On religious liberty : selections from the works of Roger Williams

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Bibliographic Information

On religious liberty : selections from the works of Roger Williams

Edited and with an Introduction by James Calvin Davis

(John Harvard library)

Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2008

  • : cloth
  • pbk

Available at  / 3 libraries

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Note

Includes bibliographical references and index

Description and Table of Contents

Volume

: cloth ISBN 9780674026223

Description

Banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony for his refusal to conform to Puritan religious and social standards, Roger Williams established a haven in Rhode Island for those persecuted in the name of the religious establishment. He conducted a lifelong debate over religious freedom with distinguished figures of the 17th century, including Puritan minister John Cotton, Massachusetts governor John Endicott, and the English Parliament.James Calvin Davis gathers together important selections from Williams' public and private writings on religious liberty, illustrating how this renegade Puritan radically reinterpreted Christian moral theology and the events of his day in a powerful argument for freedom of conscience and the separation of church and state. For Williams, the enforcement of religious uniformity violated the basic values of Calvinist Christianity and presumed upon God's authority to speak to the individual conscience. He argued that state coercion was rarely effective, often causing more harm to the church and strife to the social order than did religious pluralism.This is the first collection of Williams' writings in forty years reaching beyond his major work, "The Bloody Tenent", to include other selections from his public and private writings. This carefully annotated book introduces Williams to a new generation of readers.
Volume

pbk ISBN 9780674026858

Description

Banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony for his refusal to conform to Puritan religious and social standards, Roger Williams established a haven in Rhode Island for those persecuted in the name of the religious establishment. He conducted a lifelong debate over religious freedom with distinguished figures of the seventeenth century, including Puritan minister John Cotton, Massachusetts governor John Endicott, and the English Parliament. James Calvin Davis gathers together important selections from Williams's public and private writings on religious liberty, illustrating how this renegade Puritan radically reinterpreted Christian moral theology and the events of his day in a powerful argument for freedom of conscience and the separation of church and state. For Williams, the enforcement of religious uniformity violated the basic values of Calvinist Christianity and presumed upon God's authority to speak to the individual conscience. He argued that state coercion was rarely effective, often causing more harm to the church and strife to the social order than did religious pluralism. This is the first collection of Williams's writings in forty years reaching beyond his major work, The Bloody Tenent, to include other selections from his public and private writings. This carefully annotated book introduces Williams to a new generation of readers.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments Editorial Method Introduction: Roger Williams and the Birth of an American Ideal 1. Mr. Cotton's Letter Lately Printed, Examined, and Answered 2. Queries of Highest Consideration 3. The Bloody Tenent of Persecution for Cause of Conscience 4. Christenings Make Not Christians 5. The Bloody Tenent Yet More Bloody 6. The Fourth Paper Presented by Major Butler 7. The Examiner Defended in a Fair and Sober Answer 8. The Hireling Ministry None of Christ's 9. George Fox Digg'd out of His Burrowes 10. Selected Letters Index

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Details

  • NCID
    BA90021894
  • ISBN
    • 9780674026223
    • 9780674026858
  • LCCN
    2007014202
  • Country Code
    us
  • Title Language Code
    eng
  • Text Language Code
    eng
  • Place of Publication
    Cambridge, Mass.
  • Pages/Volumes
    xii, 288 p.
  • Size
    25 cm
  • Classification
  • Subject Headings
  • Parent Bibliography ID
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