An American Gospel: On Family, History, and the Kingdom of God

by Erik Reece

From the award-winning author of Lost Mountain comes a stirring work of memoir, spiritual journey, and historical inquiry. At the age of thirty-three, Erik Reece's father, a Baptist minister, took his own life, leaving Erik in the care of his grandmother and his grandfather-also a fundamentalist Baptist preacher and a pillar of his rural Virginia community. While Erik grew up with a conflicted relationship with Christianity, he unexpectedly found comfort in the Jefferson Bible. Inspired by the text, he undertook what would become a spiritual and literary quest to identify an American gospel coursing through the work of both great and forgotten American geniuses, from William Byrd to Walt Whitman to William James to Lynn Margulis. The result of Reece's journey is a deeply intimate, stirring book about personal, political, and historical demons-and the geniuses we must call upon to combat them.

Genres: Religion, Nonfiction, Biography Memoir, Philosophy

MP3 CD

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Jason Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just finished last night, this book has sparked much discussion between me and my wife Erin. We have both found great relevance in this book to our daily lives, particularly with respect to the author's views on evangelicalism and our own decision to recently begin attending a church whose views are more in line with Reece's premise that the Kingdom of God is alive and well around us of this earth. Although we both have discussed criticisms of the argument, the general feeling after reading this book is of a renewed outlook toward christianity and morality in relation to everyday life decisions.

[Jay French · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I saw the title of this one, I thought it sounded like it might be one of those reads that was transcendent, that could cause me to think about things in a different way. The reviews seemed generally positive. I listened to the audio production of the book. I found the narrative meandering, but interesting in the author’s use of literature to illustrate his thoughts on his family history and on the meaning of nature. I will remember the descriptions of specific books, mainly Walt Whitman’s, and their impact on society and on the author, but I probably won’t remember his personal backstory and his conclusions. A well written and interesting read nonetheless.

[Randy Wambold · Rating 2 out of 5]

I agree with another reviewer that in the very beginning I thought this might be one of those transformative, life-changing reads. But before too long I found this book glossy and unfulfilling. At the risk of sounding snotty, if you know anything about the writers that Reece cites as the founders of his American Gospel, this brief book is not going to add any insights.

In fairness at 220 pages I would infer that Reese intends this to be a high level survey of these writers only. I'm not sure any author would think they could delve deeply and meaningfully into the likes of Emerson, Thoreau, James, Whitman, E.O. Wilson and others in 220 pages.

The best summary of the enterprise comes from Reese himself toward the end of the book: "I have tried to make the case that all of these poets, scientists, philosophers and builders do provide... inspiration to overcome the status quo, the corporations, the fatalistic fundamentalism of many churches, the poorly planned cities and suburbs, and the imperial direction of our federal government."

Wow. If you find yourself reading that sentence and like me concluding that that is an unreasonably sweeping, grand enterprise for 220 pages that's bound to fail - I can only say after having read the book: you'd be right.

[Adrienne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reece does a faithful job of exploring theology, american history and literature. The book appears to be well-researched and balanced. I generally trusted what he had to say.

My only complaint was that I wasn't always sure what Reece was trying to get at. The book began an autobiography, then slid into an exploration of Whitman, drew a parallel to the history of Thomas Jefferson, related that to the Gnostic Gospels, and on. While it was all very interesting and thought-provoking, I couldn't put my finger on what he was trying to prove.

He rarely related the analysis back to him or his autobiography. On the other hand, he didn't really make a solid argument with the analysis. Is he trying to say we should all follow a naturalistic theology? Or that a naturalistic theology is American in nature? Or that these are the thinkers and the thoughts that make him a naturalist?

I don't know but I did enjoy the ride.

[Marguerite Hargreaves · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was interesting, and I like the way Erik Reece brought Jefferson, Thoreau, Whitman and the Gospel of Thomas together. But I wish I'd heard more from Reece about his journey and the changes in his life. It became pedantic in the absence of memoir material.

[Ben Vore · Rating 4 out of 5]

This gave me a lot to ponder, even if it turned out to be a different book than the one I expected from the Introduction. Reece’s American gospel — shaped by growing up the son and grandson of Baptist ministers, and profoundly impacted by his father’s suicide when Reece was only three — is equal parts scripture, nature, and intuition (the book devotes considerable attention to Emerson and Whitman). “Christianity did not have to form such an easy and ultimately unholy alliance with industrialism, consumerism, and corporatism,” Reece writes. “There is another, subversive spirit that runs throughout our history, a strain of thought that provides a religious, ecological, and radically democratic alternative to where we are right now. It is, I believe, a uniquely American Gospel, one we sorely need to recover.”

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, which I enjoyed tremendously, is a wonderful balance of a call to action and a call to thought. The intended takeaway lesson, I think, is that we - as Americans, as humans - should live as a part of the natural world around us, in accordance with its laws and not, as most of us now do, thinking of ourselves as separate from and better than our Mother Earth. There is nothing new to this idea per se, but concomitant with Reece's environmentalism is his religious feeling that nature can show us how to live not just in accord with her, but with each other as well. His contention is that religion, Christianity in particularly, teaches this message - or at least, it does when we get it right. The sections of this book that deal with his struggle with the Southern Baptist Christianity of his father and grandfather, his engagement with early Christian scholarship (especially his reading of the Gospel of Thomas) and his own spiritual self-assessment create some of the most compelling parts of the book, in my opinion. Reece's contention that modern mainstream American Christianity is largely to blame for the deplorable state of our relationship to the environment is a fascinating idea: that in its Puritanical rejection of and almost full-on contempt for this world in favor of its view of the Kingdom of Heaven, this religion has contributed to the - both religious and secular - American mindset of humanity being separate from nature, of not being a part of her, and resisting the very idea of becoming so. By pointing out the undeniable influence that religion has had on even secular American society, Reece makes evident the pertinence of the message of this book to the lives of all Americans, whatever their religious leaning.
Somewhat less convincing, I must say, are the sections in which Reece looks back to early American history to find the other pernicious source of American materialism and exclusive urbanity: the evil Alexander Hamilton. True enough, this book is not intended to be a dispassionate monograph, but Reece's demonization of Hamilton and his apotheosis of Thomas Jefferson sometimes lend an unfortunate and certainly infelicitous quality of oversimplification and hysteria to his prose. The two men certainly had differing visions for the United States and following Hamilton's too much to the exclusion of Jefferson's may well be the source of much woe today, but neither man was a devil and neither man was a saint and to imply as much is just silly.
In the end, though, the finally tally of this book, for me, is overwhelmingly positive and I think that, agree with it or not, it can give every person, if not hours of reflection and personal and societal assessment, at least a moment's pause.

[Melissa]

Eric Reece has taken a wonderful journey from being the grandson and son of a fundamentalist Baptist preacher in rural Virginia and suicide survivor to arrive at a place where he can integrate these elements as well as his other life experiences into a place of peace about his spirituality with a message for all of us who inhabit this earth. For someone with absolutely no handle on the Bible, no time spent reading "Leaves of Grass" and a basic knowledge of Thoreau, I couldn't put this book down because of all that I learned and all of the thoughts it provoked. It has lead me to want to read Thomas Jefferson's "The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth," his own version of Christianity and other works mentioned, both theology-based and others. The 200 plus pages go quickly but visions it produces are hopeful and kind.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

First of all, props to a southern baptist boy for tackling eastern religion. Reece's spiritual journey is incredibly unique and I wish I would have heard more of the personal elements of that journey throughout the book. I've never read a book that combines religion, history and literature in such a thoughtful and relevant manner. I appreciate his deep cultural understanding of his faith. This book definitely took a while to get through. It tended to get heavy and term paper-esque in some parts and at times felt like he was lost in his own intellectual ramblings. Other than the overall lack of flow, I appreciate his unique take on religion in America and definitely think it's worth a re-read.

[Lucas Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are some problems with Reece's argument throughout An American Gospel. He covers a lot of ground, and glosses over some of the stickier points, that slow down his thesis. This is especially evident in his lack of discussion about race and slavery when talking about William Byrd and Thomas Jefferson, but despite this, I was transfixed by Reece's argument and his writing. I came to this book almost by accident, but it has made an impact and is one I'll be turning over in my mind for years to come.

Two years later I still love this book, but perhaps disagree with Reece even more. But his is having the argument I want to have. His generalizations are so sweeping that it is unhelpful to call him out, but this book sends me searching. Each time I have read it, I have immediately created a reading list. It grows and changes and draws me towards my two favorite inscrutable topics belief and America.

[Brian Tucker · Rating 1 out of 5]

While the puritanical assessment was spot on at times, the meandering tendencies to decry the canonical Gospels was unsettling (and largely pushed me to skim the remaining portion) as it blatantly admitted errors in scripture.

[Pamela · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book tremendously. I expected more of a memoir, but after finishing it, I'm glad I was wrong. It was a fascinating study on religion applied to the natural world, woven with the fundamentalism of his upbringing. I enjoyed his discussion of the Jefferson Bible and the Book of Thomas the most. I highly recommend this to anyone who struggles with the fear associated with modern-day organized religion.

[Maughn Gregory · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reece gave a wonderful interview to Terry Gross but there wasn't much more to the book than the interview. I agree with most everything Reece is saying in favor of naturalism, Zen, pragmatism, etc., and against the Christianity of 'salvation' but found his rambling style a bit tedious. Many good insights and beautiful passages, though.

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book because of the copious literary and historical references. I am still exploring the gospel of Thomas and thinking about Reece's ideas on the subject. I think he has some reasonable explanations on how we have become such a dysfunctional society. This is a great book to make a person think about many subjects on various levels. I plan to reread it soon.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never thought that, 20 years after dropping Reece’s writing class at UK because I was flunking my first semester of college, I would be sitting here giving one of his books five stars on the internet. I wouldn’t have minded if this book had been twice as long, with more memoir interspersed and more analysis of the ideas and ideals of the numerous thinkers he references. An inspiring work.

[Elizabeth Walkup · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book too academically discursive to call "memoir", too broad for a sermon, and too long for an essay -- it was a little bit of each, and largely a quick, enjoyable read. Had the chapter on Whitman been reworked with the aid of a stricter editor, I'd have given this four stars. My favorite part was reading the chapter notes to find sources I'd like to read.

[Aly · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ideas were really interesting, and there were quite a few authors Reece referenced that I would like to read more of, but I found it a bit hard to get through. I'm not sure if that's a failing in the writing or just a reflection of my ability to focus on anything at the moment.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was under the impression that this book was more of a memoir. It's really a history of "forgotten American geniuses" like William Byrd and Walt Whitman. I like these people, but I was hoping for something a little different.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a little short and light on primary text, but I found its arguments compelling. It's a good jumping-off point.