FREETHOUGHT BOOKSHELF:  BOOK REVIEWS

[click on the title or cover art to order]

Religion and Politics in the Early Republic: Jasper Adams and the Church-State Debate by Daniel L. Dreisbach, editor published by The University Press of Kentucky

The church-state debate currently raging within our courts and legislatures is strikingly similar to that of the 1830s. A secular drift in American culture and the role of religion in a pluralistic society were concerns that dominated the controversy then, as now. As Daniel Dreisbach compellingly argues, the issues in our current debate were framed in earlier centuries by documents that are crucial to an understanding of church-state relations, the First Amendment, and our present polemic concerning the constitutional role of religion in American public life. In his 1883 sermon, "The Relation of Christianity to Civil Government in the United States", the Reverend Jasper Adams of Charleston, South Carolina, an eminent educator and moral philosopher, offered valuable insight into the social and political forces that shaped church-state relations in his time. Adams argued that the Christian religion is indispensable to social order and national prosperity. Although he opposed the establishment of a state church, he believed a Christian ethic must inform all civil, legal, and political institutions. Adams' remarkably prescient discourse was the first major work from the embattled religious traditionalists controverting Thomas Jefferson's vision of a secular polity and strict church-state separation. Eager to confirm his analysis, Adams sent copies of the sermon to scores of leading intellectuals and public figures of his day. Dreisbach brings together for the first time Adams' sermon, a critical review of the sermon, and previously unpublished letters written in response to the sermon by James Madison, John Marshall, Joseph Story, and J.S. Richardson. These letters provide a rare glimpse into the minds of several influential statesmen and jurists who were central in shaping the republic and its institutions. The documents assembled in this edition provide a vivid portrait of early nineteenth-century thought on the constitutional role of religion in public life. Our ongoing national discussion of this topic is illuminated by the debate encapsulated in these pages. Daniel L. Dreisbach is assistant professor in the Department of Justice, Law and Society at the American University, Washington, DC.

BUY YOUR BOOKS HERE AND THE ATHEIST ALLIANCE BENEFITS