Like any book, we should read Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America with its historical context in mind. Tocqueville wrote his work as an outside observer, not as an American. He wrote as a critical bystander, not as an admirer. And he wrote as one who saw first hand the effects of revolution on his family and his country. Let’s explore some ways to learn from Tocqueville’s remarkable work.
SPEAKER - Dr. John D. Wilsey
John Wilsey serves as assistant professor of history and Christian apologetics at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He teaches primarily in the Seminary’s fully accredited B.S. program offered to offenders serving life sentences at the Darrington Unit, a maximum security state facility. He is the author of several articles and editorials, as well as One Nation Under God: An Evangelical Critique of Christian America (Pickwick, 2011), and American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion: Reassessing the History of an Idea (IVP Academic, 2015). Most recently, he has produced Democracy in America: A New Abridgment for Students for Lexham Press, which will be appearing this November. He has been married for nineteen years to Mandy, and they have two daughters.