Seeking a Better Country: 300 Years of American Presbyterianism by D. G. Hart and John R. Muether

304 pages | $24.99 | Hardcover | Published: 2007

Summary: Seeking a Better Country is a readable and lively survey of American Presbyterianism since its founding in 1706. Its aim is not to celebrate but instead to understand how Presbyterians formed one of the largest and most influential denominations in the United States and those historical developments that led to their decline.

About the Authors:

D. G. Hart studied American history at the Johns Hopkins University and has served as Director of the Institute for the Study of American Evangelicals at Wheaton College and Academic Dean and Professor of Church History at Westminster Seminary in California. He is currently Visiting Professor of History at Hillsdale College. His books include Defending the Faith: J. Gresham Machen and the Crisis of Conservative Protestantism (1994); With Reverence and Awe: Returning to the Basics of Reformed Worship (2002); and John Williamson Nevin: High Church Calvinist (2005).

John R. Muether (MAR, Westminster Theological Seminary) is librarian and associate professor of church history at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando. The coauthor of four volumes, Muether has served on the Harvard Divinity School library staff and has been librarian at Western Theological Seminary and Westminster Theological Seminary. He has served on the editorial board of Regeneration Quarterly and on the board of directors of Mars Hill Audio. He is historian of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and serves on that denomination’s Christian Education Committee.

What Others Say About This Book:

“Seeking a Better Country does far more than simply chronicle the first three centuries of American Presbyterian history.  It is a trenchant assessment of the Presbyterian legacy in the United States by two leading conservative scholars. It should be on the bookshelves of pastors and students alike.”

– Peter Lillback, President, Westminster Theological Seminary

“Historians D. G. Hart and John Muether provide an account of American Presbyterian history that makes a basic and challenging argument: in their great success, Presbyterians in America have often lost sight of their spiritual mission of preaching the Word and administering the sacraments. Not exactly an uplifting message, and yet one that we need to hear! For in making their case, these authors not only provide a compelling account of Presbyterianism in America; they also offer a vision of Presbyterian identity that deemphasizes the noise, jazz, and heroes of this present age for a better country, that is a heavenly one, whose maker and ruler is God.”

– Sean Michael Lucas, Vice President for Academics and Assistant Professor of Church History, Covenant Theological Seminary