Description

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Today’s dispute over the line between church and state (or the lack thereof) is neither the first nor the fiercest in our history. In a revelatory look at our nation’s birth, Forrest Church re-creates our first great culture war—a tumultuous, nearly forgotten conflict that raged from George Washington’s presidency to James Monroe’s. 

Religion was the most divisive issue in the nation’s early presidential elections. Battles raged over numerous issues while the bible and the Declaration of Independence competed for American affections. The religous political wars reached a vicious peak during the War of 1812; the American victory drove New England's Christian right to withdraw from electoral politics, thereby shaping our modern sense of church-state separation. No longer entangled, both church and state flourished.

Forrest Church has written a rich, page-turning history, a new vision of our earliest presidents’ beliefs that stands as a reminder and a warning for America today.

About the Author

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Forrest Church earned his doctorate in Church History at Harvard University and has written or edited over twenty-two books, including The Separation of Church and State. 
 

Praise For…

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ADVANCE PRAISE FOR SO HELP ME GOD
"A wide-angled view of the whole history of the early republic. Solid and scintillating." --Edwin S. Gaustad, author of Sworn on the Altar of God

"Magnificently combines a comprehensive knowledge of the history of the American presidency, a sophisticated appreciation for the intricacies of American politics, and a surpassing understanding of the role of religion in American life." --Senator Gary Hart, author of James Monroe —