Ever since John Winthropâ??s famous declaration that America was a â??city on a hill,â? the notion of â??American exceptionalismâ? has been woven throughout U.S. history. Dr. John Wilsey, assistant professor of history and Christian apologetics at the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, explores what this concept means and how it has changed over time, looking at some of the more challenging periods of US history that include the Civil War and race relations over the past century. Prof. Wilsey ties all of this together with a further examination of civil religion and the role of Christianity in defining what it means for our nation to be â??exceptional.â?
After exchanging a few pleasantries and finding out about how John came to write this book, we dive into the concept of â??American exceptionalism.â? Building upon the work of noted political scientist Seymour Martin Lipset, Dr. Wilsey lays out two distinct variants of exceptionalism â?? open and closed. The former views the nation in terms of an example for the rest of the world that attempts to expand freedom to all in the world by means of example. Closed exceptionalism, on the other hand, has a much more nationalistic overtone and is exclusionary. John discusses how the concept has changed over time, with special attention to the era of Westward Expansion and the US Civil War. Along the way, he highlights how several noted historical figures championed and presented the idea of American exceptionalism, including John L. Oâ??Sullivan, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, John Foster Dulles, Ronald Reagan, and (of course) Abraham Lincoln who had a very nuanced version of the concept.
Read Full Article »