The Great Experiment: Faith and Freedom in America

by Os Guinness

George Washington called the American political ideal "The Great Experiment." Contemporary English historian Paul Johnson writes, "The creation of the United States is the greatest of all human adventures." The great American republican experiment is "a human achievement without parallel." The early days of the Great Experiment bristled with questions. Can human beings establish good government simply through reflection and choice? Can a free people govern itself? Can a self-governing people sustain its freedom? What form of government best suits those who are neither angels nor animals, but imperfect human beings? In The Great Faith and Freedom in America, Os Guinness and The Trinity Forum lead readers through a series of readings that allow them to explore and reach conclusions about these vital issues. It will help Americans and all who love America seek to better understand the genius of the American experiment and the framers' understanding of how it may be sustained. As The Trinity Forum examines the necessity of faith in a free society and the undeniable impact of faith on the American Experience, he looks at some of the major challenges facing the American republic at the beginning of the twenty-first century.

Genres: History

Paperback

Published March 5, 2001

About the author

Os Guinness (D.Phil., Oxford) is the author or editor of more than twenty-five books, including The American Hour, Time for Truth and The Case for Civility. A frequent speaker and prominent social critic, he was the founder of the Trinity Forum and has been a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution and a guest scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Studies. He lives near Washington, D.C.