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The church-state debate currently alive in 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. In Religion and Politics in the Early Republic, Daniel L. Dreisbach compellingly argues that the issues in our current debate were framed in earlier centuries by documents crucial to an understanding of church-state relations, the First Amendment, and our present concern with the constitutional role of religion in American public life. R

The Gettysburg Address contains no direct quotations from the Bible; nevertheless, it is replete with biblical phrases and themes. Lincoln, who had an intimate and thorough knowledge of the King James Bible, used the Bible in ways essential to the mission and message of his brief address delivered on November 19, 1863, at the dedication of a national cemetery at Gettysburg. The unifying theme of his speech was the conception, birth, and death of the nation, which parallels the life of Jesus as recounted in the New Testament. This theme climaxes with the nation's 'new birth of freedom,' secured through the sacrifice of the Civil War, especially through the shed blood and death of the 'brave men' on Gettysburg's battlefield. Lincoln invoked biblical cadences, phrases, and themes to solemnify the occasion for his speech and to infuse the great sacrifice of the dead and wounded with profound meaning. Adapted from the source document.

AbstractThe American founders frequently alluded to and quoted from the Bible in their political rhetoric. This fact alone reveals little about how and for what purposes the founding generation used the Bible and, more important, how the Bible influenced the political thought of the founding era. Drawing on some of the most familiar political rhetoric of the founding era, this article examines the founders' diverse uses of the Bible in political discourse, ranging from the strictly literary and cultural to the theological, from the stylistic to the substantive. Recognition of these distinct uses is important insofar as it is misleading to read spiritual meaning into purely political or rhetorical uses of the Bible orvice versa.

Twentieth-century scholars gave scant attention to the place and role of religion in Washington's life; and when they did they invariably concluded that the first president was a deist or a lukewarm Anglican of the latitudinarian variety who, in the rationalist tradition, probably did not believe in prayers or miracles and who used religion merely for political effect. Highlighting the religious themes of his biography, Part 1 of the book recounts his childhood, early military career in service of the crown, and tenure as commander in chief of the Continental Army.

George Mason was the principal draftsman of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, adopted in June 12, 1776. Its famous Article XVI stated that "all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion," which provoked a tumultuous legislative battle that lasted a decade. The article describes in detail this process & the role of Mason in defending religious freedom & redefining the commonwealth's postcolonial church-state policies. His role in defending religious freedom in Virginia has been unfortunately overlooked. D. Miller

Dreisbach reviews Forgotten Features of the Founding: The Recovery of Religious Themes in the Early American Republic by James H. Hutson.