To Pledge Allegiance: Reformation to Colonization

by Gary DeMar, Fred D. Young

Book by Demar, Gary, Young, Fred D., Todd, Gary L.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History

320 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1997

About the author

Gary is a graduate of Western Michigan University (1973) and earned his M.Div. at Reformed Theological Seminary in 1979. In 2007, he earned his Ph.D. in Christian Intellectual History from Whitefield Theological Seminary. Author of countless essays, news articles, and more than 27 book titles, he also hosts The Gary DeMar Show, and History Unwrapped—both broadcasted and podcasted. Gary has lived in the Atlanta area since 1979 with his wife, Carol. They have two married sons and are enjoying being grandparents to their grandson. Gary and Carol are members of Midway Presbyterian Church (PCA).

Reviews

[Amy Meyers · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was scheduled in the My Father's World Exploration to 1850 curriculum for middle school ages, about grades 6-8. Mom is suggested to read it with the student, but I didn't have time in our school days to do that, so I made recordings of the scheduled readings, my son reads with my recording (immersion reading), and then we use the questions at the end of the chapter for discussion, review, and to assess his understanding of the material. He is on the young end of 6th grade, and I feel this textbook would be fine for a unit or term for high schoolers. It is unique in that it covers thoroughly the history of each individual American colony--problems faced, individual challenges, settled by whom and why. The author's theonomist bias does show, however. Though the Puritans even persecuted Baptists, everything he has to say about the Puritans is put in a positive light. The title is based on that--that Puritans wanted to shine their light. I appreciate how he shows repeatedly that America was founded by many good Christians with missionary intent. However, because of his theonomy, he is not positive enough towards Roger Williams or William Penn for how they truly, more than the Puritans certainly, established religious freedom in Rhode Island and Pennsylvania. That would be my only critique, outside of its being a bit too text bookish. Otherwise it's a wonderful Christian perspective, and I myself am learning so much along with my son.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

MFW assigns this for history, along with a couple of other books, so my rating might be affected by the "overload" we felt some days. I found it much more interesting than my 11 year old did, but it is definitely more of textbook than a living book. The founders of our nation looked to God for guidance and wisdom, this historical fact cannot be denied. I just wish our current leaders would do the same!

[Stephen Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was part of the My Father’s World curriculum. This book gets high marks for presentation. The layout, pictures, and historical progression are top notch. There are also a few times that economics are brought up that are accurate, and refreshing to see in a text book format. My biggest issue is with the editorializing from the author. When this book sticks to the facts and events, it’s great. When the author explains why Quakers are wrongly (in his opinion) interpreting the Bible, in contrast to Puritans correctly interpreting the Bible (again, his opinion), the book goes very very wrong. The uplifting of puritans in this book is so bad that the author even shrugs off the murders committed by puritans because they could’ve killed more. There are a few other issues I took with the book, but they are all with the author editorializing an excuse or defense for something he wants to not be looked as down upon as other historians or society will.

[Winnie Thornton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked it when I was 16.