Calvinism and Foundations of America? Any books?

[Username3000]

Hello,

My brother is an unbeliever who is engrossed in libertarian, freedom/liberty, anti-government, and some conspiracy beliefs.

I have been seeing quotes on the internet about John Calvin's (hence, Calvinism's) huge impact in the formation of the United States of America and freedom/liberty, etc., and I don't know anything about this topic.

My question is: Are there any books out there about this connection between Calvinism and the foundations of America? Is it a valid connection?


I think that knowledge about this would be a good way for our (inevitable) conversations about these things to take a Christian turn, and perhaps God would even use a book such as this to bring my brother to Himself.

Any help would be greatly appreciated,

Elijah

 

[RamistThomist]

There is a connection, but it has to be explained carefully. In a nutshell Calvinism, especially with its view of the covenant, undergirded some federal aspects of the US GOvernment. This is not to say that the Freemasons around 1776 were Calvinists in any real sense. The best book on the subject is Doug Kelly's The Emergence of Liberty in the Modern West.

 

[RamistThomist]

These lectures are decent and worth considering. I do think Morecraft underplays the role of Freemasony in the Constitution, but still the rest is good.

 

[Username3000]

Thank you very much Jacob, I will look into these resources.

 

[Username3000]

Does anyone know if the books by David W. Hall on this subject are any good?

 

[RamistThomist]

Does anyone know if the books by David W. Hall on this subject are any good?

He is a good scholar and worth considering. I sometimes think he overplays the "democracy" connection (simply because the word democracy changed connotations after 1789), but he is certainly worth reading.