Miracle of America
Our Book:
The MIRACLE of AMERICA
The Influence of the Bible on the Founding History and Principles of the United States of America for a People of Every Belief.
by Angela E. Kamrath
Your book purchase helps to support AHEF
Now, for the first time ever, this revolutionary resource reveals the specific connection between America’s philosophical origins and the Bible.
- Key excerpts from original documents
- Key thinkers & events
- Historical Bible references
- Review questions & learning activities
- Over 1000 endnotes
This book reviews what every American needs to know:
- The United States of America is modern history’s first and greatest experiment in self-government.
- What principles and ideas shaped the founding of America?
- Where do they come from?
- What role does the Bible play in America’s founding ideas and ethics?
- Do Americans today understand what freedom really means?
Testimonials
“A must-read for people of all faiths or no faith.”
– Dr. Rob Koons, Univ of Texas
“I cannot recall anything like this. Ever.”
– Dr. Cliff Kelly, Liberty University
“Until now, there has not been a systematic analysis of the relationship between core American political principles and religious principles.”
– Dr. Donald S. Lutz
Book Review
America is a country founded on ideas. Yet studies show that Americans today are largely ignorant about the key principles and ideas that have shaped our nation. As a result, we have become more fragmented as a nation and unclear and divided about what our nation stands for and where it is headed–or where it should be heading. Without citizens’ learning of America’s founding principles and values, the American idea is rapidly weakening. America’s heritage is at risk in our society, culture, institutions, and education today.
…an in-depth look at previously unexplored subject matter
Even fewer Americans understand or agree that the United States is founded on principles largely rooted in Bible-based or Judeo-Christian thought. Some call ours a Christian nation, yet we have no national religion and uphold religious freedom for all. Others call it a secular society, yet we pledge “one nation under God.” This seeming contradiction is often misundersood and misrepresented. What is the American ethic? Where does it come from?
The Miracle of America (Xulon Press, 2014) is an in-depth look at previously unexplored subject matter—America’s philosophical origins and its relation to the Bible. It explains how our nation’s founding principles and values are rooted in Bible-based or Judeo-Christian thought. Ultimately, it shows how the Bible and Judeo-Christian thought are arguably the nation’s most significant foundational root and its enduring source of strength. This essential resource includes facilitator ideas, review/research questions, and learning exercises for educational use.
Miracle of America has received endorsements from leading historians and educators and has been recognized as an unprecedented study on the connection between key American political-moral principles and Judeo-Christian principles.
The Miracle of America is recommended reading for all citizens and families, teachers and students (higher ed and upper high school) to whom the American Founders have entrusted our self-governing republic. Americans must learn, teach, defend, and preserve the American idea for our families and our nation so that it may endure. This book is for people of all nations who endeavor to preserve and promote Freedom, Unity, Progress, and Responsibility (FUPR™) in America and the world.
Endorsed by leading historians and educators, Miracle of America is an unprecedented study on the connection between American political-moral principles and Bible-based principles.
See Miracle of America Endorsements.
Audience:
* American citizens, teachers, and students (secondary, college, adult)
* People of all nations who endeavor to preserve freedom in the world
Features:
* Key thinkers, principles, & historical events
* Key excerpts from original historical documents
* Historical Bible references
* Relevant scholarship and over 1000 endnotes
* Review/research/study questions & exercises
Educational Uses:
* College – Hist, Gov/PS, Westrn Civ, Philo, Bib Studies
* High School unit or course – Hist, Gov/PS, Westrn Civ, Bible, Special Topics in Soc Studies/Humanities (teacher ref, select rdg)
* Teacher/Student Resource
* Independent Reading & Study
* Small Groups
Interviews & Reviews:
– Miracle of America Endorsements
– “Angela E. Kamrath Speaks with Fox About the Bible’s Influence on America’s Founding” – Fox & Friends, Fox News Channel, 4-15-14
– “American History’s Entwined Relationship with the Bible, An Interview with Angela Kamrath,” Jonathan Petersen, Bible Gateway, 5-6-14
– “Kamrath’s Book Emphasizes Historical American Ethic,” University Model Schools Journal, Dec 2013
– “The Miracle of America.” Kirkus Reviews, 12-18-13
– “Books: This and That,” Marvin Olasky, WORLD Magazine, 3-22-14
– “Our Founding Principles,” Part 1 & Part 2. Kevin Price, Price of Business Show, 1110 AM Houston, 7-17-15
– The Old Schoolhouse Curriculum Review of Miracle of America HS Teacher Course Guide, Brandy Brockhausen, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, 2016, 2017
“Angela E. Kamrath Speaks with Fox About the Bible’s Influence on America’s Founding”
– Fox & Friends
Fox News Channel
April 15, 2014
(3.41)
Educators / Librarians:
Miracle of America – Bookstore/Library Order Info
Miracle of America – Text Adoption/Acquisition Notice
Need & Legal Right to Teach Religious History in Public Schools
Also available: The Miracle of America High School TEACHER COURSE GUIDE (Supplemental Units)!
Snapshots/Summaries available: Snapshots/summaries of some key principles from The Miracle of America are available in a free download in the Member Resources section of this site. They are also found in the “Supporting Resources” section of The Miracle of America High School Teacher Course Guide and in the “Teacher Resources” section of America’s Heritage: An Experiment in Self-Government.
Miracle of America High School Teacher Course Guide / Supplemental Units
The Miracle of America High School Teacher Course Guide (American Heritage, 2016) is designed to be used with The Miracle of America text (Second Edition, 2015) mentioned above. The resource serves as a guide for teaching a secondary-level, semester-long special topics course in social studies/humanities (eligible for state elective credit) or as supplemental units for teaching existing courses such as U. S. Government, U. S. history, Western Civilization, and Bible.
The Miracle of America Teacher Course Guide allows teachers and students to study the principles that shaped our nation’s founding and that appear in our founding documents. It examines important historical events and original documents including the Bible, Mayflower Compact, Declaration of Independence, U. S. Constitution, and U. S. Bill of Rights.
Through its unit questions and activities, the guide leads and challenges students to think, analyze, discuss, debate, and ask questions about America’s history, political philosophy, life, society, culture, and civil government. It encourages students to understand and draw their own conclusions about America’s founding values, what has made America successful, our rights and responsibilities, what it means to be an American, and why it matters.
This unit resource correlates with TEKS, AP, IB, CC, and NCSS standards and can be used with any curriculum. It is supplemental and elective and so does not require (public) school board approval.
The guide complements the text/reference, The Miracle of America: The Influence of the Bible on the Founding History and Principles of the United States of America for a People of Every Belief, Second Edition, by Angela E. Kamrath (American Heritage, 2015).
To access the Miracle of America High School Teacher Course Guide in digital PDF, sign up as a member educator (no cost or obligation) to access our Member Resources page. The binder format can be purchased at our bookstore.
Review:
–The Old Schoolhouse Review of Miracle of America Text & HS Teacher Course Guide, 2016, 2017.
“Omitting study about religions gives students the impression that religions have not been, and are not now, part of the human experience. … Since the purpose of social studies is to provide students with a knowledge of the world… studying about religions should be an essential part of the social studies curriculum.” –National Council for the Social Studies, Study on Religions in Social Studies Curriculum
“Public schools may not provide religious instruction, but they may teach about religion, including the Bible or other scripture: the history of religion, comparative religion, the Bible (or other scripture)-as-literature, and the role of religion in the history of the United States and other countries all are permissible public school subjects.” –U. S. Dept of Education Legal Guidelines on Religious Expression in Public Schools
About the Author
Angela in the Press
Professional Development Teacher Workshop - Sat., Oct 25, 2014, Houston, TX
Endorsements
What the Experts Are Saying
We certainly stand at a critical moment now. It is a moment at which significant voices have called deeply into question principles, both political and moral, that have been foundational to our civilization: marriage and the family, sanctity of human life, Rule of Law, true democratic participation, the market economy, limited government. Those principles have been radically called into question as never before in our country. Now which way are we going to go? Are we going to abandon those principles? To my mind, that would be such a tragedy, such a loss to the dignity of the human being that is supported by those principles. Or will we defend those principles? Will we reaffirm those principles? If we do that, we make the right choice, and this country will be a greater country than it has ever been.
The American experiment in republican liberty is truly a miracle. In her informative and well-written book, Angela Kamrath helps to explain why. I warmly commend it, especially to younger readers who will inherit the noble responsibility for sustaining the miracle of America.
Dr. Robert P. George
McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence
Director, James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions Princeton University
***************
Until now, there has not been a systematic analysis of the relationship between core American political principles and religious principles. Angela Kamrath’s clearly written work, The Miracle of America, links these two sets of principles in a non-denominational presentation. The many references to the Bible are apt, well-explicated, and thorough. References to the scholarly literature are sensible and unusually free of academic jargon. The result is a highly informative analysis that is a page-turner.
Dr. Donald S. Lutz
Professor Emeritus, Political Philosophy
University of Houston
***************
The Miracle of America is the most important book I have ever read, outside of the Bible. I have been in the Christian ministry since 1968, and I wish I had read this book back then. ... It is the very best resource for the study of America's Christian Heritage I have read, and it is worth a college semester of studies.
Pastor Billy Falling
U. S. Army Veteran, Pastor, and Author
***************
I have very much enjoyed delving into The Miracle of America and think Angela Kamrath has done a fantastic job on it. Well done.
Jonathan Sandys
Great-Grandson of Sir Winston Churchill
Speaker & Author, God & Churchill
***************
Well what can I say. I have spent just a few hours perusing Miracle of America and have been left fairly speechless. I cannot recall anything like this. Ever. If all young people in America could read this, I think we’d have a Second American Revolution and/or a Third Great Awakening.
...The only real solution to the American crisis (of widespread ignorance among the people of America's founding and history) resides squarely in our ability to restore a Biblical worldview to our people. Now that is a daunting, exhaustive prospect, but it's where this book and others like it come to the fore. If we cannot restore that view, that heart, that vision, the republic may well fail.
Dr. Cliff Kelly
Online Professor of Communication
Liberty University
***************
Miracle of America provides all the background on which Russell Kirk based his work. Super documentation. Very thorough research. All factual, historical.
...A wonderful book which will not permit us to forget the essential Biblical roots underlying our American consensus. American Protestant Christian theology and belief inform all the thinking that underlay the foundation of our Republic.
Rev. Donald Nesti
Director, Center for Faith and Culture
University of St. Thomas
***************
The Miracle of America is a ground-breaking, foundational work. Angela Kamrath's research and work is magnificent in helping to build the case that this was a Christian nation at birth and should remain so. It is important, IMPORTANT, to bringing a new understanding of why America's history and heritage are fundamentally relevant to our nation's continued success. The book shows not only history but evidence of God's Providence, and it should help awaken this nation to our need for God, Christianity, and the Bible as a nation.
Mark K. Vogl
U. S. Army Veteran, Educator, and Author
Columnist, The Nolan Chart
***************
Angela Kamrath has provided a well-researched contribution for the study of the foundations of American Government, especially detailing from primary source material the various philosophical and religious perspectives that helped promote revolution and shape those foundations. The Miracle of America provides much historic detail of argumentation that was adapted by our country’s founders from both reformation and radical reformation ideals and experiences. …An excellent history source book that includes helpful student learning exercises, and both research and review questions with each chapter.
Dr. Brian H. Wagner
Instructor of History, Theology, and Biblical Languages
Virginia Baptist College
***************
A counter to a conventional teaching is Angela Kamrath's The Miracle of America, which shows how biblical understanding influenced the founding of the United States. Homeschooling parents will find it a valuable reference.
Dr. Marvin Olasky
Editor, World Magazine
Professor of Journalism
The University of Texas at Austin
***************
Very original is Angela Kamrath’s linking of political and philosophical concepts to specific Biblical passages. She is to be congratulated on taking on such an ambitious project, reading the enormous body of literature, and coming up with a well-reasoned argument that historians, students, and citizens need to hear.
Dr. Peter H. Gibbon
Senior Research Fellow
Boston University
***************
In an age of historical amnesia, spiritual apathy, and political correctness, Miracle of America is a sigh of relief and a breath of fresh air. It allows students and educators alike to appreciate and to understand America as an idea. It is a profound work, at once a model of intellectual, religious, and political history. The primary research is diligent. Moreover, the activities and supplementary resources included at the end of each chapter reinforce major themes and should stimulate productive classroom discussions.
Dr. Brian M. Jordan
Doctoral Student of History
Yale University
***************
Angela Kamrath gets the main ideas right. Many prominent scholars think that notions such as the importance of consent, the right to revolt, natural rights, and limited government sprang from the head of a secularized John Locke, with seemingly no recognition that these ideas had long been a part of Christian (particularly Reformed) communities. I also like many of the exercises at the end of each chapter. A beautiful book.
Dr. Mark David Hall
Herbert Hoover Distinguished Professor of Politics
George Fox University
***************
Angela Kamrath provides a powerful demonstration of the strength of our republic’s Judeo-Christian roots.
Dr. Stephen H. Balch
Director, Texas Tech Institute for the Study of Western Civilization
Former President, National Association of Scholars
***************
The idea that we are all created equal with inherent, God-given dignity was a radical idea and came primarily from our Judeo-Christian background, not from the Enlightenment. Angela Kamrath’s incredible work documents basic American ideas and ideals in a way that has not been accomplished before. It is a must-read for people of all faiths or no faith.
Dr. Robert C. Koons
Professor of Philosophy
Founding Director, Program in Western Civilization and American Institutions
The University of Texas at Austin
***************
I am impressed with the amount of work that Angela Kamrath has done in assembling this material and in documenting the importance of the Bible and the Christian tradition in the thinking of the Founders, from the Puritans to the Framers of the Constitution. I agree that today’s students should be aware of this important history and, regrettably, that most are not. I am happy to have this impressive work.
Dr. Bill Martin
Senior Fellow for Religion and Public Policy
Baker Institute for Public Policy, Rice University
***************
Miracle of America is excellently arranged for its argument. I’ve learned a lot unquestionably from reading this book. There was research, content, and philosophers in it that were new to me. ... The work is neutral and balanced. It puts truth on the table. The truth will shine. ... This book would be a great resource in an American political thought class.
Dr. Michael Bordelon
Professor of Government
Houston Baptist University
***************
Angela Kamrath’s Miracle of America is rich in documenting the importance of biblical ideals, not only on America’s founding generation and the Great Awakening that occurred before the War of Independence, but at the very beginning of the European settlements in America at the time of the New England Puritans. It used to be that in courses on American history and American political philosophy, students would begin with the Puritans and their wider influence on American culture that Tocqueville and so many other foreign observers noted. Angela has done everyone a great service in trying to restore knowledge of these early beginnings.
Dr. Russell Nieli
Senior Preceptor and Lecturer
James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions
Princeton University
***************
Miracle of America is a book with a point, a point it makes no attempt to hide and for which it makes no apologies. That point is that the founding principles of the United States of America are strongly and unequivocally based on Biblical ideals. The ideals leading to those founding principles can be traced to their sources and identified through the actions and communications of the founding members of the culture. The task of this book is to provide evidence supporting this central point. The book accomplishes this task substantially enough to be persuasive to those who respect the power of original documents to establish such facts. The support is expansive enough to meet the test of validity.
This book traces the lineage of governmental institutions in the United States to Christian principles and specifically to Biblical underpinnings. The lineage is undeniable. The work basically creates a documentary family-tree that shows us clearly how many of these founding concepts were carried torch-like from generation to generation. Just about anyone can benefit from reading this book, including high school students.
Dr. Matthew Melton
Dean, College of Arts and Sciences
Lee University