Chapter 1 The American Jeremiad ; Part I: Three American Jeremiads ; Chapter 2 Puritan New England and the Foundations of the American Jeremiad ; Chapter 3 Decline, Slavery, and War: The Jeremiad in Antebellum and Civil War America ; Chapter 4 Taking America Back: The Christian Right Jeremiad ; Part II: The Jeremiad in American Culture ; Chapter 5 Competing Jeremiads ; Chapter 6 Constructing a Usable Past ; Chapter 7 The Jeremiad and the Culture Wars ; Chapter 8 The Past, Present, and Future of the American Jeremiad

"Scholars of Puritanism and American 'civil religion' have long recognized the unique -- and uniquely American -- power of the 'jeremiad' to shape a national identity. But despite its undeniable importance and longevity, no one before Andrew Murphy has traced the jeremiad's career over such an enduring span of time. By imaginatively combining historical themes with thorough surveys of a rich variety of sources, this highly original and wonderfully written analysis will be invaluable to anyone interested in the meaning of America." --Harry S. Stout, author of The New England Soul and Upon the Altar of the Nation: A Moral History of the Civil War "A brilliant analysis of the American jeremiad. Andrew Murphy traces the lamentations of decline and the dreams of deliverance that haunt every American generation. Elegant, powerful, hopeful, and wise -- Prodigal Nation is required reading for anyone who wishes to understand the fitful history of the American spirit." --James A. Morone, author of Hellfire Nation and The Democratic Wish "Prodigal Nation is a careful account of how theologies function politically and deserves attention from political scientists, political theologians, American historians, and others interested in the interface of religion and culture."--Religious Studies Review "[A} discerning and important study." --Journal of American History "A significant contribution to the historical account of the role of religion in American politics." --Perspectives on Politics "A wide-ranging and thoughtful meditation on how the theo-political stories we Americans tell ourselves resonate with and sometimes even create the communities we inhabit. This book deserves an honored place among the oeuvre of work by political scientists and historians on the jeremiad."-- Politics and Religion "Murphy offers a careful and discerning analysis of the continuing importance of the jeremiad in American thought and culture, from its colonial origins to the present post-9/11 world. . . Anyone interested in American religious history, the creation of a national identity, and the perplexing battle over the place of religion in public life will profit by reading Prodigal Nation.--H-Law "Prodigal Nation is an insightful volume, lucidly written."--Reviews in Religion and Theology "Prodigal Nation is an insightful volume, lucidly written and organized, that exhibits a measured charitableness while simutaneously offering a critical look at the unique force of American, religious rhetoric and its effect on the cultural discourse, past and present. Murphy succeeds in offereinig an informative yet entirly gratifyingexploration into American religion's rhetorical history"--Matthew Wong, Religion and Theology "...Murphy shos an admirable balance in movinh between the two views, and he acknowledges the power of both sides' argument."--Franklin Freeman, Touchstone

Andrew R. Murphy is Associate Professor of Political Science at Rutgers University, New Bruswick. He is the author of Conscience and Community: Revisiting Toleration and Religious Dissent in Early Modern England and America, the co-editor of Religion, Politics, and the American Identity: New Directions, New Controversies, and the editor of The Political Writings of William Penn.