For the first phase of American history, "hope was chiefly expressed through a Christian story that gave meaning to suffering and pleasure alike and promised deliverance from death." But then, under the influence of Enlightenment rationality, belief in God and the supernatural began to weaken among cultural elites. Instead of finding ultimate hope in the kingdom of God, Americans began to believe in the sacred calling of being the "greatest nation on earth," one that would show the rest of the world the way to a better future for the human race. It essentially substituted a "deified nation" for God. There was no more vivid example of nationhood and citizenship than "The Battle Hymn of the Republic": "As {Jesus} died to make men holy, let us die to make men free.
( Timothy J. Keller )
[ Making Sense of God: An ]
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