About this title: A leading conservative thinker offers the first in-depth look at the religious life of America's greatest founding father, George Washington. George Washington has long been viewed as the patron saint of secular government, but in "Washington's God", Michael Novak and his daughter, Jana, reveal that it was Washington's strong faith in divine ...
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Description: Good. This book has medium cover wear, light spine tilt, light creases on covers. I will ship this book out on the next business day! Each book individually hand cleaned. read more
Description: Like New. May be shiny, in some instances dust jackets are not included, no missing pages, no damage to binding, may have a remainder mark. read more
Description: Very good. Very minimal damage to the cover (no holes or tears, only minimal scuff marks), in some instances dust jackets are not included, no missing pages, minimal to no highlighting/under. read more
Description: Good. 2006-Hardcover---Used-Good. Hall Street Books proudly ships from Brooklyn, NY. All orders are processed and shipped within 24 hours, M-F. 100% money back No-Worry guarantee with expedited delivery and delivery confirmation available. read more
Description: FINE. Superb, crisp, clean, unread hardcover with some light shelfwear to the dust jacket and a remainder mark to one edge-VERY NICE! read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Basic Books
Date Published: 3-6-06
ISBN-13:9780465051267ISBN:046505126X
Description: FINE. Superb, crisp, clean, unread hardcover with some light shelfwear to the dust jacket and a remainder mark to one edge-VERY NICE! 1.3 lbs. read more
Description: Good. 0465051278 Book could have shelf wear, or a bump, or sunfade to edges. These are new unread books from the publisher with one of these conditions. See are feedback as customers are satisfied in how we grade our books. Has remainder mark. Fast shipping and customer service is our number 1 priority! read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Perseus Books Group
Date Published: 2007
ISBN-13:9780465051274ISBN:0465051278
Description: Fine. No dust jacket as issued. SC. This is a new book with handling wear. Back cover corner is creased. Book is clean and bright with nice tight binding. Like New! Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 282 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. Satisfaction guaranteed. Domestic orders shipped daily using Media Mail rates from USPS with Delivery Confirmation. W/E and holidays orders shipped next business day. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Basic Books
Date Published: 2006-03-06
ISBN-13:9780465051267ISBN:046505126X
Description: Like New. Looks new, but listed as like new because DJ has a little creasing along edges & by spine. Clean pages. No remainder mark. Delivery confirmation included with US orders. read more
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Glued binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 282 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. Very Good! read more
"The idea of this book was excellent, and it delivered in the sense that I learned more about Washington's character and moral compass. It made me appreciate Washington the man and Washington the Christian as being one consistent character. However, the book didn't deliver in that its vocabulary was pompous and pretentious, it was very disorganized and illogical in how it presented arguments, and it was repetitive and overall unimpressive. I would recommend it if one wanted a new persepective about Washington or the religion of the founding fathers."
"The review on Goodreads that comes with this book starts off " A leading conservative thinker offers the first in-depth look at the religious life of our country's greatest founding father, George Washington ...' I hope using the word conservative isn't a warning ...
because I thought the book was terrific, though it took some discipline to stay with a fairly exhaustive look at Washington's life of public religious statements, prayers, and letters. Apparently a private man, he and his wife Martha disposed of nearly all their private correspondence, which in turn deprived us many generations later of a private look at our nation's first President and First lady, as we have had of John and Abigail Adams.
Novak (and somewhere in this his daughter Jana Novak) asks the book-theme question, "what is the evidence that Washington was a deist, as he is often portrayed." To do so, he took a thorough plunge into each of Washington's public utterances about Divine Providence, unearthed what friends and rivals had to say about his character and private life, and what Washington himself wrote to many around him over a variety of life issues, often the loss of children or other loved ones. Those were private letters that were often saved by the recipients.
Before the observances themselves, I admired more and more as I read on, how Novak carefully and openly circled round and round Washington, taking his words at face value, not interpreting for Novak's own point of view. Novak did state that he felt he could do this, because one characteristic that others virtually unanimously wrote of Washington was that he was the same person in public and private...
Novak rather thoroughly challenges the notion that Washington's god was the impersonal force that deism embraces, or that he was lukewarm or ambiguous regarding his own convictions. Throughout Washington's utterances, he portrays Divine Providence as one that intercedes, with clear preferences for freedom, responsibility,though regularly admitting that Providence was inscrutable, not easily understood. As Novak points out, while the nouns used by Washington could be construed as deist, the verbs were most certainly regarding a personal God who takes an active interest in the affairs of humankind.
Just one quote as to Washington's view of God and the nation that was coming into being, "Washington held firm to the belief that one of the reasons God created the world is to make free creatures capable of recognizing him, thanking him, and entering into conversation with him.Washington believed that God could not help but be on the side of liberty, and that liberty was the American cause, the just cause, the right cause. Washington did not believe that history always comes out right, but he did believe that Americans did have a chance ..."
Novak writes in an enlightening way about why Washington might not have wished to speak openly of Christ or God in the Christian terms of today: Our Father, the Savior, the Redeemer, etc. He reviewed the rather stoic language of Anglicans of the time, certainly of their concealment of emotion, in direct contrast to the new wave of "Awakened believers" (the great evangelical awakening in the mid 1700s), where Baptists and Methodists led the way with new calls for an intimate language revolving around Jesus. Apparently this was new religious language and somewhat tense for the older approaches, so perhaps Washington deliberately chose to use a broad inclusive set of terms that would leave no one out.
So that's what the book chews through, about Washington's prayers during setbacks and victories during the Revolutionary War and the first years of the nation. Novak concludes the book on a personal scale, talking of Washington's view of Providence as he aged, counseled others in a capacity as elder friend, not the public statesman, and finally his resignation to the happy future awaiting him, when he suddenly fell ill and died within just two days.
I liked the research approach, Novak's clear explanations of his conclusions, as well as the context of the times (Ie. the great awakening and its impact on national language). Most of all, he had a non-strident tone throughout, a conversation really with the reader, though with an identified perspective of his own."
"George Washington was an incredibly amazing man. This book was very fair at looking at the evidence of whether Washington was a true Christian or not. His character and life experiences were nearly unbelievable. I truly enjoyed exploring Washington's faith and how it shaped this nation. Easy and fast read."
"I recently read a quick history about George Washington and loved it! This is a wonderful book that reveals how much religion was a part of George Washington's life. He was a true Christian in every sense on the word!"
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