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This proposal seeks support for writing a historical account of the Bible in American experience. Scripture has been central throughout American history, but it has been under-studied because of the sheer vastness of the subject. Yet by strategic selection of episodes, texts, and controversies, it is possible to document and interpret the complex place of Scripture in American history--at the cultural center and on the margins, in personal devotion and public proclamation, by women and children as well as men, for sanctioning slavery and communicating hope to captives, for inspiring high art and fueling pop culture, for defending war and mandating peace, and much, much more. This project takes advantage of excellent scholarship on several aspects of the subject, but represents the first attempt to narrate the whole story. It draws on research I have conducted for over twenty-five years.