Founders on God and Government

'In God We Trust?' The separation of church and state is a widely contested topic in the American political arena. Whether for or against, debaters frequently base their arguments in the Constitution and the principles of the American founding. However, Americans' perception of the founding has narrowed greatly over the years, focusing on a handful of eminent statesmen. By exploring the work of nine founding fathers, including often overlooked figures like John Carroll and George Mason, The Founders on God and Government provides a more complete picture of America's origins. The contributors, all noted scholars, examine the lives of individual founders and investigate the relationship between their religious beliefs and political thought. Bringing together original documents and analytical essays, this book is an excellent addition to the library of literature on the founding, and sheds new light on religion's contributions to American civic culture.

This fine book belongs on the small shelf of required books of anyone who wishes to understand the religious roots of our American republic. With careful attention to the massive scholarship bearing on the subject, it concisely and elegantly makes the argument that religion does matter to the Founding, and it explains the scope and central importance of religious liberty for leading actors in that great drama. Incisive, a good read, warmly recommended., The Founders and God were often inseparable, despite the tenor of much modern scholarship. This volume does an excellent job of bringing them back togetherrrrr, Written by eminent scholars of law, politics, and history, this edited collection of insightful essays examines the vital role of Christianity in the political thought and deeds of influential founding fathers. The Founders on God and Government paints rich biographical portraits of the most famous founders (George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Benjamin Franklin) and several of the not-so-famous founders (George Mason, James Wilson, John Witherspoon, and the Catholic Carroll family of Maryland). These engaging profiles explore how religion informed the values, political philosophies, and public deeds of these statesmen. The reader gains from these portraits an intimate acquaintance with the subjects and the times in which they lived. This book is essential reading for all citizens who want to understand religion's inestimable contribution to the great American experiment in political self-government and liberty under the law., If the editors of this collection intended it to redress an imbalance resulting from neglect of the founders' religious beliefs, it succeeds...if they hoped to stimulate additional scholarship on the complex interrelationships between sources of the founders' religious beliefs and their political theories, we may hope it will succeed., Recommended. Upper-level undergraduates and above.

Daniel L. Dreisbach is professor of justice, law, and society at American University, and author of Thomas Jefferson and the Wall of Separation Between Church and State. Mark David Hall is associate professor of political science at George Fox University, and author of The Political and Legal Philosophy of James Wilson, 1742-1798. Jeffry H. Morrison is currently James Madison Visiting Fellow in the Department of Politics at Princeton University, and associate professor of government at Regent University; he is author of the forthcoming John Witherspoon and the Founding of the American Republic.