Stephen Prothero

Stephen Prothero

Chair, Department of Religion, Boston University

"On Faith" panelist Stephen Prothero is Chair of the Department of Religion at Boston University and author of numerous books on American religion, most recently Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know--And Doesn't (2007). His American Jesus: How the Son of God Became a National Icon (2003) was named by Publisher's Weekly as one of the best religion books for 2003. His first book, The White Buddhist: The Asian Odyssey of Henry Steel Olcott (1996), was awarded the Best First Book in the History of Religions for 1996 by the American Academy of Religion. He has commented on religion on dozens of National Public Radio programs, and on television on CNN, NBC, FOX and PBS. A regular contributor to the Wall Street Journal, he has also written for The Washington Post , the New York Times, Slate Magazine, Salon , the Los Angeles Times and the Boston Globe . Prothero can be reached through his website at http://www.stephenprothero.com. Close.

Stephen Prothero

Chair, Department of Religion, Boston University

"On Faith" panelist Stephen Prothero is Chair of the Department of Religion at Boston University and author of numerous books on American religion, most recently Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know--And Doesn't (2007). more »

Main Page | Stephen Prothero Archives | On Faith Archives


December 2007 Archives



December 7, 2007 4:13 AM

An Instant Classic in American Civil Religion

The speech Mitt Romney just delivered is in my view an instant classic in American civil religion.

One of the troubling shifts in America’s self-conception over the last generation is not so much our drift toward God as our drift away from worry over the possibility that God might not be all that pleased with us. What made Lincoln great was his confusion about God’s purposes, his awareness that providence was in the last analysis (and perhaps even in the first) inscrutable. What makes so many contemporary American leaders small is their conviction that, come what may, God is on our side, which is to say that we lord over God rather than the other way around.

Continue »

Posted by Stephen Prothero | | Comments (54)


« September 2007 |

Top Local Global

What Islam Really Says About Violence, Rights and Other Religions

Gomaa, Fadlallah, Mubarak, Khan, Siddiqi, Ellison, others | On Faith

On Faith is an interactive conversation on religion moderated by Newsweek Editor Jon Meacham and Sally Quinn of The Washington Post. It is produced jointly by Newsweek and washingtonpost.com, as is PostGlobal, a conversation on international affairs. Please send your comments, questions and suggestions for On Faith to editor and producer David Waters.