Much ado has been made about Thomas Jefferson’s famous phrase “a wall of separation between church and state,” written in a letter to several Baptist ministers from Danbury, Connecticut.  Aside from this statement, how did the Founding Fathers view the relationship between church and state, and religion and politics?  How have the thoughts of the Founding Fathers (not just Jefferson) been used in modern church-state court cases?  Mark David Hall, the Herbert Hoover Distinguished Professor of Political Science at George Fox University (Newberg, OR), talks with Tony Gill about the views of Founding Fathers such as James Madison and Roger Sherman.  Hall elaborates on how the views of such men have been selectively used by Supreme Court justices.  The podcast concludes with a discussion of current church-state controversies including the National Day of Prayer.  Recorded: May 5, 2010.

RELATED LINKS

Prof. Mark David Hall’s website.

“Jeffersonian Walls and Madisonian Lines” article by Mark David Hall.

The Sacred Rights of Conscience: Selected Readings on Religious Liberty and Church-State Relations in the American Founding by Daniel Driesbach and Mark David Hall.

Letter from the Danbury Baptists.

Letter to the Danbury Baptists.

Everson v Board of Education.

RELATED PODCASTS

Stanley on Clergy & Free Speech.

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7 Responses to “Mark David Hall on Religion & the Founding Fathers”

1. Research On Religion | Thomas Kidd on The Great Awakening says:

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