The Separation of Church and State: Writings on a Fundamental Freedom by America's Founders

Front Cover
Forrest Church
Beacon Press, May 3, 2011 - Religion - 176 pages
Now in paperback, a primer of essential writings about one of the cornerstones of our democracy by the original authors of the Constitution, edited by preeminant liberal theologian Forrest Church.

Americans will never stop debating the question of church-state separation, and such debates invariably lead back to the nation’s beginnings and the founders’ intent. The Separation of Church and State presents a basic collection of the founders’ teachings on this topic. This concise primer gets past the rhetoric that surrounds the current debate, placing the founders’ vivid writings on religious liberty in historical perspective. Edited and with running commentary by Forrest Church, this important collection informs anyone curious about the original blueprint for our country and its government.
 

Contents

Samuel Adams
7
Isaac Backus
16
George Mason
26
Caleb Wallace
36
Thomas Jefferson
45
James Madison
56
Thomas Jefferson
72
Oliver Ellsworth
78
John Leland
87
George Washington
104
George Washington
112
The Treaty of Tripoli Article 11
121
EPILOGUE
131
APPENDIX
145
SOURCES
158
Copyright

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About the author (2011)

Forrest Church (1948–2009) served for almost three decades as senior minister and was minister of public theology at All Souls Unitarian Church in New York City. He wrote or edited twenty-five books, including Love & Death.

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