January 15 , 2008
Lecture 9
"FOUNDING FATHERS I"
In this lecture I will address the common misperception that our founding fathers were Christian. Some of them were. Some of them were nominally Christian. Many of them were not, at least not in any form their descendants would recognize. It will be either threatening or refreshing to learn about Christian variety, arising from the yeasty inter-mixing of faiths in young America. This will also be an attempt to stop the current relentless politicization of Christianity by mythic claims about the religion of the founding fathers, and the resulting fascism of a “unified” Christian view.
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February 19, 2008 Lecture 10
"FOUNDING FATHERS II" What makes our nation great is our intellectual inheritance about political rule, about how democracy works. This inheritance is both priceless, and in need of shoring up. In this lecture we will examine what the differences are between a Republic (which is what we were briefly) and an Empire (which is, in spite of our rhetoric to the contrary) what we are now. We will examine other tenets of our democracy and worry about some of them and be glad for what we have received.
March 18, 2008 Lecture 11
"HAMPTON IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR " In this lecture we will examine the place of our city in the context of the Revolutionary War. What happened? Did we play a part? How did we fare? What was the church’s role in shaping the direction and outcome of the war?
| April 15, 2008 Lecture 12
"THE DISESTABLISHMENT
OF THE CHURCH"
After the Revolutionary War, the Anglican Church was on the defeated side. The King of England, mad old King George III, was the head of the church. We were disestablished, disbanded as a church. While we continued to function, our legal status was revoked. Other Protestant churches which we had suppressed at the crown’s orders were now free to function openly and publicly. This put the Anglican and Episcopal Church at a deep disadvantage for the next century.
May 20, 2008
Lecture 13
"ARCHITECTURE"
In this lecture we will look at the architecture of our church. Since the walls that remain are all that is left of the building that was built in 1728, and the church has not been restored to its colonial heritage (while retaining its wonderful beauty) we will also imagine what the church might have looked like. We will also talk about the features now in place, place them in history, and generally be grateful. We will, as usual, be hearing a sermon and some music from the period.
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