Under God, Since When?

Kevin Kruseâ??s One Nation Under God: How Corporate American Invented Christian America has received considerable attention since its release earlier this year. Deservedly so.

I recently reviewed the book for Christianity Today and agree with some of the cautionary notes our Philip Jenkins sounded several months back. Philip suggests that reviewersâ?? excessively exuberant praise for Kruseâ??s contention that many of our expressions of civil religion are of relatively recent vintage betray an ignorance of the longer story of Christianityâ??s intersection with American nationalism and with its governments. I would add that Kruse himself should have placed history within that longer chronology. Indeed, to the extent that expressions of Christian nationalism and civil religion captured the imaginations of many Americans during the early Cold War-era testifies to the deep roots of such ideas.