The American Patriot’s Bible

Editor’s Note: Last month and then again last week, Fox News host Glenn Beck featured as his guest, Dr. Richard Lee, pastor of First Redeemer Church in Cummings, Georgia and General Editor of “The American Patriot’s Bible”, a book which (in its own words) “intersects the teachings of the Bible with the history of the Unites States while applying it to today’s culture.” Dr. Lee’s appearances on Beck’s show have apparently pushed “The American Patriot’s Bible” as high as #5 on Amazon’s bestsellers list.

Now, as regular readers know, we at the Writers Collective have published our fair share of critical posts about Glenn Beck. But it’s been too long since we talked about “The American Patriot’s Bible.” When the book came out in May 2009, Larry Shallenberger wrote on this site: ”They’ve built a study Bible, not to help unpack the meaning of scripture, but to advance the notion the myth of American exclusivism.” Burnside contributor Rachel Pater wrote this thoughtful post on the topic.

I (John Pattison) was disgusted and distressed by “The American Patriot’s Bible.” Now that it’s on the bestsellers list, we thought we’d repost my old article – with minor changes – in an attempt to resurrect the conversation about this worrisome book, as well as a larger conversation about how (or if) Christians should publicly criticize other Christians.

Original Article: I’m generally uneasy about the specialty Bible trend in Christian publishing. This extends even to specialty Bibles I might be inclined to agree with – for example the Green Bible, which prints in green ink some of the 1,000 passages in the Bible that refer to God’s care for creation, and which includes essays from writers and leaders I admire: Archbishop Tutu, N.T. Wright, and Wendell Berry.

But this new “American Patriot’s Bible” is too much. Larry Shallenberger, in his post earlier this month, rightly pointed out the idolatry of this book (for let’s not call it a “Bible”). The purpose of the book is not to make us wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus, nor to equip us for every good work; its purpose is to promote the myth of American exceptionalism and justify deeds (both past and present) that are hateful to God.

The publisher, Thomas Nelson, has released a couple “trailers” for “The American Patriot’s Bible.” (I am frankly – and perhaps naively – disappointed in Thomas Nelson, which has published at least four books we like here at the Burnside Writers Collective.) In addition to the video posted above, you can watch a nine minute promo here. “For the first time ever,” intones the narrator, “the history of America’s Christian heritage and the Holy Bible are woven together in a single volume.” You can also read a response by the General Editor of the “American Patriot’s Bible,” Richard Lee, to Greg Boyd’s scathing two-part review on the Out of Ur blog.

I think the BWC should do something to lay bare the sham(e) of the “American Patriot’s Bible.” Some things I’ve been considering: a series of posts weaving together the Bible and the history of some other country: Canada? Sweden? the Federated States of Micronesia? We could also take a few of the most perverse conflations of scripture and American history and refute them historically, theologically. Or we could just post a series of short excerpts from the book and let the blasphemy speak for itself.

A confession: My first response to public injustices by the American church is almost always public criticism. I want to use the media – this site, my own blog, other publications – to excoriate Christian institutions, though not individual brothers and sisters, of course.

For example, I recently heard about a megachurch in Florida that has instituted new policies for its worship team. The policies require worship team members to wear the same color, forbid them from moving around on stage or lifting up their hands, and disallow the participation of anyone who is overweight. When I heard this, I was enraged. I started writing. I was going to call the church out by name. I said things like “I am going to crush them in print.” But then I was reminded by people I trust that public criticism (even of public injustice) may not be the correct way to handle the situation, and that scripture prescribes a private confrontation among believers, at least at first. I deleted the post, wholly dissatisfied.

Is it possible that the initial confrontation of “The American Patriot’s Bible” should also be private? What does a private confrontation even look like when we are dealing with non-personal institutions?

What do you think is the appropriate response from the Writers Collective? As individual believers?