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Matthew Paul Turner

Our Great Big American God: A Short History of Our Ever-Growing Deity Hardcover – August 19, 2014

by Matthew Paul Turner (Author)

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Americans love God. We stamp God on our money, our bumper stickers, and our bodies. With a church on nearly every street, it's hard to deny our country's deep connection with the divine.

Yet culture critic Matthew Paul Turner says that God didn't just change America-America changed God. As a result, do we even recognize the "real" God?

Whip-smart and provocative, Turner explores the United States' vast influence on God, told through an amazing true history of faith, politics, and evangelical pyrotechnics.

From Puritans to Pentecostals, from progressives to mega-pastors, Turner examines how American history and ideals transformed our perception of God. Fearless and funny, this is the definitive guide to the American experience of the Almighty-a story so bizarre, incredible, and entertaining that it could only be made in the U.S.A.

No matter what your political or religious affiliation, this book will challenge and delight with its razor sharp wit, social commentary, and savvy historical insight. It will make you reconsider the way you think about America as a "Christian nation," and help you re-imagine a better future for God and country.

Ultimately, Turner dares to ask: Does God control the future of America-or is it the other way around?

Print length

256 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Jericho Books
Publication date

August 19, 2014
Dimensions

6.5 x 1 x 9.5 inches
ISBN-10

1455547344
ISBN-13

978-1455547340
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Fiendishly clever and meticulously sourced."―Library Journal, Starred Review

"Engaging history that turns a penetrating eye on how God has been shaped to fit the varieties of faith in America... An energetic presentation of our complicated relationship with God."―Kirkus Reviews

"With wit and captivating narrative style, Turner takes a historical look at the ways Americans have been shaped by our faith and how the development of the American empire has affected our perception of God. His work offers a deeper look at what it means to be a Christian in the United States."―Relevant Magazine

"Whether you're a conservative Christ follower or a seeker straddling the fence of what to believe, Turner's book will challenge all that you've assumed and presumed to be historically accurate about America's founding religious voices."―Book Reporter

"Matthew Paul Turner has written a fascinating biography of God-specifically God's sojourn in America. This book is enlightening, funny and filled with so many historical insights, I found myself uttering 'Aha!' at least twice per page."―A. J. Jacobs, New York Times bestselling author of The Year of Living Biblically

"OUR GREAT BIG AMERICAN GODby Matthew Paul Turner combines history, social commentary and good writing into a powerful work that tells us just why we Americans are all so crazy-God made us do it! If you want to understand America, read this book."―Frank Schaeffer, author, And God Said, ?Billy!?

"A delightful overview of American church history with a perfect blend of sarcasm, irreverence, and love. Illuminating, engaging, and playful, this book is the best thing that has happened to America's God since, well, America. You will love this book, provided you're not a Calvinist."―Ed Cyzewski author, The Good News of Revelation and A Christian Survival Guide

"Whip-smart, wry, acerbic, and surprisingly tender, OUR GREAT BIG AMERICAN GOD is a grand family tree of the union between God and America. As a Canadian who is often baffled by-while still very influenced by-this great big American God, I found Turner's book enlightening, bold, and downright funny."―Sarah Bessey, author of Jesus Feminist

"I read Matthew Paul Turner books for two reasons, he's been a good friend for years and his ideas always challenge me. The question, "Who have I made God out to be?" is a critical one to wrestle with, and this book provides the gym for the match."―Jon Acuff, New York Times bestselling author of Start

"In this book Matthew Paul Turner gives us a glimpse into how the church in America has been trying its best to destroy Christianity, and gives us some hope that it might just survive regardless."―Peter Rollins

"With humor and refreshing candor, Turner has once again challenged the status quo, dared us to all to challenge our pre-conceived notions of God, and succeeded in bringing our eyes back to a God that just simply loves us all."―Timothy Kurek, author of the bestselling book, The Cross in the Closet

"Who knew I could have this much fun reading about Puritans, Great Awakenings, and Jerry Falwell? Who knew a historical book about American Christianity could make me laugh out loud and still cringe at my own hypocrisy? Matthew Paul Turner's story of America's God may make you uncomfortable. It may even offend you. But you will walk away from this book wiser. You will long to know a God outside of culture and time, a God unmarked by humanity's stain."―Micha Boyett, Author of Found: A Story of Questions, Grace, and Everyday Prayer

"The pages are packed full of history, but Turner's approachable and cheeky writing style make it truly entertaining. It's funny, provocative and exceptionally well-written. A must-read." ―Nish Weiseth, author of Speak: How Your Story Can Change the World, Editor in Chief, deeperstory.com

About the Author

Matthew Paul Turner is the author of Churched, The Christian Culture Survival Guide, and Everything You Need To Know Before College. Before he began writing and speaking full-time, he served as editor of CCM and music and entertainment editor of Crosswalk.com. He and his wife Jessica live in Nashville, Tennessee.

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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Jericho Books (August 19, 2014)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1455547344
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1455547340
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 15.5 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 1 x 9.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,357,385 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #543 in Religious Humor
- #2,182 in Ethics in Christian Theology
- #3,833 in Political Commentary & Opinion

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59 ratings

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Matthew Paul Turner

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Matthew Paul Turner is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller What Is God Like? as well as When God Made You and When I Pray for You. When the father of three isn’t writing books, he’s photographing interesting people and places, practicing wood carving, and watching his children play soccer. Visit his website at matthewpaulturner.com.

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Tom

Church Jester

Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2015

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We're all familiar with Matthew Paul Turner by now. His shtick is to critique the foibles of evangelicalism/fundamentalism with snarky - make that SNARKY - edginess and scoffing humor. But every court needs its jester and Turner fills the niche. In this latest effort Turner cynically examines the history of Evangelical Christianity in America from the New England Puritans to Mark Driscoll. Of course, Turner had a LOT of dubious history to pick from including the antebellum church's support of slavery, Pentecostal snake handling, preoccupation with prophetic end times, idolatrous American nationalism, Jim Bakker, Jerry Falwell, health and wealth evangelists on TBN, etc. You'll get mad at Turner for his irreverence on one page and laugh along with him as he hits the nail on the head on the next. Yes, the church in America created widely-shared perceptions of God that often had little connection to the God of the Bible. Yet, despite the sheer ridiculousness of many of the beliefs, attitudes, and practices of American believers and despite all the messiness of intra and inter denominational squabbles, the Lord has accomplished His purposes.

I definitely share Turner's annoyance with American Christianity's fervent embrace of nationalism. The short of it is that Christians in this country were taught from the pulpits to view America as God's new covenant chosen nation. As Turner points out, this attitude served the country's leaders and capitalists extremely well. I'm not one to compliment the Jehovah's Witnesses cult but I do believe their teachings regarding politics, governments, and nationalism fit the New Testament model a lot more closely than the red, white, and blue jingoistic patriotism of many Evangelical and Fundamentalist churches (1 Peter 2:11).

I hesitatingly recommend this book. Sure, Turner's choices of what constitutes the major themes of the American Christian story are interesting, informative, and even funny at times but I often cringed at his scoffing, as if the work of the Holy Spirit among imperfect believers is something to be laughed at with contempt. Yet, with Falwellian hyper-nationalism as a prime example, some of our foibles do deserve a critical, Dennis Miller-ish thrashing. Turner covers about 400 years of American Christian history in 220 pages so buckle your seatbelt. If history's not your thing the numerous names, places, and dates may be a bit overwhelming.

Matthew Paul? What's up with that? "Matt" would be fine for most guys. Oops! Sorry. This book is starting to rub off on me.

17 people found this helpful

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Reid McCormick

American's obsessed with religion

Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2017

Verified Purchase

God and country. Take a drive around the highways of America and within minutes you can spot a bumper sticker or two that proclaims love for God and country. On my commute, my wife and I would play a game: who could spot the first “in not of this world” bumper sticker. She usually wins within the first three miles.

In the United States, religion and patriotism are two ends of the same stick. It is unfathomable to be one but not the other. Can you be a patriotic atheist?

All Americans have a complicated relationship with religion, not just the religious or non-religious. Though I wholeheartedly believe that the United States is not a “Christian nation,” religion definitely impacts everyday matters in America.

I picked up Our Great Big American God via a recommendation from a colleague after discussing the role of Christianity in culture. The book is great at explaining the theology of certain groups throughout American history, starting with the Puritans and ending with the Moral Majority. Each group left significant on America, however, the lasting impacts were not really discussed in the book. I guess I was looking for more of an outsider’s view of Christianity in American history.

Additionally, I felt the author tried to throw in some wit here and there and it typically fell flat. At times he would address God like an independent figure and other times treat God like a figment of the collective’s imagination. All in all, it felt disjointed.

The book is good with lots of resources, it just did not fit my taste. I'm now more interested in the resources he used rather than this book.

3 people found this helpful

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John Hawthorne

Astute analysis underneath the humor

Reviewed in the United States on September 15, 2014

Verified Purchase

Matthew Paul Turner picks up astutely on the ways in which Americans from William Bradford to Walter Rauschenbusch to Jerry Falwell read God into their work. It’s not that they were using God, exactly. They just only saw one pattern. And that pattern seemed to remarkably fit where their own interests lie. Abraham Lincoln’s caution that we should try to find ourselves on God’s side rather than wanting God on our side was lost on many American religious leaders throughout history.

There is great history in the book. If you read the endnotes, you’ll find citations from some of the best religious historians around: George Marsden, Thomas Kidd, Mark Noll, Stephen Prothero. In the last year I’ve read Robert McKenzie’sThe First Thanksgiving, Molly Worthen’s Apostles of Reason (on the rise of evangelicalism), and Randall Balmer’s biography of Jimmy Carter, Redeemer. All of these books, plus others I’ve read tell similar stories to what Turner shares in this little book. In other words, his history is solid even if understandably abbreviated.

The writing style is a combination of Sarah Vowell and Kurt Vonnegut; wry, slightly irreverent, managing social commentary while quietly admiring the intent of the actors in the story (for the most part). It made me miss the days when I faithfully read The Wittenberg Door.

What’s surprising about the book is that it’s more than a funny read of issues in American religion. Pay attention and you find a deep analysis of the dangers of syncretism and civil religion. It’s what happens when we pay more attention to ourselves and our own religious systems that we do to the God who is acting in our midst.

The book also provides something of an atlas to the contemporary issues in American Evangelicalism. The kaleidoscope patterns that defined early groups can still be found in today’s expression. While Turner helps connect those dots along the way, it’s pretty easy to see how the varied strands of religious expression continue to take shape.

Yes, the book is a light-hearted look at the way we think about God in America. But more than that, it’s about how people wrestle to make sense of the incomprehensibility of the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe. It calls out those who would reduce that God to a product to be managed (which he characterizes as GOD®) and requires us to maintain an appropriate intellectual humility.
Maybe then we can understand the story that God is actually writing rather than the patterns we think we see.

2 people found this helpful

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