
Nature's God
The Heretical Origins of the American Republic
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Narrated by:
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Michael Quinlan
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By:
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Matthew Stewart
About this listen
Where did the ideas come from that became the cornerstone of American democracy? Not only the erudite Thomas Jefferson, the wily and elusive Ben Franklin, and the underappreciated Thomas Paine, but also Ethan Allen, the hero of the Green Mountain Boys, and Thomas Young, the forgotten Founder who kicked off the Boston Tea Party. These radicals who founded America set their sights on a revolution of the mind. Derided as "infidels" and "atheists" in their own time, they wanted to liberate us not just from one king but from the tyranny of supernatural religion.
The ideas that inspired them were neither British nor Christian but largely ancient, pagan, and continental: the fecund universe of the Roman poet and philosopher Lucretius, and the potent (but nontranscendent) natural divinity of the Dutch heretic Benedict de Spinoza.
Drawing deeply on his study of European philosophy, Matthew Stewart pursues a genealogy of the philosophical ideas from which America's revolutionaries drew their inspiration, all scrupulously researched and documented and enlivened with storytelling of the highest order. Along the way, he uncovers the true meanings of "Nature's God", "self-evident", and many other phrases crucial to our understanding of the American experiment but now widely misunderstood. Stewart's lucid and passionate investigation surprises, challenges, enlightens, and entertains at every turn, as it spins a true tale and a persuasive, exhilarating argument about the founding principles of American government and the sources of our success in science, medicine, and the arts.
©2014 Matthew Stewart (P)2014 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Very Interesting Thoughts
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Absolutely enlightening
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A fresh and unsanitized look at the Founders.
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The work is challenging but rewarding, as Stewart explicates the elements of texts by Lucretius, Bruno, Descartes, Spinoza, Hobbes, and Locke. He then shows how these ideas permeated the thinking, writing and activities of Allen and Young in particular, but also many other leading figures of the Revolution. This is a refutation of the idea that the founding fathers intended the country to be a Christian land, a refutation that is grounded in fact, not assertion.
Excellent exploration of this subject
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Interesting
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It gives me a strong conviction that they knew what they were doing.
Revolutionary view of God
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A must read for any student of philosophy or enthusiast of history.
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While on first reading there is a lot here to take in, subsequent readings can only instill in the reader a wish for yet more.
The topic fairly begs for a follow-on work to trace the trials tribulations and progress of the revolutionary philosophy across the subsequent two centuries.
An important book and highly entertaining!
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This Book Goes Deep
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Fascinating Premise
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