title: Bible Nation: The United States of Hobby Lobby
author:  Candida R. Moss 
description: <b>"Selected as a Publishers Weekly 2017 Best Book in Religion"</b><br /><br />"Exhaustively reported and scrupulously fair, <i>Bible Nation</i> doubles as a portrait of conviction: The Greens may well be the most sincere and most-frequently misguided activists in America."<b>---Sarah Jones, <i>The New Republic</i></b><br /><br />"Moss and Baden deftly highlight the cognitive dissonance at the heart of the evangelicalism, how and why the faithful cherry-pick Scriptures that buttress their own beliefs while dismissing contradictions among the texts themselves. . . . [The authors] draw on extensive research and interviews with a revolving-door cast of so-called experts and hangers-on, leaving no proverbial stone unturned in their quest to determine the value and validity of the Green collection, the Bible Museum's underlying purpose. <i>Bible Nation</i> peels away the bark on one of the largest branches of the American family tree, using an academic story to tell a broader one: the evangelicals unshakable conviction in their own fantasies and the demonization of anything, or anyone, that dares to challenge them."<b>---Hamilton Cain, <i>Minneapolis Star Tribune</i></b><br /><br />"Candida Moss and Joel Baden's new book illustrates how, with a net worth of nearly $4 billion, the family behind Hobby Lobby is stepping outside the corporate sphere and showing how faith and prosperity can powerfully influence the American public."<b>---Charlotte Salley, <i>The American Scholar</i></b><br /><br />"Biblical scholars Moss (<i>The Myth of Persecution</i>) and Baden (<i>The Historical David</i>) become dogged investigative journalists as they seek to understand how the Green family, the billionaire owners of Hobby Lobby, have aspired to influence national politics. . . . While depicting the Greens as well-intentioned, Moss and Baden make an impassioned case for fighting against the family's efforts to limit access to their questionably sourced collection and to misrepresent their work as nonsectarian when it is entrenched in a deeply American evangelical worldview. . . . This is a timely read for those interested in the relationship between money, faith, and American politics." (<i>Publishers Weekly</i>)<br /><br />"Two biblical scholars combine to dig into the actions and words of the billionaire Green family, founders of the Hobby Lobby chain of craft stores. . . . Moss and Baden portray the Green family members and their key executives as sincere evangelicals and benevolent employers. Throughout the book, however, they also show the Greens as nave or disingenuous. To be sure, the family's proselytizing is not neutral. Rather, they are promoting a historically inaccurate saga of the U.S. as an exclusionary Christian nation meant to marry church and state. . . . Impressive . . . Well-positioned to examine the impact of religion on secular life." (<i>Kirkus</i>)<br /><br />"Moss and Baden's meticulous research will stand up to the most rigorous scrutiny, as they manage to stay dispassionate without judgement. . . . A troubling look into how a personal belief system can infiltrate seemingly public institutions through corporate means." (<i>Library Journal</i>)<br /><br />"[Moss and Baden's] concerns have merit, and by choosing to explore this particular front of the culture wars, they effectively cast light on issues that are American to the core: the belief that God blesses the faithful with financial success, the assumption that success in business verifies people as experts in realms they know little about, the notion that America is essentially and indisputably a Christian nation (and the public square ought therefore to reflect that essence), the dismissal of expert opinion when that opinion runs counter to popular belief, and the refusal of many people to examine their faith with a critical eye. In sum, <i>Bible Nation</i> illustrates what many nonevangelicals find so disturbing about America in the age of Trump, though it also reminds its readers that these untoward elements of American life long predated the election of our billionaire president. Surely they will outlive him as well." (<i>Christian Century</i>)<br /><br />"Candida R. Moss and Joel S. Baden--two respected academics of religious studies--go out of their way to be objective in their reporting on the Green family's growing influence on matters concerning the Bible in our country today. . . . <i>Bible Nation: The United States of Hobby Lobby</i> is a brave book in these dishonest times."<b>---Charles R. Larson, <i>Counterpunch</i></b><br /><br />"Highly worth reading."<b>---Tara Isabella Burton, <i>Vox</i></b>
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  # Title Page
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Copyright Page
  
  
  
  
  
  © 2018 by A. J. Swoboda
  
  
  
  
  
  Published by Brazos Press
  
  
  
  
  
  a division of Baker Publishing Group
  
  
  
  
  
  PO Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
  
  
  
  
  
  [www.brazospress.com](http://www.brazospress.com)
  
  
  
  
  
  Ebook edition created 2018
  
  
  
  
  
  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
  a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example,
  electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the
  publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
  
  
  
  
  
  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library
  of Congress, Washington, DC.
  
  
  
  
  
  ISBN 978-1-4934-1290-7
  
  
  
  
  
  Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New
  International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica,
  Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights re