America, Good and Bad: The Critical Patriotism of Orestes Brownson

In the mid-nineteenth century, Orestes Brownson traveled from Calvinism to Universalism to Catholicism, thinking out loud all the way. As he reflected on the relationship between faith and politics, Brownson produced insights and conclusions that continue to enlighten and provoke in the twenty-first century. In a time when Christian nationalism and Catholic integralism have resurfaced in public debate, Brownson’s ideas are as fresh and important as they were in the wake of the Civil War.

Recommended Readings

Orestes Brownson, "Our New Programme," Brownson's Quarterly Review (January 1864). Orestes Brownson Society - "Our New Programme" Jan., 1864 (The Review becomes national and Brownson comments on America's destiny)

Richard Reinsch, "The Church and the Republic," Law & Liberty (2017). The Church and the Republic (lawliberty.org)

Peter Stanlis, "America is Hard to See: Orestes Brownson's 'The American Republic,'" Imaginative Conservatism (2012). America Is Hard to See: Orestes Brownson's "The American Republic"- The Imaginative Conservative

Richard Dougherty, "Orestes Browson on Catholicism and Republicanism," Modern Age (2003).

Patrick Carey, Orestes A. Brownson: American Religious Weathervane, Eerdmans (2004).