As a City on a Hill: The Story of America’s Most Famous Lay Sermon

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By Daniel T. Rodgers

Published June 13, 2018

John Winthrop did not intend or foresee his “City on a Hill” discourse to be an oft-referenced part of the American national consciousness. As a City on a Hill (Princeton University Press) reveals how the sermon ascended into the national canon and uses the speech’s current status as an example of a nationalistic desire to latch onto “timeless texts.”

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The cover of PAW’s November 2024 issue, featuring an illustration of a military tank that's made out of a pink brain, and the headline "Armed With Ideas: Princetonians lead think tanks through troubled political times."
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