulation was more ag-
nostic concerning the providence of God but was nonetheless certain
that God had set it apart to be a moral example to the rest of the world
America could show other nations what a nation conceived in liberty
might look like how it might behave and what ideals it might pursue for
the benefit in theory if not in practice of all humanity
Americans struggled to figure out their place in the nineteenth century
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 1048630852019
aer their break with their mother country Great Britain Tey looked
for their place not only in the world doing ldquoall other Acts and Tings
which Independent States may of right dordquo as the Declaration of Inde-pendence suggested but also their place in human history As they
struggled they did many things that seem strange to us in the twenty-
first century William Walker is an example of such a person But
someone who most Americans have come to admire and acknowledge
as the greatest president ever to hold the officemdashAbraham Lincolnmdashwas
motivated by the idea of American exceptionalism as Walker was Te
tree of American exceptionalism fed by its roots was taking its shape inthe antebellum period during the nineteenth century It continued to
grow and flourish well into the twentieth and into our own century It
has yet to cease growing and developing as a civil religious idea that
Americans continually look to for guidance as they try and make sense
of their significance in space and time
F983151983154 F983157983154983156983144983141983154 R983141983137983140983145983150983143Bercovitch Sacvan Te Puritan Origins of the American Self 104862510486331048631852021 Reprint New
Haven Yale University Press 104862698308810486251048625
Gamble Richard M In Search of the City on a Hill Te Making and Unmaking
of an American Myth London Continuum 104862698308810486251048626
Greene Jack P Te Intellectual Construction of America Exceptionalism and
Identity from 1048625104862810486331048626 to 1048625104863210486241048624 Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press
104862510486331048633852019McKenna George Te Puritan Origins of American Patriotism New Haven
Yale University Press 10486269830889830881048631
Stout Harry S Te New England Soul Preaching and Religious Culture in Co-
lonial New England 1048625104863310486321048630 Reprint Oxford Oxford University Press 104862698308810486251048626
uveson Ernest Lee Redeemer Nation Te Idea of Americarsquos Millennial Role
Chicago University of Chicago Press 1048625104863310486301048632
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
Aer Charles was executed the monarchy was replaced by the Pro-
tectorate under Cromwell until just aer his death In 104862510486301048630983088 the English
monarchy was restored with the coronation of Charles II who ruleduntil 104862510486301048632852021 When Charlesrsquos son James II ascended the throne it was said
that his desire was to return England to Roman Catholicism and rule as
an absolute monarch Parliament was in no mood to take chances with
James and the body invited William of Orange and his wife Mary
(Jamesrsquos Protestant daughter) to cross the Channel land in England and
replace James Te catch was that as monarchs they would have to
recognize the supremacy of Parliament Tey agreed and landed inEngland with fourteen thousand soldiers on November 852021 1048625104863010486321048632 James
having little support and thus no real ability to control events fled for
his life to France Te ascension of William and Mary to the throne in
1048625104863010486321048632 is known as the Glorious Revolutionmdasha bloodless affair unlike the
Civil War
John Locke (104862510486308520191048626ndash10486251048631983088852020) wrote his famous wo reatises on Civil Gov-
ernment which was published in 104862510486301048633983088 largely to bring credibility to theactions of Parliament particularly in inviting the rule of William and
Mary Locke said that governments ruled by the consent of the people
Rulers possessed political power but they possessed it in trust from the
people and they maintained their power by protecting the basic rights
bestowed on them by nature at birth Tus rulers do not have the power
to rule arbitrarily Rulers may only legitimately exercise their power in
such as way as to protect the natural rights of the individual Locke wrote
ldquo[Power] can have no other end or measure when in the hands of the
Magistrate but to preserve the Members of that Society in their Lives
Liberties and Possessions and so cannot be an Absolute Arbitrary power
over their Lives and Fortunes which are as much as possible to be pre-
servedrdquo21 Locke also penned his famous Letter Concerning oleration
which advocated for religious toleration According to Locke the state
only possessed power over temporal affairs It had no jurisdiction over
the individual conscience
Events in England leading up to the Glorious Revolution led to the
formation of two strong political parties oriented around the liberal
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520211048625
ideas articulated by Locke in his wo reatises namely the ories and
the Whigs Te ories were conservatives who favored aristocratic priv-
ilege a strong bond between ecclesiastical and civil authority and thepassive obedience of subjects to the politicalecclesiastical order Te
Whigs were firmly against these positions Teir liberalism won the day
in the Glorious Revolution of 1048625104863010486321048632 Seventeenth-century thinkers such
as John Locke Algernon Sidney John Milton and James Harrington ar-
ticulated liberal views such as religious toleration liberty of the press
parliamentary supremacy and rule by consent Later thinkers influenced
by these and other earlier figures sharpened and focused liberal ideas inthe face of what they saw as overreach by George IIrsquos prime minister
Robert Walpole in the 104862510486311048626983088s In particular John renchard and Tomas
Gordon advocated for religious freedom and individual rights in their
104862510486311048626983088ndash104862510486311048626852019 collection of essays titled Catorsquos Letters Tey represented well
the ideas of Real Whig ideology a body of thought that stressed the most
sweeping liberalism yet seen Real Whig thought as expressed by
renchard and Gordon was popular not only in England but also inAmerica especially during the 104862510486311048630983088s and 104862510486311048631983088s During these years Real
Whig thought became the driving intellectual force of the Revolution
Te Real Whigs took Lockersquos views on toleration to their logical terminus
advocating for complete religious freedom Religious freedom became a
hallmark of the writings of renchard and Gordon for example Pauline
Maier wrote of Real Whig political philosophy that ldquothe [American]
revolutionary movement takes on consistency and form only against the
backdrop of English revolutionary traditionrdquo22 And the writings of
renchard and Gordon were those that were among the most influential
Real Whig writings on this side of the Atlantic
How does Real Whig ideology fit into American exceptionalism Te
answer is simplemdashit is manifested through what Mark Noll called
ldquoChristian republicanismrdquo23 Christian republicanism is an amalgamation
of Real Whig ideology and Protestant theology occurring in American
literature and rhetoric in the years leading up to and during the Revo-
lution Te unifying themes between these two strands of thought are
freedom of religious dissension a reaction against ecclesiastical privilege
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
and a millennialism that saw America as Godrsquos chosen nation to bring
about the final defeat of the forces of the Antichrist
Christian republicans in America like Jonathan Mayhew of Bostonsought to biblically justify rebellion against the mother country May-
hewrsquos sermon ldquoA Discourse Concerning Unlimited Submissionrdquo which
he gave on January 852019983088 10486251048631852021983088 (the 10486259830881048625st anniversary of the execution of
Charles I) defended the justice of the Puritansrsquo overthrow of Charles I
Romans 10486258520191048625-852021 served as Mayhewrsquos text and he preached that Charlesrsquos
overthrow was entirely just In his letter to the Romans Paul was not
writing about submitting to a government that was evil but a gov-ernment that was a ldquoservant for your goodrdquo (Romans 1048625852019852020) Just as it is
entirely right for a child or a servant to disobey a parent or a master who
rules them unjustly a people who resist the rule of a tyrant are innocent
of wrongdoing Mayhew appealed to the principle of self-defense heremdasha
people have the right even the responsibility to protect themselves
against a tyrant just as the people did in 104862510486308520201048633 when they executed
Charles I Mayhew thundered
A PEOPLE really oppressed to a great degree by their sovereign cannot
well be insensible when they are so oppressed Nor would they have
any reason to mourn if some HERCULES should appear to dispatch
himmdashFor a nation thus abused to arise unanimously and to resist their
prince even to the dethroning him is not criminal but a reasonable use
of the means and the only means which God has put in their power for
mutual and self-defence24
Mayhew serves as an important figure in the years leading up to the
Revolution for several reasons First Mayhew was a New England
preacher heavily influenced by Real Whig political thought like the idea
that rulers rule by the peoplersquos consent Second he was a Christian who
accepted republican ideas despite the fact that as Mark Noll has pointed
out republicanism is at odds with key aspects of Christian theological
doctrine25 And third Mayhew like many others in his generation bap-
tized Real Whig ideas in the waters of biblical theology Mayhew is rep-
resentative of a Christian republicanism that began occurring in the
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520211048631
resented a turning point in history and was destined to advance human
civilization to the millennial reign of Christ as the eighteenth century
progressed Abraham Keteltas preaching in 1048625104863110486311048631 to the Presbyterians inNewburyport Massachusetts equated the cause of America with the
cause of God Americarsquos cause against Great Britain was the cause of
liberty justice rule of law and individual rightsmdashnot only for those who
were living but also for those generations yet to be born
Americarsquos cause for Keteltas was the cause of good against evil As
such it was Godrsquos own cause And Americans could take comfort in the
fact that God will be faithful to champion the American cause becausein doing so he was safeguarding his own cause Keteltas did not envision
the struggle with Britain as merely a political struggle He saw it as part
of the struggle of good against evil that had been going on since the fall
in the Garden of Eden Not only that he saw the Revolution as part of
the same cosmic struggle that Christ himself engaged in with the devil
in his Passion ldquoOur causerdquo wrote Keteltas ldquois not only good but it has
been prudently conducted it is the cause of truth against error andfalsehood the cause of righteousness against iniquity It is the cause
of reformation against popery In short it is the cause of heaven
against hellmdashof the kind Parent of the universe against the prince of
darkness and the destroyer of the human racerdquo31
Keteltas preached this sermon from Psalm 104863185202010486261048626mdashldquoArise O God
plead thine own causerdquo (983147983146983158) His sermon clearly reveals a particular
exegetical method guided by millennialism He envisioned the American
colonies as being engaged in the apocalyptic struggle of the forces of
Christ against the forces of the devil Samuel Sherwood is yet another
example of a preacher reading Scripture and the events of his time in this
way His 1048625104863110486311048630 sermon ldquoTe Churchrsquos Flight into the Wildernessrdquo is one
of the most strikingly millenarian sermons of the time His text was
Revelation 104862510486261048625852020-1048625104863132 and his exegesis is strongly typological Sherwoodrsquos
typology not surprisingly is informed by millenarianism And what is
further interesting about Sherwoodrsquos exegesis of the text is how he con-
flated the church with the American colonies For instance Sherwood
preached that God brought the church into North America a land of
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
o sum up the ideology of American exceptionalism has a multistruc-
tured intellectual root system theological political exegetical and his-
toriographical By the early nineteenth century Americans largely took
it for granted that their nation represented a break from the past and a
decisive turn toward a future defined by progress and advancement And
millions of people emigrated to the United States in the nineteenthcentury to tie their own personal destinies to that of America whose
destiny seemed poised to advance from triumph to triumph
A civil religion with exceptionalism as one of its essential aspects
developed aer the Revolution Te Declaration of Independence was
one of the foundational documents in a civil religious canon that was
taking shape Te Declaration made objective transcendent authori-
tative statements about the nature of humanity the role of the gov-ernment in relation to the people it represented and Godrsquos having estab-
lished a particular order that could not be thwarted or overturned Te
Declaration was followed by other documents that formed the civil reli-
gious canon the Constitution the Bill of Rights Washingtonrsquos Farewell
Address and others
As the nation grew in numbers and in territorial size between the Lou-
isiana Purchase of 10486251048632983088852019 and the Mexican War ending in 104862510486328520201048632 Americanexceptionalism divided into two articulations One of these articulations
was more strongly religious and more certain of Godrsquos providence con-
cerning the future of the United States and its status alongside other na-
tions It was also decidedly racist Te other articulation was more ag-
nostic concerning the providence of God but was nonetheless certain
that God had set it apart to be a moral example to the rest of the world
America could show other nations what a nation conceived in liberty
might look like how it might behave and what ideals it might pursue for
the benefit in theory if not in practice of all humanity
Americans struggled to figure out their place in the nineteenth century
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 1048630852019
aer their break with their mother country Great Britain Tey looked
for their place not only in the world doing ldquoall other Acts and Tings
which Independent States may of right dordquo as the Declaration of Inde-pendence suggested but also their place in human history As they
struggled they did many things that seem strange to us in the twenty-
first century William Walker is an example of such a person But
someone who most Americans have come to admire and acknowledge
as the greatest president ever to hold the officemdashAbraham Lincolnmdashwas
motivated by the idea of American exceptionalism as Walker was Te
tree of American exceptionalism fed by its roots was taking its shape inthe antebellum period during the nineteenth century It continued to
grow and flourish well into the twentieth and into our own century It
has yet to cease growing and developing as a civil religious idea that
Americans continually look to for guidance as they try and make sense
of their significance in space and time
F983151983154 F983157983154983156983144983141983154 R983141983137983140983145983150983143Bercovitch Sacvan Te Puritan Origins of the American Self 104862510486331048631852021 Reprint New
Haven Yale University Press 104862698308810486251048625
Gamble Richard M In Search of the City on a Hill Te Making and Unmaking
of an American Myth London Continuum 104862698308810486251048626
Greene Jack P Te Intellectual Construction of America Exceptionalism and
Identity from 1048625104862810486331048626 to 1048625104863210486241048624 Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press
104862510486331048633852019McKenna George Te Puritan Origins of American Patriotism New Haven
Yale University Press 10486269830889830881048631
Stout Harry S Te New England Soul Preaching and Religious Culture in Co-
lonial New England 1048625104863310486321048630 Reprint Oxford Oxford University Press 104862698308810486251048626
uveson Ernest Lee Redeemer Nation Te Idea of Americarsquos Millennial Role
Chicago University of Chicago Press 1048625104863310486301048632
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
Aer Charles was executed the monarchy was replaced by the Pro-
tectorate under Cromwell until just aer his death In 104862510486301048630983088 the English
monarchy was restored with the coronation of Charles II who ruleduntil 104862510486301048632852021 When Charlesrsquos son James II ascended the throne it was said
that his desire was to return England to Roman Catholicism and rule as
an absolute monarch Parliament was in no mood to take chances with
James and the body invited William of Orange and his wife Mary
(Jamesrsquos Protestant daughter) to cross the Channel land in England and
replace James Te catch was that as monarchs they would have to
recognize the supremacy of Parliament Tey agreed and landed inEngland with fourteen thousand soldiers on November 852021 1048625104863010486321048632 James
having little support and thus no real ability to control events fled for
his life to France Te ascension of William and Mary to the throne in
1048625104863010486321048632 is known as the Glorious Revolutionmdasha bloodless affair unlike the
Civil War
John Locke (104862510486308520191048626ndash10486251048631983088852020) wrote his famous wo reatises on Civil Gov-
ernment which was published in 104862510486301048633983088 largely to bring credibility to theactions of Parliament particularly in inviting the rule of William and
Mary Locke said that governments ruled by the consent of the people
Rulers possessed political power but they possessed it in trust from the
people and they maintained their power by protecting the basic rights
bestowed on them by nature at birth Tus rulers do not have the power
to rule arbitrarily Rulers may only legitimately exercise their power in
such as way as to protect the natural rights of the individual Locke wrote
ldquo[Power] can have no other end or measure when in the hands of the
Magistrate but to preserve the Members of that Society in their Lives
Liberties and Possessions and so cannot be an Absolute Arbitrary power
over their Lives and Fortunes which are as much as possible to be pre-
servedrdquo21 Locke also penned his famous Letter Concerning oleration
which advocated for religious toleration According to Locke the state
only possessed power over temporal affairs It had no jurisdiction over
the individual conscience
Events in England leading up to the Glorious Revolution led to the
formation of two strong political parties oriented around the liberal
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520211048625
ideas articulated by Locke in his wo reatises namely the ories and
the Whigs Te ories were conservatives who favored aristocratic priv-
ilege a strong bond between ecclesiastical and civil authority and thepassive obedience of subjects to the politicalecclesiastical order Te
Whigs were firmly against these positions Teir liberalism won the day
in the Glorious Revolution of 1048625104863010486321048632 Seventeenth-century thinkers such
as John Locke Algernon Sidney John Milton and James Harrington ar-
ticulated liberal views such as religious toleration liberty of the press
parliamentary supremacy and rule by consent Later thinkers influenced
by these and other earlier figures sharpened and focused liberal ideas inthe face of what they saw as overreach by George IIrsquos prime minister
Robert Walpole in the 104862510486311048626983088s In particular John renchard and Tomas
Gordon advocated for religious freedom and individual rights in their
104862510486311048626983088ndash104862510486311048626852019 collection of essays titled Catorsquos Letters Tey represented well
the ideas of Real Whig ideology a body of thought that stressed the most
sweeping liberalism yet seen Real Whig thought as expressed by
renchard and Gordon was popular not only in England but also inAmerica especially during the 104862510486311048630983088s and 104862510486311048631983088s During these years Real
Whig thought became the driving intellectual force of the Revolution
Te Real Whigs took Lockersquos views on toleration to their logical terminus
advocating for complete religious freedom Religious freedom became a
hallmark of the writings of renchard and Gordon for example Pauline
Maier wrote of Real Whig political philosophy that ldquothe [American]
revolutionary movement takes on consistency and form only against the
backdrop of English revolutionary traditionrdquo22 And the writings of
renchard and Gordon were those that were among the most influential
Real Whig writings on this side of the Atlantic
How does Real Whig ideology fit into American exceptionalism Te
answer is simplemdashit is manifested through what Mark Noll called
ldquoChristian republicanismrdquo23 Christian republicanism is an amalgamation
of Real Whig ideology and Protestant theology occurring in American
literature and rhetoric in the years leading up to and during the Revo-
lution Te unifying themes between these two strands of thought are
freedom of religious dissension a reaction against ecclesiastical privilege
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
and a millennialism that saw America as Godrsquos chosen nation to bring
about the final defeat of the forces of the Antichrist
Christian republicans in America like Jonathan Mayhew of Bostonsought to biblically justify rebellion against the mother country May-
hewrsquos sermon ldquoA Discourse Concerning Unlimited Submissionrdquo which
he gave on January 852019983088 10486251048631852021983088 (the 10486259830881048625st anniversary of the execution of
Charles I) defended the justice of the Puritansrsquo overthrow of Charles I
Romans 10486258520191048625-852021 served as Mayhewrsquos text and he preached that Charlesrsquos
overthrow was entirely just In his letter to the Romans Paul was not
writing about submitting to a government that was evil but a gov-ernment that was a ldquoservant for your goodrdquo (Romans 1048625852019852020) Just as it is
entirely right for a child or a servant to disobey a parent or a master who
rules them unjustly a people who resist the rule of a tyrant are innocent
of wrongdoing Mayhew appealed to the principle of self-defense heremdasha
people have the right even the responsibility to protect themselves
against a tyrant just as the people did in 104862510486308520201048633 when they executed
Charles I Mayhew thundered
A PEOPLE really oppressed to a great degree by their sovereign cannot
well be insensible when they are so oppressed Nor would they have
any reason to mourn if some HERCULES should appear to dispatch
himmdashFor a nation thus abused to arise unanimously and to resist their
prince even to the dethroning him is not criminal but a reasonable use
of the means and the only means which God has put in their power for
mutual and self-defence24
Mayhew serves as an important figure in the years leading up to the
Revolution for several reasons First Mayhew was a New England
preacher heavily influenced by Real Whig political thought like the idea
that rulers rule by the peoplersquos consent Second he was a Christian who
accepted republican ideas despite the fact that as Mark Noll has pointed
out republicanism is at odds with key aspects of Christian theological
doctrine25 And third Mayhew like many others in his generation bap-
tized Real Whig ideas in the waters of biblical theology Mayhew is rep-
resentative of a Christian republicanism that began occurring in the
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520211048631
resented a turning point in history and was destined to advance human
civilization to the millennial reign of Christ as the eighteenth century
progressed Abraham Keteltas preaching in 1048625104863110486311048631 to the Presbyterians inNewburyport Massachusetts equated the cause of America with the
cause of God Americarsquos cause against Great Britain was the cause of
liberty justice rule of law and individual rightsmdashnot only for those who
were living but also for those generations yet to be born
Americarsquos cause for Keteltas was the cause of good against evil As
such it was Godrsquos own cause And Americans could take comfort in the
fact that God will be faithful to champion the American cause becausein doing so he was safeguarding his own cause Keteltas did not envision
the struggle with Britain as merely a political struggle He saw it as part
of the struggle of good against evil that had been going on since the fall
in the Garden of Eden Not only that he saw the Revolution as part of
the same cosmic struggle that Christ himself engaged in with the devil
in his Passion ldquoOur causerdquo wrote Keteltas ldquois not only good but it has
been prudently conducted it is the cause of truth against error andfalsehood the cause of righteousness against iniquity It is the cause
of reformation against popery In short it is the cause of heaven
against hellmdashof the kind Parent of the universe against the prince of
darkness and the destroyer of the human racerdquo31
Keteltas preached this sermon from Psalm 104863185202010486261048626mdashldquoArise O God
plead thine own causerdquo (983147983146983158) His sermon clearly reveals a particular
exegetical method guided by millennialism He envisioned the American
colonies as being engaged in the apocalyptic struggle of the forces of
Christ against the forces of the devil Samuel Sherwood is yet another
example of a preacher reading Scripture and the events of his time in this
way His 1048625104863110486311048630 sermon ldquoTe Churchrsquos Flight into the Wildernessrdquo is one
of the most strikingly millenarian sermons of the time His text was
Revelation 104862510486261048625852020-1048625104863132 and his exegesis is strongly typological Sherwoodrsquos
typology not surprisingly is informed by millenarianism And what is
further interesting about Sherwoodrsquos exegesis of the text is how he con-
flated the church with the American colonies For instance Sherwood
preached that God brought the church into North America a land of
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
o sum up the ideology of American exceptionalism has a multistruc-
tured intellectual root system theological political exegetical and his-
toriographical By the early nineteenth century Americans largely took
it for granted that their nation represented a break from the past and a
decisive turn toward a future defined by progress and advancement And
millions of people emigrated to the United States in the nineteenthcentury to tie their own personal destinies to that of America whose
destiny seemed poised to advance from triumph to triumph
A civil religion with exceptionalism as one of its essential aspects
developed aer the Revolution Te Declaration of Independence was
one of the foundational documents in a civil religious canon that was
taking shape Te Declaration made objective transcendent authori-
tative statements about the nature of humanity the role of the gov-ernment in relation to the people it represented and Godrsquos having estab-
lished a particular order that could not be thwarted or overturned Te
Declaration was followed by other documents that formed the civil reli-
gious canon the Constitution the Bill of Rights Washingtonrsquos Farewell
Address and others
As the nation grew in numbers and in territorial size between the Lou-
isiana Purchase of 10486251048632983088852019 and the Mexican War ending in 104862510486328520201048632 Americanexceptionalism divided into two articulations One of these articulations
was more strongly religious and more certain of Godrsquos providence con-
cerning the future of the United States and its status alongside other na-
tions It was also decidedly racist Te other articulation was more ag-
nostic concerning the providence of God but was nonetheless certain
that God had set it apart to be a moral example to the rest of the world
America could show other nations what a nation conceived in liberty
might look like how it might behave and what ideals it might pursue for
the benefit in theory if not in practice of all humanity
Americans struggled to figure out their place in the nineteenth century
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 1048630852019
aer their break with their mother country Great Britain Tey looked
for their place not only in the world doing ldquoall other Acts and Tings
which Independent States may of right dordquo as the Declaration of Inde-pendence suggested but also their place in human history As they
struggled they did many things that seem strange to us in the twenty-
first century William Walker is an example of such a person But
someone who most Americans have come to admire and acknowledge
as the greatest president ever to hold the officemdashAbraham Lincolnmdashwas
motivated by the idea of American exceptionalism as Walker was Te
tree of American exceptionalism fed by its roots was taking its shape inthe antebellum period during the nineteenth century It continued to
grow and flourish well into the twentieth and into our own century It
has yet to cease growing and developing as a civil religious idea that
Americans continually look to for guidance as they try and make sense
of their significance in space and time
F983151983154 F983157983154983156983144983141983154 R983141983137983140983145983150983143Bercovitch Sacvan Te Puritan Origins of the American Self 104862510486331048631852021 Reprint New
Haven Yale University Press 104862698308810486251048625
Gamble Richard M In Search of the City on a Hill Te Making and Unmaking
of an American Myth London Continuum 104862698308810486251048626
Greene Jack P Te Intellectual Construction of America Exceptionalism and
Identity from 1048625104862810486331048626 to 1048625104863210486241048624 Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press
104862510486331048633852019McKenna George Te Puritan Origins of American Patriotism New Haven
Yale University Press 10486269830889830881048631
Stout Harry S Te New England Soul Preaching and Religious Culture in Co-
lonial New England 1048625104863310486321048630 Reprint Oxford Oxford University Press 104862698308810486251048626
uveson Ernest Lee Redeemer Nation Te Idea of Americarsquos Millennial Role
Chicago University of Chicago Press 1048625104863310486301048632
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520211048625
ideas articulated by Locke in his wo reatises namely the ories and
the Whigs Te ories were conservatives who favored aristocratic priv-
ilege a strong bond between ecclesiastical and civil authority and thepassive obedience of subjects to the politicalecclesiastical order Te
Whigs were firmly against these positions Teir liberalism won the day
in the Glorious Revolution of 1048625104863010486321048632 Seventeenth-century thinkers such
as John Locke Algernon Sidney John Milton and James Harrington ar-
ticulated liberal views such as religious toleration liberty of the press
parliamentary supremacy and rule by consent Later thinkers influenced
by these and other earlier figures sharpened and focused liberal ideas inthe face of what they saw as overreach by George IIrsquos prime minister
Robert Walpole in the 104862510486311048626983088s In particular John renchard and Tomas
Gordon advocated for religious freedom and individual rights in their
104862510486311048626983088ndash104862510486311048626852019 collection of essays titled Catorsquos Letters Tey represented well
the ideas of Real Whig ideology a body of thought that stressed the most
sweeping liberalism yet seen Real Whig thought as expressed by
renchard and Gordon was popular not only in England but also inAmerica especially during the 104862510486311048630983088s and 104862510486311048631983088s During these years Real
Whig thought became the driving intellectual force of the Revolution
Te Real Whigs took Lockersquos views on toleration to their logical terminus
advocating for complete religious freedom Religious freedom became a
hallmark of the writings of renchard and Gordon for example Pauline
Maier wrote of Real Whig political philosophy that ldquothe [American]
revolutionary movement takes on consistency and form only against the
backdrop of English revolutionary traditionrdquo22 And the writings of
renchard and Gordon were those that were among the most influential
Real Whig writings on this side of the Atlantic
How does Real Whig ideology fit into American exceptionalism Te
answer is simplemdashit is manifested through what Mark Noll called
ldquoChristian republicanismrdquo23 Christian republicanism is an amalgamation
of Real Whig ideology and Protestant theology occurring in American
literature and rhetoric in the years leading up to and during the Revo-
lution Te unifying themes between these two strands of thought are
freedom of religious dissension a reaction against ecclesiastical privilege
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
and a millennialism that saw America as Godrsquos chosen nation to bring
about the final defeat of the forces of the Antichrist
Christian republicans in America like Jonathan Mayhew of Bostonsought to biblically justify rebellion against the mother country May-
hewrsquos sermon ldquoA Discourse Concerning Unlimited Submissionrdquo which
he gave on January 852019983088 10486251048631852021983088 (the 10486259830881048625st anniversary of the execution of
Charles I) defended the justice of the Puritansrsquo overthrow of Charles I
Romans 10486258520191048625-852021 served as Mayhewrsquos text and he preached that Charlesrsquos
overthrow was entirely just In his letter to the Romans Paul was not
writing about submitting to a government that was evil but a gov-ernment that was a ldquoservant for your goodrdquo (Romans 1048625852019852020) Just as it is
entirely right for a child or a servant to disobey a parent or a master who
rules them unjustly a people who resist the rule of a tyrant are innocent
of wrongdoing Mayhew appealed to the principle of self-defense heremdasha
people have the right even the responsibility to protect themselves
against a tyrant just as the people did in 104862510486308520201048633 when they executed
Charles I Mayhew thundered
A PEOPLE really oppressed to a great degree by their sovereign cannot
well be insensible when they are so oppressed Nor would they have
any reason to mourn if some HERCULES should appear to dispatch
himmdashFor a nation thus abused to arise unanimously and to resist their
prince even to the dethroning him is not criminal but a reasonable use
of the means and the only means which God has put in their power for
mutual and self-defence24
Mayhew serves as an important figure in the years leading up to the
Revolution for several reasons First Mayhew was a New England
preacher heavily influenced by Real Whig political thought like the idea
that rulers rule by the peoplersquos consent Second he was a Christian who
accepted republican ideas despite the fact that as Mark Noll has pointed
out republicanism is at odds with key aspects of Christian theological
doctrine25 And third Mayhew like many others in his generation bap-
tized Real Whig ideas in the waters of biblical theology Mayhew is rep-
resentative of a Christian republicanism that began occurring in the
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520211048631
resented a turning point in history and was destined to advance human
civilization to the millennial reign of Christ as the eighteenth century
progressed Abraham Keteltas preaching in 1048625104863110486311048631 to the Presbyterians inNewburyport Massachusetts equated the cause of America with the
cause of God Americarsquos cause against Great Britain was the cause of
liberty justice rule of law and individual rightsmdashnot only for those who
were living but also for those generations yet to be born
Americarsquos cause for Keteltas was the cause of good against evil As
such it was Godrsquos own cause And Americans could take comfort in the
fact that God will be faithful to champion the American cause becausein doing so he was safeguarding his own cause Keteltas did not envision
the struggle with Britain as merely a political struggle He saw it as part
of the struggle of good against evil that had been going on since the fall
in the Garden of Eden Not only that he saw the Revolution as part of
the same cosmic struggle that Christ himself engaged in with the devil
in his Passion ldquoOur causerdquo wrote Keteltas ldquois not only good but it has
been prudently conducted it is the cause of truth against error andfalsehood the cause of righteousness against iniquity It is the cause
of reformation against popery In short it is the cause of heaven
against hellmdashof the kind Parent of the universe against the prince of
darkness and the destroyer of the human racerdquo31
Keteltas preached this sermon from Psalm 104863185202010486261048626mdashldquoArise O God
plead thine own causerdquo (983147983146983158) His sermon clearly reveals a particular
exegetical method guided by millennialism He envisioned the American
colonies as being engaged in the apocalyptic struggle of the forces of
Christ against the forces of the devil Samuel Sherwood is yet another
example of a preacher reading Scripture and the events of his time in this
way His 1048625104863110486311048630 sermon ldquoTe Churchrsquos Flight into the Wildernessrdquo is one
of the most strikingly millenarian sermons of the time His text was
Revelation 104862510486261048625852020-1048625104863132 and his exegesis is strongly typological Sherwoodrsquos
typology not surprisingly is informed by millenarianism And what is
further interesting about Sherwoodrsquos exegesis of the text is how he con-
flated the church with the American colonies For instance Sherwood
preached that God brought the church into North America a land of
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
o sum up the ideology of American exceptionalism has a multistruc-
tured intellectual root system theological political exegetical and his-
toriographical By the early nineteenth century Americans largely took
it for granted that their nation represented a break from the past and a
decisive turn toward a future defined by progress and advancement And
millions of people emigrated to the United States in the nineteenthcentury to tie their own personal destinies to that of America whose
destiny seemed poised to advance from triumph to triumph
A civil religion with exceptionalism as one of its essential aspects
developed aer the Revolution Te Declaration of Independence was
one of the foundational documents in a civil religious canon that was
taking shape Te Declaration made objective transcendent authori-
tative statements about the nature of humanity the role of the gov-ernment in relation to the people it represented and Godrsquos having estab-
lished a particular order that could not be thwarted or overturned Te
Declaration was followed by other documents that formed the civil reli-
gious canon the Constitution the Bill of Rights Washingtonrsquos Farewell
Address and others
As the nation grew in numbers and in territorial size between the Lou-
isiana Purchase of 10486251048632983088852019 and the Mexican War ending in 104862510486328520201048632 Americanexceptionalism divided into two articulations One of these articulations
was more strongly religious and more certain of Godrsquos providence con-
cerning the future of the United States and its status alongside other na-
tions It was also decidedly racist Te other articulation was more ag-
nostic concerning the providence of God but was nonetheless certain
that God had set it apart to be a moral example to the rest of the world
America could show other nations what a nation conceived in liberty
might look like how it might behave and what ideals it might pursue for
the benefit in theory if not in practice of all humanity
Americans struggled to figure out their place in the nineteenth century
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 1048630852019
aer their break with their mother country Great Britain Tey looked
for their place not only in the world doing ldquoall other Acts and Tings
which Independent States may of right dordquo as the Declaration of Inde-pendence suggested but also their place in human history As they
struggled they did many things that seem strange to us in the twenty-
first century William Walker is an example of such a person But
someone who most Americans have come to admire and acknowledge
as the greatest president ever to hold the officemdashAbraham Lincolnmdashwas
motivated by the idea of American exceptionalism as Walker was Te
tree of American exceptionalism fed by its roots was taking its shape inthe antebellum period during the nineteenth century It continued to
grow and flourish well into the twentieth and into our own century It
has yet to cease growing and developing as a civil religious idea that
Americans continually look to for guidance as they try and make sense
of their significance in space and time
F983151983154 F983157983154983156983144983141983154 R983141983137983140983145983150983143Bercovitch Sacvan Te Puritan Origins of the American Self 104862510486331048631852021 Reprint New
Haven Yale University Press 104862698308810486251048625
Gamble Richard M In Search of the City on a Hill Te Making and Unmaking
of an American Myth London Continuum 104862698308810486251048626
Greene Jack P Te Intellectual Construction of America Exceptionalism and
Identity from 1048625104862810486331048626 to 1048625104863210486241048624 Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press
104862510486331048633852019McKenna George Te Puritan Origins of American Patriotism New Haven
Yale University Press 10486269830889830881048631
Stout Harry S Te New England Soul Preaching and Religious Culture in Co-
lonial New England 1048625104863310486321048630 Reprint Oxford Oxford University Press 104862698308810486251048626
uveson Ernest Lee Redeemer Nation Te Idea of Americarsquos Millennial Role
Chicago University of Chicago Press 1048625104863310486301048632
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
and a millennialism that saw America as Godrsquos chosen nation to bring
about the final defeat of the forces of the Antichrist
Christian republicans in America like Jonathan Mayhew of Bostonsought to biblically justify rebellion against the mother country May-
hewrsquos sermon ldquoA Discourse Concerning Unlimited Submissionrdquo which
he gave on January 852019983088 10486251048631852021983088 (the 10486259830881048625st anniversary of the execution of
Charles I) defended the justice of the Puritansrsquo overthrow of Charles I
Romans 10486258520191048625-852021 served as Mayhewrsquos text and he preached that Charlesrsquos
overthrow was entirely just In his letter to the Romans Paul was not
writing about submitting to a government that was evil but a gov-ernment that was a ldquoservant for your goodrdquo (Romans 1048625852019852020) Just as it is
entirely right for a child or a servant to disobey a parent or a master who
rules them unjustly a people who resist the rule of a tyrant are innocent
of wrongdoing Mayhew appealed to the principle of self-defense heremdasha
people have the right even the responsibility to protect themselves
against a tyrant just as the people did in 104862510486308520201048633 when they executed
Charles I Mayhew thundered
A PEOPLE really oppressed to a great degree by their sovereign cannot
well be insensible when they are so oppressed Nor would they have
any reason to mourn if some HERCULES should appear to dispatch
himmdashFor a nation thus abused to arise unanimously and to resist their
prince even to the dethroning him is not criminal but a reasonable use
of the means and the only means which God has put in their power for
mutual and self-defence24
Mayhew serves as an important figure in the years leading up to the
Revolution for several reasons First Mayhew was a New England
preacher heavily influenced by Real Whig political thought like the idea
that rulers rule by the peoplersquos consent Second he was a Christian who
accepted republican ideas despite the fact that as Mark Noll has pointed
out republicanism is at odds with key aspects of Christian theological
doctrine25 And third Mayhew like many others in his generation bap-
tized Real Whig ideas in the waters of biblical theology Mayhew is rep-
resentative of a Christian republicanism that began occurring in the
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520211048631
resented a turning point in history and was destined to advance human
civilization to the millennial reign of Christ as the eighteenth century
progressed Abraham Keteltas preaching in 1048625104863110486311048631 to the Presbyterians inNewburyport Massachusetts equated the cause of America with the
cause of God Americarsquos cause against Great Britain was the cause of
liberty justice rule of law and individual rightsmdashnot only for those who
were living but also for those generations yet to be born
Americarsquos cause for Keteltas was the cause of good against evil As
such it was Godrsquos own cause And Americans could take comfort in the
fact that God will be faithful to champion the American cause becausein doing so he was safeguarding his own cause Keteltas did not envision
the struggle with Britain as merely a political struggle He saw it as part
of the struggle of good against evil that had been going on since the fall
in the Garden of Eden Not only that he saw the Revolution as part of
the same cosmic struggle that Christ himself engaged in with the devil
in his Passion ldquoOur causerdquo wrote Keteltas ldquois not only good but it has
been prudently conducted it is the cause of truth against error andfalsehood the cause of righteousness against iniquity It is the cause
of reformation against popery In short it is the cause of heaven
against hellmdashof the kind Parent of the universe against the prince of
darkness and the destroyer of the human racerdquo31
Keteltas preached this sermon from Psalm 104863185202010486261048626mdashldquoArise O God
plead thine own causerdquo (983147983146983158) His sermon clearly reveals a particular
exegetical method guided by millennialism He envisioned the American
colonies as being engaged in the apocalyptic struggle of the forces of
Christ against the forces of the devil Samuel Sherwood is yet another
example of a preacher reading Scripture and the events of his time in this
way His 1048625104863110486311048630 sermon ldquoTe Churchrsquos Flight into the Wildernessrdquo is one
of the most strikingly millenarian sermons of the time His text was
Revelation 104862510486261048625852020-1048625104863132 and his exegesis is strongly typological Sherwoodrsquos
typology not surprisingly is informed by millenarianism And what is
further interesting about Sherwoodrsquos exegesis of the text is how he con-
flated the church with the American colonies For instance Sherwood
preached that God brought the church into North America a land of
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
o sum up the ideology of American exceptionalism has a multistruc-
tured intellectual root system theological political exegetical and his-
toriographical By the early nineteenth century Americans largely took
it for granted that their nation represented a break from the past and a
decisive turn toward a future defined by progress and advancement And
millions of people emigrated to the United States in the nineteenthcentury to tie their own personal destinies to that of America whose
destiny seemed poised to advance from triumph to triumph
A civil religion with exceptionalism as one of its essential aspects
developed aer the Revolution Te Declaration of Independence was
one of the foundational documents in a civil religious canon that was
taking shape Te Declaration made objective transcendent authori-
tative statements about the nature of humanity the role of the gov-ernment in relation to the people it represented and Godrsquos having estab-
lished a particular order that could not be thwarted or overturned Te
Declaration was followed by other documents that formed the civil reli-
gious canon the Constitution the Bill of Rights Washingtonrsquos Farewell
Address and others
As the nation grew in numbers and in territorial size between the Lou-
isiana Purchase of 10486251048632983088852019 and the Mexican War ending in 104862510486328520201048632 Americanexceptionalism divided into two articulations One of these articulations
was more strongly religious and more certain of Godrsquos providence con-
cerning the future of the United States and its status alongside other na-
tions It was also decidedly racist Te other articulation was more ag-
nostic concerning the providence of God but was nonetheless certain
that God had set it apart to be a moral example to the rest of the world
America could show other nations what a nation conceived in liberty
might look like how it might behave and what ideals it might pursue for
the benefit in theory if not in practice of all humanity
Americans struggled to figure out their place in the nineteenth century
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 1048630852019
aer their break with their mother country Great Britain Tey looked
for their place not only in the world doing ldquoall other Acts and Tings
which Independent States may of right dordquo as the Declaration of Inde-pendence suggested but also their place in human history As they
struggled they did many things that seem strange to us in the twenty-
first century William Walker is an example of such a person But
someone who most Americans have come to admire and acknowledge
as the greatest president ever to hold the officemdashAbraham Lincolnmdashwas
motivated by the idea of American exceptionalism as Walker was Te
tree of American exceptionalism fed by its roots was taking its shape inthe antebellum period during the nineteenth century It continued to
grow and flourish well into the twentieth and into our own century It
has yet to cease growing and developing as a civil religious idea that
Americans continually look to for guidance as they try and make sense
of their significance in space and time
F983151983154 F983157983154983156983144983141983154 R983141983137983140983145983150983143Bercovitch Sacvan Te Puritan Origins of the American Self 104862510486331048631852021 Reprint New
Haven Yale University Press 104862698308810486251048625
Gamble Richard M In Search of the City on a Hill Te Making and Unmaking
of an American Myth London Continuum 104862698308810486251048626
Greene Jack P Te Intellectual Construction of America Exceptionalism and
Identity from 1048625104862810486331048626 to 1048625104863210486241048624 Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press
104862510486331048633852019McKenna George Te Puritan Origins of American Patriotism New Haven
Yale University Press 10486269830889830881048631
Stout Harry S Te New England Soul Preaching and Religious Culture in Co-
lonial New England 1048625104863310486321048630 Reprint Oxford Oxford University Press 104862698308810486251048626
uveson Ernest Lee Redeemer Nation Te Idea of Americarsquos Millennial Role
Chicago University of Chicago Press 1048625104863310486301048632
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520211048631
resented a turning point in history and was destined to advance human
civilization to the millennial reign of Christ as the eighteenth century
progressed Abraham Keteltas preaching in 1048625104863110486311048631 to the Presbyterians inNewburyport Massachusetts equated the cause of America with the
cause of God Americarsquos cause against Great Britain was the cause of
liberty justice rule of law and individual rightsmdashnot only for those who
were living but also for those generations yet to be born
Americarsquos cause for Keteltas was the cause of good against evil As
such it was Godrsquos own cause And Americans could take comfort in the
fact that God will be faithful to champion the American cause becausein doing so he was safeguarding his own cause Keteltas did not envision
the struggle with Britain as merely a political struggle He saw it as part
of the struggle of good against evil that had been going on since the fall
in the Garden of Eden Not only that he saw the Revolution as part of
the same cosmic struggle that Christ himself engaged in with the devil
in his Passion ldquoOur causerdquo wrote Keteltas ldquois not only good but it has
been prudently conducted it is the cause of truth against error andfalsehood the cause of righteousness against iniquity It is the cause
of reformation against popery In short it is the cause of heaven
against hellmdashof the kind Parent of the universe against the prince of
darkness and the destroyer of the human racerdquo31
Keteltas preached this sermon from Psalm 104863185202010486261048626mdashldquoArise O God
plead thine own causerdquo (983147983146983158) His sermon clearly reveals a particular
exegetical method guided by millennialism He envisioned the American
colonies as being engaged in the apocalyptic struggle of the forces of
Christ against the forces of the devil Samuel Sherwood is yet another
example of a preacher reading Scripture and the events of his time in this
way His 1048625104863110486311048630 sermon ldquoTe Churchrsquos Flight into the Wildernessrdquo is one
of the most strikingly millenarian sermons of the time His text was
Revelation 104862510486261048625852020-1048625104863132 and his exegesis is strongly typological Sherwoodrsquos
typology not surprisingly is informed by millenarianism And what is
further interesting about Sherwoodrsquos exegesis of the text is how he con-
flated the church with the American colonies For instance Sherwood
preached that God brought the church into North America a land of
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
o sum up the ideology of American exceptionalism has a multistruc-
tured intellectual root system theological political exegetical and his-
toriographical By the early nineteenth century Americans largely took
it for granted that their nation represented a break from the past and a
decisive turn toward a future defined by progress and advancement And
millions of people emigrated to the United States in the nineteenthcentury to tie their own personal destinies to that of America whose
destiny seemed poised to advance from triumph to triumph
A civil religion with exceptionalism as one of its essential aspects
developed aer the Revolution Te Declaration of Independence was
one of the foundational documents in a civil religious canon that was
taking shape Te Declaration made objective transcendent authori-
tative statements about the nature of humanity the role of the gov-ernment in relation to the people it represented and Godrsquos having estab-
lished a particular order that could not be thwarted or overturned Te
Declaration was followed by other documents that formed the civil reli-
gious canon the Constitution the Bill of Rights Washingtonrsquos Farewell
Address and others
As the nation grew in numbers and in territorial size between the Lou-
isiana Purchase of 10486251048632983088852019 and the Mexican War ending in 104862510486328520201048632 Americanexceptionalism divided into two articulations One of these articulations
was more strongly religious and more certain of Godrsquos providence con-
cerning the future of the United States and its status alongside other na-
tions It was also decidedly racist Te other articulation was more ag-
nostic concerning the providence of God but was nonetheless certain
that God had set it apart to be a moral example to the rest of the world
America could show other nations what a nation conceived in liberty
might look like how it might behave and what ideals it might pursue for
the benefit in theory if not in practice of all humanity
Americans struggled to figure out their place in the nineteenth century
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 1048630852019
aer their break with their mother country Great Britain Tey looked
for their place not only in the world doing ldquoall other Acts and Tings
which Independent States may of right dordquo as the Declaration of Inde-pendence suggested but also their place in human history As they
struggled they did many things that seem strange to us in the twenty-
first century William Walker is an example of such a person But
someone who most Americans have come to admire and acknowledge
as the greatest president ever to hold the officemdashAbraham Lincolnmdashwas
motivated by the idea of American exceptionalism as Walker was Te
tree of American exceptionalism fed by its roots was taking its shape inthe antebellum period during the nineteenth century It continued to
grow and flourish well into the twentieth and into our own century It
has yet to cease growing and developing as a civil religious idea that
Americans continually look to for guidance as they try and make sense
of their significance in space and time
F983151983154 F983157983154983156983144983141983154 R983141983137983140983145983150983143Bercovitch Sacvan Te Puritan Origins of the American Self 104862510486331048631852021 Reprint New
Haven Yale University Press 104862698308810486251048625
Gamble Richard M In Search of the City on a Hill Te Making and Unmaking
of an American Myth London Continuum 104862698308810486251048626
Greene Jack P Te Intellectual Construction of America Exceptionalism and
Identity from 1048625104862810486331048626 to 1048625104863210486241048624 Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press
104862510486331048633852019McKenna George Te Puritan Origins of American Patriotism New Haven
Yale University Press 10486269830889830881048631
Stout Harry S Te New England Soul Preaching and Religious Culture in Co-
lonial New England 1048625104863310486321048630 Reprint Oxford Oxford University Press 104862698308810486251048626
uveson Ernest Lee Redeemer Nation Te Idea of Americarsquos Millennial Role
Chicago University of Chicago Press 1048625104863310486301048632
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520211048631
resented a turning point in history and was destined to advance human
civilization to the millennial reign of Christ as the eighteenth century
progressed Abraham Keteltas preaching in 1048625104863110486311048631 to the Presbyterians inNewburyport Massachusetts equated the cause of America with the
cause of God Americarsquos cause against Great Britain was the cause of
liberty justice rule of law and individual rightsmdashnot only for those who
were living but also for those generations yet to be born
Americarsquos cause for Keteltas was the cause of good against evil As
such it was Godrsquos own cause And Americans could take comfort in the
fact that God will be faithful to champion the American cause becausein doing so he was safeguarding his own cause Keteltas did not envision
the struggle with Britain as merely a political struggle He saw it as part
of the struggle of good against evil that had been going on since the fall
in the Garden of Eden Not only that he saw the Revolution as part of
the same cosmic struggle that Christ himself engaged in with the devil
in his Passion ldquoOur causerdquo wrote Keteltas ldquois not only good but it has
been prudently conducted it is the cause of truth against error andfalsehood the cause of righteousness against iniquity It is the cause
of reformation against popery In short it is the cause of heaven
against hellmdashof the kind Parent of the universe against the prince of
darkness and the destroyer of the human racerdquo31
Keteltas preached this sermon from Psalm 104863185202010486261048626mdashldquoArise O God
plead thine own causerdquo (983147983146983158) His sermon clearly reveals a particular
exegetical method guided by millennialism He envisioned the American
colonies as being engaged in the apocalyptic struggle of the forces of
Christ against the forces of the devil Samuel Sherwood is yet another
example of a preacher reading Scripture and the events of his time in this
way His 1048625104863110486311048630 sermon ldquoTe Churchrsquos Flight into the Wildernessrdquo is one
of the most strikingly millenarian sermons of the time His text was
Revelation 104862510486261048625852020-1048625104863132 and his exegesis is strongly typological Sherwoodrsquos
typology not surprisingly is informed by millenarianism And what is
further interesting about Sherwoodrsquos exegesis of the text is how he con-
flated the church with the American colonies For instance Sherwood
preached that God brought the church into North America a land of
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
o sum up the ideology of American exceptionalism has a multistruc-
tured intellectual root system theological political exegetical and his-
toriographical By the early nineteenth century Americans largely took
it for granted that their nation represented a break from the past and a
decisive turn toward a future defined by progress and advancement And
millions of people emigrated to the United States in the nineteenthcentury to tie their own personal destinies to that of America whose
destiny seemed poised to advance from triumph to triumph
A civil religion with exceptionalism as one of its essential aspects
developed aer the Revolution Te Declaration of Independence was
one of the foundational documents in a civil religious canon that was
taking shape Te Declaration made objective transcendent authori-
tative statements about the nature of humanity the role of the gov-ernment in relation to the people it represented and Godrsquos having estab-
lished a particular order that could not be thwarted or overturned Te
Declaration was followed by other documents that formed the civil reli-
gious canon the Constitution the Bill of Rights Washingtonrsquos Farewell
Address and others
As the nation grew in numbers and in territorial size between the Lou-
isiana Purchase of 10486251048632983088852019 and the Mexican War ending in 104862510486328520201048632 Americanexceptionalism divided into two articulations One of these articulations
was more strongly religious and more certain of Godrsquos providence con-
cerning the future of the United States and its status alongside other na-
tions It was also decidedly racist Te other articulation was more ag-
nostic concerning the providence of God but was nonetheless certain
that God had set it apart to be a moral example to the rest of the world
America could show other nations what a nation conceived in liberty
might look like how it might behave and what ideals it might pursue for
the benefit in theory if not in practice of all humanity
Americans struggled to figure out their place in the nineteenth century
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 1048630852019
aer their break with their mother country Great Britain Tey looked
for their place not only in the world doing ldquoall other Acts and Tings
which Independent States may of right dordquo as the Declaration of Inde-pendence suggested but also their place in human history As they
struggled they did many things that seem strange to us in the twenty-
first century William Walker is an example of such a person But
someone who most Americans have come to admire and acknowledge
as the greatest president ever to hold the officemdashAbraham Lincolnmdashwas
motivated by the idea of American exceptionalism as Walker was Te
tree of American exceptionalism fed by its roots was taking its shape inthe antebellum period during the nineteenth century It continued to
grow and flourish well into the twentieth and into our own century It
has yet to cease growing and developing as a civil religious idea that
Americans continually look to for guidance as they try and make sense
of their significance in space and time
F983151983154 F983157983154983156983144983141983154 R983141983137983140983145983150983143Bercovitch Sacvan Te Puritan Origins of the American Self 104862510486331048631852021 Reprint New
Haven Yale University Press 104862698308810486251048625
Gamble Richard M In Search of the City on a Hill Te Making and Unmaking
of an American Myth London Continuum 104862698308810486251048626
Greene Jack P Te Intellectual Construction of America Exceptionalism and
Identity from 1048625104862810486331048626 to 1048625104863210486241048624 Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press
104862510486331048633852019McKenna George Te Puritan Origins of American Patriotism New Haven
Yale University Press 10486269830889830881048631
Stout Harry S Te New England Soul Preaching and Religious Culture in Co-
lonial New England 1048625104863310486321048630 Reprint Oxford Oxford University Press 104862698308810486251048626
uveson Ernest Lee Redeemer Nation Te Idea of Americarsquos Millennial Role
Chicago University of Chicago Press 1048625104863310486301048632
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520211048631
resented a turning point in history and was destined to advance human
civilization to the millennial reign of Christ as the eighteenth century
progressed Abraham Keteltas preaching in 1048625104863110486311048631 to the Presbyterians inNewburyport Massachusetts equated the cause of America with the
cause of God Americarsquos cause against Great Britain was the cause of
liberty justice rule of law and individual rightsmdashnot only for those who
were living but also for those generations yet to be born
Americarsquos cause for Keteltas was the cause of good against evil As
such it was Godrsquos own cause And Americans could take comfort in the
fact that God will be faithful to champion the American cause becausein doing so he was safeguarding his own cause Keteltas did not envision
the struggle with Britain as merely a political struggle He saw it as part
of the struggle of good against evil that had been going on since the fall
in the Garden of Eden Not only that he saw the Revolution as part of
the same cosmic struggle that Christ himself engaged in with the devil
in his Passion ldquoOur causerdquo wrote Keteltas ldquois not only good but it has
been prudently conducted it is the cause of truth against error andfalsehood the cause of righteousness against iniquity It is the cause
of reformation against popery In short it is the cause of heaven
against hellmdashof the kind Parent of the universe against the prince of
darkness and the destroyer of the human racerdquo31
Keteltas preached this sermon from Psalm 104863185202010486261048626mdashldquoArise O God
plead thine own causerdquo (983147983146983158) His sermon clearly reveals a particular
exegetical method guided by millennialism He envisioned the American
colonies as being engaged in the apocalyptic struggle of the forces of
Christ against the forces of the devil Samuel Sherwood is yet another
example of a preacher reading Scripture and the events of his time in this
way His 1048625104863110486311048630 sermon ldquoTe Churchrsquos Flight into the Wildernessrdquo is one
of the most strikingly millenarian sermons of the time His text was
Revelation 104862510486261048625852020-1048625104863132 and his exegesis is strongly typological Sherwoodrsquos
typology not surprisingly is informed by millenarianism And what is
further interesting about Sherwoodrsquos exegesis of the text is how he con-
flated the church with the American colonies For instance Sherwood
preached that God brought the church into North America a land of
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
o sum up the ideology of American exceptionalism has a multistruc-
tured intellectual root system theological political exegetical and his-
toriographical By the early nineteenth century Americans largely took
it for granted that their nation represented a break from the past and a
decisive turn toward a future defined by progress and advancement And
millions of people emigrated to the United States in the nineteenthcentury to tie their own personal destinies to that of America whose
destiny seemed poised to advance from triumph to triumph
A civil religion with exceptionalism as one of its essential aspects
developed aer the Revolution Te Declaration of Independence was
one of the foundational documents in a civil religious canon that was
taking shape Te Declaration made objective transcendent authori-
tative statements about the nature of humanity the role of the gov-ernment in relation to the people it represented and Godrsquos having estab-
lished a particular order that could not be thwarted or overturned Te
Declaration was followed by other documents that formed the civil reli-
gious canon the Constitution the Bill of Rights Washingtonrsquos Farewell
Address and others
As the nation grew in numbers and in territorial size between the Lou-
isiana Purchase of 10486251048632983088852019 and the Mexican War ending in 104862510486328520201048632 Americanexceptionalism divided into two articulations One of these articulations
was more strongly religious and more certain of Godrsquos providence con-
cerning the future of the United States and its status alongside other na-
tions It was also decidedly racist Te other articulation was more ag-
nostic concerning the providence of God but was nonetheless certain
that God had set it apart to be a moral example to the rest of the world
America could show other nations what a nation conceived in liberty
might look like how it might behave and what ideals it might pursue for
the benefit in theory if not in practice of all humanity
Americans struggled to figure out their place in the nineteenth century
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 1048630852019
aer their break with their mother country Great Britain Tey looked
for their place not only in the world doing ldquoall other Acts and Tings
which Independent States may of right dordquo as the Declaration of Inde-pendence suggested but also their place in human history As they
struggled they did many things that seem strange to us in the twenty-
first century William Walker is an example of such a person But
someone who most Americans have come to admire and acknowledge
as the greatest president ever to hold the officemdashAbraham Lincolnmdashwas
motivated by the idea of American exceptionalism as Walker was Te
tree of American exceptionalism fed by its roots was taking its shape inthe antebellum period during the nineteenth century It continued to
grow and flourish well into the twentieth and into our own century It
has yet to cease growing and developing as a civil religious idea that
Americans continually look to for guidance as they try and make sense
of their significance in space and time
F983151983154 F983157983154983156983144983141983154 R983141983137983140983145983150983143Bercovitch Sacvan Te Puritan Origins of the American Self 104862510486331048631852021 Reprint New
Haven Yale University Press 104862698308810486251048625
Gamble Richard M In Search of the City on a Hill Te Making and Unmaking
of an American Myth London Continuum 104862698308810486251048626
Greene Jack P Te Intellectual Construction of America Exceptionalism and
Identity from 1048625104862810486331048626 to 1048625104863210486241048624 Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press
104862510486331048633852019McKenna George Te Puritan Origins of American Patriotism New Haven
Yale University Press 10486269830889830881048631
Stout Harry S Te New England Soul Preaching and Religious Culture in Co-
lonial New England 1048625104863310486321048630 Reprint Oxford Oxford University Press 104862698308810486251048626
uveson Ernest Lee Redeemer Nation Te Idea of Americarsquos Millennial Role
Chicago University of Chicago Press 1048625104863310486301048632
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520211048631
resented a turning point in history and was destined to advance human
civilization to the millennial reign of Christ as the eighteenth century
progressed Abraham Keteltas preaching in 1048625104863110486311048631 to the Presbyterians inNewburyport Massachusetts equated the cause of America with the
cause of God Americarsquos cause against Great Britain was the cause of
liberty justice rule of law and individual rightsmdashnot only for those who
were living but also for those generations yet to be born
Americarsquos cause for Keteltas was the cause of good against evil As
such it was Godrsquos own cause And Americans could take comfort in the
fact that God will be faithful to champion the American cause becausein doing so he was safeguarding his own cause Keteltas did not envision
the struggle with Britain as merely a political struggle He saw it as part
of the struggle of good against evil that had been going on since the fall
in the Garden of Eden Not only that he saw the Revolution as part of
the same cosmic struggle that Christ himself engaged in with the devil
in his Passion ldquoOur causerdquo wrote Keteltas ldquois not only good but it has
been prudently conducted it is the cause of truth against error andfalsehood the cause of righteousness against iniquity It is the cause
of reformation against popery In short it is the cause of heaven
against hellmdashof the kind Parent of the universe against the prince of
darkness and the destroyer of the human racerdquo31
Keteltas preached this sermon from Psalm 104863185202010486261048626mdashldquoArise O God
plead thine own causerdquo (983147983146983158) His sermon clearly reveals a particular
exegetical method guided by millennialism He envisioned the American
colonies as being engaged in the apocalyptic struggle of the forces of
Christ against the forces of the devil Samuel Sherwood is yet another
example of a preacher reading Scripture and the events of his time in this
way His 1048625104863110486311048630 sermon ldquoTe Churchrsquos Flight into the Wildernessrdquo is one
of the most strikingly millenarian sermons of the time His text was
Revelation 104862510486261048625852020-1048625104863132 and his exegesis is strongly typological Sherwoodrsquos
typology not surprisingly is informed by millenarianism And what is
further interesting about Sherwoodrsquos exegesis of the text is how he con-
flated the church with the American colonies For instance Sherwood
preached that God brought the church into North America a land of
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
o sum up the ideology of American exceptionalism has a multistruc-
tured intellectual root system theological political exegetical and his-
toriographical By the early nineteenth century Americans largely took
it for granted that their nation represented a break from the past and a
decisive turn toward a future defined by progress and advancement And
millions of people emigrated to the United States in the nineteenthcentury to tie their own personal destinies to that of America whose
destiny seemed poised to advance from triumph to triumph
A civil religion with exceptionalism as one of its essential aspects
developed aer the Revolution Te Declaration of Independence was
one of the foundational documents in a civil religious canon that was
taking shape Te Declaration made objective transcendent authori-
tative statements about the nature of humanity the role of the gov-ernment in relation to the people it represented and Godrsquos having estab-
lished a particular order that could not be thwarted or overturned Te
Declaration was followed by other documents that formed the civil reli-
gious canon the Constitution the Bill of Rights Washingtonrsquos Farewell
Address and others
As the nation grew in numbers and in territorial size between the Lou-
isiana Purchase of 10486251048632983088852019 and the Mexican War ending in 104862510486328520201048632 Americanexceptionalism divided into two articulations One of these articulations
was more strongly religious and more certain of Godrsquos providence con-
cerning the future of the United States and its status alongside other na-
tions It was also decidedly racist Te other articulation was more ag-
nostic concerning the providence of God but was nonetheless certain
that God had set it apart to be a moral example to the rest of the world
America could show other nations what a nation conceived in liberty
might look like how it might behave and what ideals it might pursue for
the benefit in theory if not in practice of all humanity
Americans struggled to figure out their place in the nineteenth century
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 1048630852019
aer their break with their mother country Great Britain Tey looked
for their place not only in the world doing ldquoall other Acts and Tings
which Independent States may of right dordquo as the Declaration of Inde-pendence suggested but also their place in human history As they
struggled they did many things that seem strange to us in the twenty-
first century William Walker is an example of such a person But
someone who most Americans have come to admire and acknowledge
as the greatest president ever to hold the officemdashAbraham Lincolnmdashwas
motivated by the idea of American exceptionalism as Walker was Te
tree of American exceptionalism fed by its roots was taking its shape inthe antebellum period during the nineteenth century It continued to
grow and flourish well into the twentieth and into our own century It
has yet to cease growing and developing as a civil religious idea that
Americans continually look to for guidance as they try and make sense
of their significance in space and time
F983151983154 F983157983154983156983144983141983154 R983141983137983140983145983150983143Bercovitch Sacvan Te Puritan Origins of the American Self 104862510486331048631852021 Reprint New
Haven Yale University Press 104862698308810486251048625
Gamble Richard M In Search of the City on a Hill Te Making and Unmaking
of an American Myth London Continuum 104862698308810486251048626
Greene Jack P Te Intellectual Construction of America Exceptionalism and
Identity from 1048625104862810486331048626 to 1048625104863210486241048624 Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press
104862510486331048633852019McKenna George Te Puritan Origins of American Patriotism New Haven
Yale University Press 10486269830889830881048631
Stout Harry S Te New England Soul Preaching and Religious Culture in Co-
lonial New England 1048625104863310486321048630 Reprint Oxford Oxford University Press 104862698308810486251048626
uveson Ernest Lee Redeemer Nation Te Idea of Americarsquos Millennial Role
Chicago University of Chicago Press 1048625104863310486301048632
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 8520211048631
resented a turning point in history and was destined to advance human
civilization to the millennial reign of Christ as the eighteenth century
progressed Abraham Keteltas preaching in 1048625104863110486311048631 to the Presbyterians inNewburyport Massachusetts equated the cause of America with the
cause of God Americarsquos cause against Great Britain was the cause of
liberty justice rule of law and individual rightsmdashnot only for those who
were living but also for those generations yet to be born
Americarsquos cause for Keteltas was the cause of good against evil As
such it was Godrsquos own cause And Americans could take comfort in the
fact that God will be faithful to champion the American cause becausein doing so he was safeguarding his own cause Keteltas did not envision
the struggle with Britain as merely a political struggle He saw it as part
of the struggle of good against evil that had been going on since the fall
in the Garden of Eden Not only that he saw the Revolution as part of
the same cosmic struggle that Christ himself engaged in with the devil
in his Passion ldquoOur causerdquo wrote Keteltas ldquois not only good but it has
been prudently conducted it is the cause of truth against error andfalsehood the cause of righteousness against iniquity It is the cause
of reformation against popery In short it is the cause of heaven
against hellmdashof the kind Parent of the universe against the prince of
darkness and the destroyer of the human racerdquo31
Keteltas preached this sermon from Psalm 104863185202010486261048626mdashldquoArise O God
plead thine own causerdquo (983147983146983158) His sermon clearly reveals a particular
exegetical method guided by millennialism He envisioned the American
colonies as being engaged in the apocalyptic struggle of the forces of
Christ against the forces of the devil Samuel Sherwood is yet another
example of a preacher reading Scripture and the events of his time in this
way His 1048625104863110486311048630 sermon ldquoTe Churchrsquos Flight into the Wildernessrdquo is one
of the most strikingly millenarian sermons of the time His text was
Revelation 104862510486261048625852020-1048625104863132 and his exegesis is strongly typological Sherwoodrsquos
typology not surprisingly is informed by millenarianism And what is
further interesting about Sherwoodrsquos exegesis of the text is how he con-
flated the church with the American colonies For instance Sherwood
preached that God brought the church into North America a land of
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
o sum up the ideology of American exceptionalism has a multistruc-
tured intellectual root system theological political exegetical and his-
toriographical By the early nineteenth century Americans largely took
it for granted that their nation represented a break from the past and a
decisive turn toward a future defined by progress and advancement And
millions of people emigrated to the United States in the nineteenthcentury to tie their own personal destinies to that of America whose
destiny seemed poised to advance from triumph to triumph
A civil religion with exceptionalism as one of its essential aspects
developed aer the Revolution Te Declaration of Independence was
one of the foundational documents in a civil religious canon that was
taking shape Te Declaration made objective transcendent authori-
tative statements about the nature of humanity the role of the gov-ernment in relation to the people it represented and Godrsquos having estab-
lished a particular order that could not be thwarted or overturned Te
Declaration was followed by other documents that formed the civil reli-
gious canon the Constitution the Bill of Rights Washingtonrsquos Farewell
Address and others
As the nation grew in numbers and in territorial size between the Lou-
isiana Purchase of 10486251048632983088852019 and the Mexican War ending in 104862510486328520201048632 Americanexceptionalism divided into two articulations One of these articulations
was more strongly religious and more certain of Godrsquos providence con-
cerning the future of the United States and its status alongside other na-
tions It was also decidedly racist Te other articulation was more ag-
nostic concerning the providence of God but was nonetheless certain
that God had set it apart to be a moral example to the rest of the world
America could show other nations what a nation conceived in liberty
might look like how it might behave and what ideals it might pursue for
the benefit in theory if not in practice of all humanity
Americans struggled to figure out their place in the nineteenth century
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 1048630852019
aer their break with their mother country Great Britain Tey looked
for their place not only in the world doing ldquoall other Acts and Tings
which Independent States may of right dordquo as the Declaration of Inde-pendence suggested but also their place in human history As they
struggled they did many things that seem strange to us in the twenty-
first century William Walker is an example of such a person But
someone who most Americans have come to admire and acknowledge
as the greatest president ever to hold the officemdashAbraham Lincolnmdashwas
motivated by the idea of American exceptionalism as Walker was Te
tree of American exceptionalism fed by its roots was taking its shape inthe antebellum period during the nineteenth century It continued to
grow and flourish well into the twentieth and into our own century It
has yet to cease growing and developing as a civil religious idea that
Americans continually look to for guidance as they try and make sense
of their significance in space and time
F983151983154 F983157983154983156983144983141983154 R983141983137983140983145983150983143Bercovitch Sacvan Te Puritan Origins of the American Self 104862510486331048631852021 Reprint New
Haven Yale University Press 104862698308810486251048625
Gamble Richard M In Search of the City on a Hill Te Making and Unmaking
of an American Myth London Continuum 104862698308810486251048626
Greene Jack P Te Intellectual Construction of America Exceptionalism and
Identity from 1048625104862810486331048626 to 1048625104863210486241048624 Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press
104862510486331048633852019McKenna George Te Puritan Origins of American Patriotism New Haven
Yale University Press 10486269830889830881048631
Stout Harry S Te New England Soul Preaching and Religious Culture in Co-
lonial New England 1048625104863310486321048630 Reprint Oxford Oxford University Press 104862698308810486251048626
uveson Ernest Lee Redeemer Nation Te Idea of Americarsquos Millennial Role
Chicago University of Chicago Press 1048625104863310486301048632
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
o sum up the ideology of American exceptionalism has a multistruc-
tured intellectual root system theological political exegetical and his-
toriographical By the early nineteenth century Americans largely took
it for granted that their nation represented a break from the past and a
decisive turn toward a future defined by progress and advancement And
millions of people emigrated to the United States in the nineteenthcentury to tie their own personal destinies to that of America whose
destiny seemed poised to advance from triumph to triumph
A civil religion with exceptionalism as one of its essential aspects
developed aer the Revolution Te Declaration of Independence was
one of the foundational documents in a civil religious canon that was
taking shape Te Declaration made objective transcendent authori-
tative statements about the nature of humanity the role of the gov-ernment in relation to the people it represented and Godrsquos having estab-
lished a particular order that could not be thwarted or overturned Te
Declaration was followed by other documents that formed the civil reli-
gious canon the Constitution the Bill of Rights Washingtonrsquos Farewell
Address and others
As the nation grew in numbers and in territorial size between the Lou-
isiana Purchase of 10486251048632983088852019 and the Mexican War ending in 104862510486328520201048632 Americanexceptionalism divided into two articulations One of these articulations
was more strongly religious and more certain of Godrsquos providence con-
cerning the future of the United States and its status alongside other na-
tions It was also decidedly racist Te other articulation was more ag-
nostic concerning the providence of God but was nonetheless certain
that God had set it apart to be a moral example to the rest of the world
America could show other nations what a nation conceived in liberty
might look like how it might behave and what ideals it might pursue for
the benefit in theory if not in practice of all humanity
Americans struggled to figure out their place in the nineteenth century
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 1048630852019
aer their break with their mother country Great Britain Tey looked
for their place not only in the world doing ldquoall other Acts and Tings
which Independent States may of right dordquo as the Declaration of Inde-pendence suggested but also their place in human history As they
struggled they did many things that seem strange to us in the twenty-
first century William Walker is an example of such a person But
someone who most Americans have come to admire and acknowledge
as the greatest president ever to hold the officemdashAbraham Lincolnmdashwas
motivated by the idea of American exceptionalism as Walker was Te
tree of American exceptionalism fed by its roots was taking its shape inthe antebellum period during the nineteenth century It continued to
grow and flourish well into the twentieth and into our own century It
has yet to cease growing and developing as a civil religious idea that
Americans continually look to for guidance as they try and make sense
of their significance in space and time
F983151983154 F983157983154983156983144983141983154 R983141983137983140983145983150983143Bercovitch Sacvan Te Puritan Origins of the American Self 104862510486331048631852021 Reprint New
Haven Yale University Press 104862698308810486251048625
Gamble Richard M In Search of the City on a Hill Te Making and Unmaking
of an American Myth London Continuum 104862698308810486251048626
Greene Jack P Te Intellectual Construction of America Exceptionalism and
Identity from 1048625104862810486331048626 to 1048625104863210486241048624 Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press
104862510486331048633852019McKenna George Te Puritan Origins of American Patriotism New Haven
Yale University Press 10486269830889830881048631
Stout Harry S Te New England Soul Preaching and Religious Culture in Co-
lonial New England 1048625104863310486321048630 Reprint Oxford Oxford University Press 104862698308810486251048626
uveson Ernest Lee Redeemer Nation Te Idea of Americarsquos Millennial Role
Chicago University of Chicago Press 1048625104863310486301048632
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
o sum up the ideology of American exceptionalism has a multistruc-
tured intellectual root system theological political exegetical and his-
toriographical By the early nineteenth century Americans largely took
it for granted that their nation represented a break from the past and a
decisive turn toward a future defined by progress and advancement And
millions of people emigrated to the United States in the nineteenthcentury to tie their own personal destinies to that of America whose
destiny seemed poised to advance from triumph to triumph
A civil religion with exceptionalism as one of its essential aspects
developed aer the Revolution Te Declaration of Independence was
one of the foundational documents in a civil religious canon that was
taking shape Te Declaration made objective transcendent authori-
tative statements about the nature of humanity the role of the gov-ernment in relation to the people it represented and Godrsquos having estab-
lished a particular order that could not be thwarted or overturned Te
Declaration was followed by other documents that formed the civil reli-
gious canon the Constitution the Bill of Rights Washingtonrsquos Farewell
Address and others
As the nation grew in numbers and in territorial size between the Lou-
isiana Purchase of 10486251048632983088852019 and the Mexican War ending in 104862510486328520201048632 Americanexceptionalism divided into two articulations One of these articulations
was more strongly religious and more certain of Godrsquos providence con-
cerning the future of the United States and its status alongside other na-
tions It was also decidedly racist Te other articulation was more ag-
nostic concerning the providence of God but was nonetheless certain
that God had set it apart to be a moral example to the rest of the world
America could show other nations what a nation conceived in liberty
might look like how it might behave and what ideals it might pursue for
the benefit in theory if not in practice of all humanity
Americans struggled to figure out their place in the nineteenth century
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 1048630852019
aer their break with their mother country Great Britain Tey looked
for their place not only in the world doing ldquoall other Acts and Tings
which Independent States may of right dordquo as the Declaration of Inde-pendence suggested but also their place in human history As they
struggled they did many things that seem strange to us in the twenty-
first century William Walker is an example of such a person But
someone who most Americans have come to admire and acknowledge
as the greatest president ever to hold the officemdashAbraham Lincolnmdashwas
motivated by the idea of American exceptionalism as Walker was Te
tree of American exceptionalism fed by its roots was taking its shape inthe antebellum period during the nineteenth century It continued to
grow and flourish well into the twentieth and into our own century It
has yet to cease growing and developing as a civil religious idea that
Americans continually look to for guidance as they try and make sense
of their significance in space and time
F983151983154 F983157983154983156983144983141983154 R983141983137983140983145983150983143Bercovitch Sacvan Te Puritan Origins of the American Self 104862510486331048631852021 Reprint New
Haven Yale University Press 104862698308810486251048625
Gamble Richard M In Search of the City on a Hill Te Making and Unmaking
of an American Myth London Continuum 104862698308810486251048626
Greene Jack P Te Intellectual Construction of America Exceptionalism and
Identity from 1048625104862810486331048626 to 1048625104863210486241048624 Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press
104862510486331048633852019McKenna George Te Puritan Origins of American Patriotism New Haven
Yale University Press 10486269830889830881048631
Stout Harry S Te New England Soul Preaching and Religious Culture in Co-
lonial New England 1048625104863310486321048630 Reprint Oxford Oxford University Press 104862698308810486251048626
uveson Ernest Lee Redeemer Nation Te Idea of Americarsquos Millennial Role
Chicago University of Chicago Press 1048625104863310486301048632
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
o sum up the ideology of American exceptionalism has a multistruc-
tured intellectual root system theological political exegetical and his-
toriographical By the early nineteenth century Americans largely took
it for granted that their nation represented a break from the past and a
decisive turn toward a future defined by progress and advancement And
millions of people emigrated to the United States in the nineteenthcentury to tie their own personal destinies to that of America whose
destiny seemed poised to advance from triumph to triumph
A civil religion with exceptionalism as one of its essential aspects
developed aer the Revolution Te Declaration of Independence was
one of the foundational documents in a civil religious canon that was
taking shape Te Declaration made objective transcendent authori-
tative statements about the nature of humanity the role of the gov-ernment in relation to the people it represented and Godrsquos having estab-
lished a particular order that could not be thwarted or overturned Te
Declaration was followed by other documents that formed the civil reli-
gious canon the Constitution the Bill of Rights Washingtonrsquos Farewell
Address and others
As the nation grew in numbers and in territorial size between the Lou-
isiana Purchase of 10486251048632983088852019 and the Mexican War ending in 104862510486328520201048632 Americanexceptionalism divided into two articulations One of these articulations
was more strongly religious and more certain of Godrsquos providence con-
cerning the future of the United States and its status alongside other na-
tions It was also decidedly racist Te other articulation was more ag-
nostic concerning the providence of God but was nonetheless certain
that God had set it apart to be a moral example to the rest of the world
America could show other nations what a nation conceived in liberty
might look like how it might behave and what ideals it might pursue for
the benefit in theory if not in practice of all humanity
Americans struggled to figure out their place in the nineteenth century
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 1048630852019
aer their break with their mother country Great Britain Tey looked
for their place not only in the world doing ldquoall other Acts and Tings
which Independent States may of right dordquo as the Declaration of Inde-pendence suggested but also their place in human history As they
struggled they did many things that seem strange to us in the twenty-
first century William Walker is an example of such a person But
someone who most Americans have come to admire and acknowledge
as the greatest president ever to hold the officemdashAbraham Lincolnmdashwas
motivated by the idea of American exceptionalism as Walker was Te
tree of American exceptionalism fed by its roots was taking its shape inthe antebellum period during the nineteenth century It continued to
grow and flourish well into the twentieth and into our own century It
has yet to cease growing and developing as a civil religious idea that
Americans continually look to for guidance as they try and make sense
of their significance in space and time
F983151983154 F983157983154983156983144983141983154 R983141983137983140983145983150983143Bercovitch Sacvan Te Puritan Origins of the American Self 104862510486331048631852021 Reprint New
Haven Yale University Press 104862698308810486251048625
Gamble Richard M In Search of the City on a Hill Te Making and Unmaking
of an American Myth London Continuum 104862698308810486251048626
Greene Jack P Te Intellectual Construction of America Exceptionalism and
Identity from 1048625104862810486331048626 to 1048625104863210486241048624 Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press
104862510486331048633852019McKenna George Te Puritan Origins of American Patriotism New Haven
Yale University Press 10486269830889830881048631
Stout Harry S Te New England Soul Preaching and Religious Culture in Co-
lonial New England 1048625104863310486321048630 Reprint Oxford Oxford University Press 104862698308810486251048626
uveson Ernest Lee Redeemer Nation Te Idea of Americarsquos Millennial Role
Chicago University of Chicago Press 1048625104863310486301048632
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
o sum up the ideology of American exceptionalism has a multistruc-
tured intellectual root system theological political exegetical and his-
toriographical By the early nineteenth century Americans largely took
it for granted that their nation represented a break from the past and a
decisive turn toward a future defined by progress and advancement And
millions of people emigrated to the United States in the nineteenthcentury to tie their own personal destinies to that of America whose
destiny seemed poised to advance from triumph to triumph
A civil religion with exceptionalism as one of its essential aspects
developed aer the Revolution Te Declaration of Independence was
one of the foundational documents in a civil religious canon that was
taking shape Te Declaration made objective transcendent authori-
tative statements about the nature of humanity the role of the gov-ernment in relation to the people it represented and Godrsquos having estab-
lished a particular order that could not be thwarted or overturned Te
Declaration was followed by other documents that formed the civil reli-
gious canon the Constitution the Bill of Rights Washingtonrsquos Farewell
Address and others
As the nation grew in numbers and in territorial size between the Lou-
isiana Purchase of 10486251048632983088852019 and the Mexican War ending in 104862510486328520201048632 Americanexceptionalism divided into two articulations One of these articulations
was more strongly religious and more certain of Godrsquos providence con-
cerning the future of the United States and its status alongside other na-
tions It was also decidedly racist Te other articulation was more ag-
nostic concerning the providence of God but was nonetheless certain
that God had set it apart to be a moral example to the rest of the world
America could show other nations what a nation conceived in liberty
might look like how it might behave and what ideals it might pursue for
the benefit in theory if not in practice of all humanity
Americans struggled to figure out their place in the nineteenth century
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 1048630852019
aer their break with their mother country Great Britain Tey looked
for their place not only in the world doing ldquoall other Acts and Tings
which Independent States may of right dordquo as the Declaration of Inde-pendence suggested but also their place in human history As they
struggled they did many things that seem strange to us in the twenty-
first century William Walker is an example of such a person But
someone who most Americans have come to admire and acknowledge
as the greatest president ever to hold the officemdashAbraham Lincolnmdashwas
motivated by the idea of American exceptionalism as Walker was Te
tree of American exceptionalism fed by its roots was taking its shape inthe antebellum period during the nineteenth century It continued to
grow and flourish well into the twentieth and into our own century It
has yet to cease growing and developing as a civil religious idea that
Americans continually look to for guidance as they try and make sense
of their significance in space and time
F983151983154 F983157983154983156983144983141983154 R983141983137983140983145983150983143Bercovitch Sacvan Te Puritan Origins of the American Self 104862510486331048631852021 Reprint New
Haven Yale University Press 104862698308810486251048625
Gamble Richard M In Search of the City on a Hill Te Making and Unmaking
of an American Myth London Continuum 104862698308810486251048626
Greene Jack P Te Intellectual Construction of America Exceptionalism and
Identity from 1048625104862810486331048626 to 1048625104863210486241048624 Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press
104862510486331048633852019McKenna George Te Puritan Origins of American Patriotism New Haven
Yale University Press 10486269830889830881048631
Stout Harry S Te New England Soul Preaching and Religious Culture in Co-
lonial New England 1048625104863310486321048630 Reprint Oxford Oxford University Press 104862698308810486251048626
uveson Ernest Lee Redeemer Nation Te Idea of Americarsquos Millennial Role
Chicago University of Chicago Press 1048625104863310486301048632
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
o sum up the ideology of American exceptionalism has a multistruc-
tured intellectual root system theological political exegetical and his-
toriographical By the early nineteenth century Americans largely took
it for granted that their nation represented a break from the past and a
decisive turn toward a future defined by progress and advancement And
millions of people emigrated to the United States in the nineteenthcentury to tie their own personal destinies to that of America whose
destiny seemed poised to advance from triumph to triumph
A civil religion with exceptionalism as one of its essential aspects
developed aer the Revolution Te Declaration of Independence was
one of the foundational documents in a civil religious canon that was
taking shape Te Declaration made objective transcendent authori-
tative statements about the nature of humanity the role of the gov-ernment in relation to the people it represented and Godrsquos having estab-
lished a particular order that could not be thwarted or overturned Te
Declaration was followed by other documents that formed the civil reli-
gious canon the Constitution the Bill of Rights Washingtonrsquos Farewell
Address and others
As the nation grew in numbers and in territorial size between the Lou-
isiana Purchase of 10486251048632983088852019 and the Mexican War ending in 104862510486328520201048632 Americanexceptionalism divided into two articulations One of these articulations
was more strongly religious and more certain of Godrsquos providence con-
cerning the future of the United States and its status alongside other na-
tions It was also decidedly racist Te other articulation was more ag-
nostic concerning the providence of God but was nonetheless certain
that God had set it apart to be a moral example to the rest of the world
America could show other nations what a nation conceived in liberty
might look like how it might behave and what ideals it might pursue for
the benefit in theory if not in practice of all humanity
Americans struggled to figure out their place in the nineteenth century
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 1048630852019
aer their break with their mother country Great Britain Tey looked
for their place not only in the world doing ldquoall other Acts and Tings
which Independent States may of right dordquo as the Declaration of Inde-pendence suggested but also their place in human history As they
struggled they did many things that seem strange to us in the twenty-
first century William Walker is an example of such a person But
someone who most Americans have come to admire and acknowledge
as the greatest president ever to hold the officemdashAbraham Lincolnmdashwas
motivated by the idea of American exceptionalism as Walker was Te
tree of American exceptionalism fed by its roots was taking its shape inthe antebellum period during the nineteenth century It continued to
grow and flourish well into the twentieth and into our own century It
has yet to cease growing and developing as a civil religious idea that
Americans continually look to for guidance as they try and make sense
of their significance in space and time
F983151983154 F983157983154983156983144983141983154 R983141983137983140983145983150983143Bercovitch Sacvan Te Puritan Origins of the American Self 104862510486331048631852021 Reprint New
Haven Yale University Press 104862698308810486251048625
Gamble Richard M In Search of the City on a Hill Te Making and Unmaking
of an American Myth London Continuum 104862698308810486251048626
Greene Jack P Te Intellectual Construction of America Exceptionalism and
Identity from 1048625104862810486331048626 to 1048625104863210486241048624 Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press
104862510486331048633852019McKenna George Te Puritan Origins of American Patriotism New Haven
Yale University Press 10486269830889830881048631
Stout Harry S Te New England Soul Preaching and Religious Culture in Co-
lonial New England 1048625104863310486321048630 Reprint Oxford Oxford University Press 104862698308810486251048626
uveson Ernest Lee Redeemer Nation Te Idea of Americarsquos Millennial Role
Chicago University of Chicago Press 1048625104863310486301048632
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT
he Origins of American Exceptionalism 1048630852019
aer their break with their mother country Great Britain Tey looked
for their place not only in the world doing ldquoall other Acts and Tings
which Independent States may of right dordquo as the Declaration of Inde-pendence suggested but also their place in human history As they
struggled they did many things that seem strange to us in the twenty-
first century William Walker is an example of such a person But
someone who most Americans have come to admire and acknowledge
as the greatest president ever to hold the officemdashAbraham Lincolnmdashwas
motivated by the idea of American exceptionalism as Walker was Te
tree of American exceptionalism fed by its roots was taking its shape inthe antebellum period during the nineteenth century It continued to
grow and flourish well into the twentieth and into our own century It
has yet to cease growing and developing as a civil religious idea that
Americans continually look to for guidance as they try and make sense
of their significance in space and time
F983151983154 F983157983154983156983144983141983154 R983141983137983140983145983150983143Bercovitch Sacvan Te Puritan Origins of the American Self 104862510486331048631852021 Reprint New
Haven Yale University Press 104862698308810486251048625
Gamble Richard M In Search of the City on a Hill Te Making and Unmaking
of an American Myth London Continuum 104862698308810486251048626
Greene Jack P Te Intellectual Construction of America Exceptionalism and
Identity from 1048625104862810486331048626 to 1048625104863210486241048624 Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press
104862510486331048633852019McKenna George Te Puritan Origins of American Patriotism New Haven
Yale University Press 10486269830889830881048631
Stout Harry S Te New England Soul Preaching and Religious Culture in Co-
lonial New England 1048625104863310486321048630 Reprint Oxford Oxford University Press 104862698308810486251048626
uveson Ernest Lee Redeemer Nation Te Idea of Americarsquos Millennial Role
Chicago University of Chicago Press 1048625104863310486301048632
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion By John D Wilsey - EXCERPT