Thomas Jefferson and the Wall of Separation Between Church and State

by Daniel L. Dreisbach

The origins, controversial uses, and competing interpretations of Jefferson's famous remark―"wall of separation between church and state"

No phrase in American letters has had a more profound influence on church-state law, policy, and discourse than Thomas Jefferson’s “wall of separation between church and state,” and few metaphors have provoked more passionate debate. Introduced in an 1802 letter to the Danbury, Connecticut Baptist Association, Jefferson’s “wall” is accepted by many Americans as a concise description of the U.S. Constitution’s church-state arrangement and conceived as a virtual rule of constitutional law.

Despite the enormous influence of the “wall” metaphor, almost no scholarship has investigated the text of the Danbury letter, the context in which it was written, or Jefferson’s understanding of his famous phrase. Thomas Jefferson and the Wall of Separation Between Church and State offers an in-depth examination of the origins, controversial uses, and competing interpretations of this powerful metaphor in law and public policy.

Genres: History, Politics, American History, Nonfiction

283 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2002

Reviews

[Wysteria Campion · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of the most poorly written and poorly organized books I've ever read. He quotes constantly with paragraphs of interpretation that could have been summed up in one sentence. He also repeats quotes constantly. There was one that my friend and I counted him quoting about four times. It feels like the incessant, unnecessary block quotes and the epigraphs would sometimes have THREE quotes. It's just a short book lengthened by formatting and quotations to meet some hidden quota.
The book itself only takes 128 of the almost 300 pages. The rest is notes and appendices. I ultimately hated the experience of reading this book due to poor construction.

It's not that Dreisbach is wrong in his arguments, I think they're rather fine and I'm inclined to agree with his conclusion on metaphors: they're prone to warping and breaking down if not applied with correct intentions.

[Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is probably a more valuable book than the two stars I gave it would seem to indicate. Allow me to explain: it is one of those books that seems to be cobbled together from a handful of papers, articles and speeches given by the author, each discussing a different aspect of the same overall topic. As such, there is a ton of overlap and repetition that just doesn’t need to be there. If the separation of church and state really interests you, you can get by reading the last summary chapter and not really miss any of the nuance or detail outlined in the book itself.

[Rona · Rating 3 out of 5]

this one is over my head. I worked at it for a while, then gave up.

[Brandon Minster · Rating 4 out of 5]

One more reason to dislike Jefferson and distrust anyone who says he's his favorite president.