Ballots and Bibles: Why and How Americans Bring Scriptures into Their Politics

Semester: 

Summer

Offered: 

2020

Summer Teaching Fellow under Professor David Holland, Harvard College

In 2018, in a public speech to law enforcement officers, the attorney general of the United States used a scriptural passage to defend tougher implementation of immigration laws. The scripture he cited reads, “the powers that be are ordained of God.” His reference bewildered observers who were unaware of a long tradition of citing Romans 13, from the New Testament, in American political controversies, including such formative conflicts as the American Revolution and the sectional crisis over slavery. 

This course introduces students to a complex history of political invocations of scripture, encouraging them to think about why this practice persists, the interpretive strategies it involves, and the implications of such scriptural appeals in civic culture. The course defines politics quite broadly, emphasizing public debate about the distribution of power and resources in the national community. It asks students to engage texts thoughtfully, to consider historical contexts thoroughly, and to reflect on why these texts and their use matters in the present.