The Serpentine Wall: The Winding Boundary Between Church and State in the United States

by James F. Harris (Editor)

Overview

The Serpentine Wall is chronologically structured, befitting a history of church-state separation in the United States. It begins with a history of ideas approach to the European backgrounds and colonial American experiments in theocracy and freedom of religion. It covers pre-modern American debates about religious freedom among the founding generation right up through the nineteenth century. The final section of the book focuses on the separation of church and state and how this has become a matter determined by the Supreme Court.

The resolution of the proper interpretation of the religious clauses of the First Amendment and the course of the boundary between church and state has been slow. Many changes that took place throughout the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth century have influenced the increasingly circuitous route taken by the Serpentine Wall between the two. The result has been an increased focus on social issues involving questions of interpretation of the establishment and free exercise clauses of the First Amendment.

The founding of the United States was a unique event in human history and the result of factors that are unlikely to be repeated. To understand the founding of a democratic country with a unique arrangement between church and state, it is important to view that development as both a product of and a departure from what had come before. Harris' interesting, unique, philosophical viewpoint will be important to those interested in how the roles of church versus state have evolved in the United States.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781412849708
Publisher:	Transaction Publishers
Publication date:	03/15/2013
Pages:	226
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.70(d)

Table of Contents

Preface
Part IPrologue to Democracy and Religious Freedom
Chapter 1European Influences
Chapter 2Colonial America
Part IIThe Republic, Religious Freedom, and Church and State
Chapter 3The Founding and the Founders
Chapter 4The Early Republic
Chapter 5The Nineteenth Century
Part IIIChurch and State in the Modern United States
Chapter 6The Twentieth Century to the Present
Chapter 7The Supreme Court
Chapter 8The Serpentine Wall and Universal History
Selected Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

[A] superb introduction to the topic. Harris gives readers new insights into issues that remain politically potent today. He carefully traces the historic developments from Colonial establishments to disestablishment at the federal level and the gradual decline of state establishments under the influence of Enlightenment thought in the late 18th century. Every American with interest in the topic should read this volume. . . . Highly Recommended.” S. C. Pearson, Choice “THE SERPENTINE WALL: THE WINDING BOUNDARY BETWEEN CHURCH AND STATE IN THE UNITED STATES provides a fine, scholarly examination of the relationship between Church and State in the U.S., and offers key readings and scholarly contributions examining the legal, religious and political separation of church and state in this country. Recommended for college-level political science, social studies and spirituality holdings alike, THE SERPENTINE WALL is packed with many key, important observations that will appeal to any considering historic and contemporary changing religious relationships.” California Bookwatch "This well-written, deeply researched inquiry into the relationship between Church and State in the United States could not be more timely. It is packed with information and everyone interested in the questions can learn much from it. The Serpentine Wall is an important contribution to scholarship and deserves to be widely read." —Michael Ruse, Lucyle T. Werkmeister Professor of Philosophy, director of the Program in the History and Philosophy of Science, Florida State University

From the Publisher