Great American Sermons with John Wilsey and Daniel K. Williams

What does it mean for a nation to read its own sermons? This America 250 conversation takes up four of them — Winthrop's A Model of Christian Charity, Edwards's Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, Lincoln's Second Inaugural, and King's Mountaintop Sermon — tracing covenant and city-on-a-hill exceptionalism, the personal terror of revival preaching, Lincoln's strange theological restraint amid civil war, and King's prescient final words. The episode closes on what it means to read the dead with charity, and on John Wilsey's new book, God and Country. With host Nadya Williams, John Wilsey (SBTS), and Daniel Williams (Ashland University). — Get the free ebook Spiritual Formation for the Family at http://mereorthodoxy.com/family. Christians Reading Classics is a podcast from Mere Orthodoxy and is listener-supported. If you would like to support this work, become a Mere Orthodoxy Member today at http://mereorthodoxy.com/membership. Apply for fall 2026 admission to Beeson Divinity School's MDiv (or M.Div., your choice) and be considered for a full-tuition scholarship.: https://bit.ly/OurRisenLord — Chapters 00:00 - Reading Winthrop 02:12 - Welcome and Introductions 04:11 - Why Read Classic Sermons? 06:54 - Winthrop and the Puritan Errand 12:12 - City on a Hill: Promise and Warning 16:37 - Edwards and the Great Awakening 25:18 - Reading the Room in 1741 35:40 - Lincoln's Second Inaugural 43:31 - The Passive Voice and Providence 46:33 - King's Mountaintop Sermon 55:27 - Loving Our Historical Neighbors 1:03:06 - Why History Is Who We Are