American Jesus: How the Son of God Became a National Icon Paperback – Illustrated, September 18, 2004

As those of us who still read should acknowledge in this country, the only subject more difficult to write objectively about than politics, is religion. Mr. Prothero has accomplished this. Actually, I am a Roman Catholic, and my priest loaned me his copy to read! I enjoyed it so much that by the time I'd read the introduction I'd ordered a copy for myself, on here. I would find it difficult to dispute this comprehensive history, regardless of which religion in this country I followed. Certainly, many of the statistics, particularly from the past, were quite fascinating. It is enlightening to realize that our country's founders, and not just the founding fathers, weren't nearly so tied to organized religion as we might want to think. As well-written and researched as this volume is, it is also a peripheral illustration of the value of American media and technology in cementing this country together. It might be interesting to today's Americans that there was very little mention of Islam in the book, considering our present political situation. This is a great read, and I've already purchased another book by Prothero in anticipation of enjoying it also.

A little depressing for me, given that I am an Orthodox Christian, but an important study nonetheless. Well-written and well-researched.

This book is readable, fun, and fascinating. I background from the colonial period to the 20th century was mostly new to me, and I learned a lot. The later chapters tended to give me a lot of "Aha!" and "Oh, I remember that!" moments, and deepened my understanding of what was going on. I enjoyed it immensely.

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”This is the first clause of the first amendment of the United States Constitution. It is probably one of the most important lines (and most debated) in all of American freedoms. It is what makes the United States unique.Christianity has a very unique history in the United States because there is no central authority. There is no pope to monitor the flock. Every American has the right to view Jesus in his or her own way and thus worship and share this Jesus with whomever they want. Our third president and founding father, Thomas Jefferson, was one of the first to challenge the accepted status quo of Jesus in America. His Jesus was different from his citizens. He did not force his subjects to accept his Jesus. He did not mistreat or torture his dissenters. They were free to express their opinions, as so was he.American Jesus walks through the different views of Jesus throughout the nation’s history. Jesus is a national icon because he is up for interpretation. If you don’t like someone’s view of Jesus, you can change it to make it yours. Your view of Jesus is up to you. This book presents the different popular views of Jesus over the years and how he has developed over the decades.The first couple of chapters were interesting, but overall, this book was too long and not super interesting. At the end of the book, I was hoping to read more about the modern Jesus during the moral majority and Reagan years. Though this book was well-researched as better than others, it still does not reach the top of my suggestion list.

A great read about the story of religion in America, from it's inception to the current day. I think that this book will be interesting tothose of all faiths in America. I could hardly put this book down once I started reading.

An interesting read but the author repeats himself too much.

My adult Sunday School class always decides at the beginning of the fall season what books we want to study during the class year. We decided to start with this one, for a light take on religious issues. Instead, we have found a book with much "meat" and we have had some of the best discussions in a long time. We are all glad that we selected this Prothro book for our initial read.

Boring. I couldn't get through it.

ideal

最近米メディアに露出度高い著者ですが、うなずける点多々あり。米国に縁のある方、お勧めです。