"In these pages Stephen Prothero has brilliantly captured the American spirit-a spirit that has always seen us through hours of division and disagreement. With Prothero's expert analysis, these texts should spark civil conversation, informed debate, and intelligent discussion." - -Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of American Lion. "America is many things, but above all it is an ongoing conversation about "what America is." Further, the conversation involves the discussion and re-interpretation of numerous texts from the Declaration of Independence, through to the "I Have a Dream" speech, and the works of literature that have entered our bloodstream as well as epochal court decisions. Stephen Prothero has done us all a great service by gathering many of these documents into a single volume that for a long time will serve as an invaluable resource and will keep the conversation lively." - -Harvey Cox, Hollis Research Professor of Divinity at Harvard and author of The Future of Faith. "There are certain speeches, songs, books, letters, laws, and axioms that Americans honor enough to argue about, says religion scholar Stephen Prothero.

Like the Declaration of Independence, this almost consecrated canon inspires endless commentary about what it means to be American-and what 'America' means." - Religion News Service "Required for putting in one place so many historic pieces that are more opined over than actually read. Awesome scholarship to an admirable purpose." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review) " The American Bible is a provocative, brilliantly realized illumination of American values by means of excerpted historical documents." - Colloquy, Harvard University " In The American Bible , Prothero has turned his considerable talents to assembling a version of the American canon. The author's prose is, as usual, spritely, informed and incisive." - Washington Post Despite the book's arrangement according to biblical headings (e.g.

, Genesis, Acts, Law, Epistles, etc.), Prothero deftly balances the debate between religious and secular voices, such as on the godlessness of the Constitution. The book's greatest strength lies in this neutrality, offering commentaries from both sides of the discussion--all enlightening, encouraging, and frustrating in equal measure. - Publishers Weekly.