Every Leaf, Line, and Letter: Evangelicals and the Bible from the 1730s to the Present

Abstract

cites a number of divines from the Mother Country who made such arguments. Steward does admit, though, that most Church of England ministers supported passive obedience in all cases whatsoever, whereas most of Britain’s dissenting clergy backed the colonists. Although the author states that liberal as well as orthodox dissenters supported the American cause, he does not adequately explain this dichotomy. Gary Steward’s Justifying Revolution joins a growing number of insightful monographs by scholars such as Daniel Dreisbach and Mark David Hall, which not only articulate the deeper historical and biblical roots of American resistance, but which also argue for the centrality of religion during the nation’s founding era. Steward’s prose is clear and accessible, although this writer thinks he tended to overquote his sources when he could have cited them in his own words. The research notes are thorough and provide several interesting insights into his evidence and argument. In sum, Justifying Revolution is a deeply researched volume that specialists in the American Revolution will find well worth reading.