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

by Forrest Church

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.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Genres: History, Politics, Religion, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Law

176 pages, Hardcover

First published August 9, 2004

About the author

Rev. Forrest Church 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.

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

During my lifetime the so-called “culture war” has seen a debate about if the United States was founded as a Christian nation or not, however it turns out that this debate occurred during the nation’s founding. In The Separation of Church and State: Writings on a Fundamental Freedom by America’s Founders the issue of religious liberty and if the United States was a Christian nation was presented in 14 chapters of original writings of Founding Fathers and other Americans of the Revolutionary period, compiled by editor Forrest Church.

Covering a thirty year period, between 1772 and 1802, Forrest Church provided to the reader 14 writings from a variety of authors. The most famous are Presidents George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison with material before, during, and after their times in office. Other writers including not as well-known Revolutionary figures Patrick Henry and Samuel Adams as well as largely forgotten Founding Fathers now George Mason and Oliver Ellsworth. However while the well-known and historically prominent were well represented, Church also included the writings of average citizens Isaac Backus, Caleb Wallace, and John Leland to show that not only the ‘political elite’ were debating issue of religious liberty.

The strength of the entire book is the writings presented in this volume and need not be reviewed or critiqued. Although Church does his best to introduce and give context to the writings he presents, these little introductions are in fact that the only compliant one can really have with it. Given the amount of material available during this time period, Church does an admirable job in complying a number of texts from a variety of individuals to present what America’s founders thought and is a must read for anyone interested in the church-state debate in the United States.

[Steve Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a short book where the author writes brief introductions to the writings of 16 authors whose views encapsulate and defend the concept of what Jefferson called "...the wall of separation between church and state."

Church, a Unitarian minister and a graduate of Harvard with a PhD in church history, cautions those who promote a unification of Christianity with the government, i.e. "Christian Nation" advocates. His defense is to offer us the very words of the framers and advocates of the U.S. Constitution's 1st Amendment "establishment clause". Then, as now, the United States was a religiously pluralistic nation. The essays, letters, and speeches of these 16 men flesh out their vision for the protection of religious worship, and indeed, the prevention of the corruption of government or of religious institutions by the fusion of state and church. These men had direct experience of such abuses, and given their education were well versed in the tragic and violent history of the Reformation and the Inquisition.

The one challenge of this little volume is the archaic 18th century prose of its writers. That isn't Church's fault, and won't cost him a star. Though at times the writing is beautiful and elegant, be advised as a reader you're going to run into some terribly long sentences that can go on for more than half a page. If you're like me you'll have to re-read certain passages to get the proper gist of what the author was saying.

But for all that, it was a worthwhile book. I read it at roughly the same time I was listening to Adam Jortner's "Faith and the Founding Fathers" lecture through The Great Courses. Both go well together.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a collection of writings from America's founders stating their beliefs in regards to religious freedom and the need for a secular foundation to America's constitution and laws. Forrest Church has garnered excerpts from the writings of early American figures like Patrick Henry, George Mason, Samuel Adams, John Adams, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington along with lesser know patriots like Caleb Williams, Issac Bakus and Oliver Ellsworth.
Each writer gives his reason for wish to avoid the kinds of religious conflicts that happened in Europe as well as the dangers involved in promoting one type of faith over another.
Thank you Forrest Church for this work.

[James R · Rating 3 out of 5]

The editor’s Introduction to the book and each of the selection’s are worth the price. Several of the original writings are pretty dense because of the changes in language and grammar since the 18th century. One sentence was two and a half pages long. But if you stick with them, read slowly and carefully they offer an important understanding of the founders’ thinking.

[Erika RS · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finished The Separation of Church and State: Writings on a Fundamental Freedom by America's Founders edited by Forrest Church. This short book contains extracts of revolutionary era writings about the separation of church and and state. Favorites such as Thomas Jefferson and George Washington make an appearance as do less well known writers such as Isaac Backus and Oliver Ellsworth.

"Separation of church and state" is a phrase that is bandied around without knowledge of its historical origins. First, as I hope we all know, the phrase itself does not appear in the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence. Instead, it first appeared in a letter written by Thomas Jefferson (Ch. 14 in the book):

Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature would "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between church and state.

One common disagreement in modern discussion is whether we should aim for freedom from religion or freedom for religion. Both threads find expression in the writings in the book. As the author says in the introduction:

As was true of the broader American struggle for freedom, the revolution that led to religious liberty was powered by two very different engines: one driven by eighteenth-century Enlightenment values, the other guided by Christian imperatives that grew out of the Great Awakening, a spiritual movement that spread like wildfire across the American colonies throughout the middle decades of that same century. The former movement, emphasizing freedom of conscience as both a political and a philosophical virtue, stressed freedom from the dictates of organized religion. The later, stemming from a devout reading of the gospels (especially their proclamation of spiritual liberty from bondage to the world's principalities and powers), demanded freedom for religion.

I feel that freedom of conscience suffers from poor health in modern America. Not just with respect to religion but, in general, Americans are quick to judge someone based only on what they believe, not on their actions. I see this, of course, in debates about religion and its proper role in a secular society. But I also see it more widely. I see it in the fact that some said Larry Summers should not be an economic advisor to the President because of what he had said about gender at Harvard (how is that relevant to being an economic advisor?). I see this in the very current debates about race in this country where we are obsessed with whether or not people think racist thoughts, not whether or not they act on them.

I do not want to imply that people's opinions are irrelevant, but we have come to a place in American society where beliefs are often considered more important than actions. That is sad and destructive. Reading books like this remind us about the fundamental debates that define our country have, at their core, something much deeper than superficial displays of religiousity.

[Lance · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've now read through this book twice. The first time was for a course during my undergrad in 2012. I was fascinated by it.

When I first reviewed the book I remarked that, "I found this work to be fun to read, well reasoned, and in some ways a position changer. Knowing why the issue ever came up in our nations beginnings makes me appreciate even more why we, unlike Europe, have the system we do."

In the years that have followed I've only become more aware of the need for this separation.

Today, we have - since the 1970's at least - the Religious Right pushing to take control of the courts, our bodies, and our culture. Let's say they suddenly and completely get their way. What then? Will religious education become compulsory? Whose religion? Christianity? What flavor of Christianity? Southern Baptist? Fundamentalist? Evangelical? What about those who do not believe in Christianity, or belong to one of the denominations that aren't as strict? Will they have a voice? Will we segregate them? Deport them? Persecute them? We may say "no, of course not," but can you be sure? What does history show? History often repeats.

It might interest the reader to know that this came up at the beginning of the nation - heck, even before the nation was officially founded! As Ecclesiastes 1:9 states, "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun (NIV)." We solved the issue in the 1780's, and now we are back hashing the same stuff over and over again.

The reality is that no Church can be preeminent in this country. To do so invariably denies the rights of others and, shocker, hurts the Church. When the Church realizes it is supported by the State, the Church gets lazy. It consolidates and retains power, and permits abuses in its name to ensure that power does not diminish.

The Way, therefore, should be Separation. This is the Way, and we will follow it, or end up like Iran or Afghanistan.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a collection of writings on the topic from our forefathers. It clearly shows the church-state seperation was intentional, even no mention of God in our constitution. George Washington, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson and even the evangelical leaders of the day wanted this seperation.

[Brandi Denson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know how this subject is debatable. This collection of writings by our forefathers makes their intentions very clear.