Ragosta, John A.
Charlottesville : University of Virginia Press, 2013.
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Part of the series Jeffersonian America;Jeffersonian America.
Notes:

• Thomas Jefferson’s religion and religious liberty — Virginia’s establishment and the revolutionary battle for religious liberty — The Virginia statute for establishing religious freedom — The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution : a Jeffersonian compromise — From the First Amendment to Reynolds : Jefferson ascendant — Federal control : Jefferson’s vision in our times — Jefferson’s enduring legacy — Documentary appendix: Virginia Statute for Establishing Religious Freedom (original and edited versions) — Memorial & remonstrance against religious assessments — First Amendment to the United States Constitution — Memorial from the General Convention of Virginia Presbyterians, August 13, 1785 (Bethel) — Spirit of the Gospel Resolution of the Virginia Baptist General Convention, August 13, 1785 — Jefferson’s letter to the Danbury Baptists, January 1, 1802, and letters to Levi Lincoln and from Gideon Granger regarding the letter to the Danbury Baptists.
• Includes bibliographical references (p. [271]-286) and index.
• Offers a defense of Thomas Jefferson’s advocacy for a strict separation of church and state by examining his views on religious freedom. Shows how the First Amendment’s focus on maintaining the authority of states to regulate religious freedom demonstrates that Jefferson demanded a firm separation of church and state within the United States but never sought a wholly secular public square.
• For over one hundred years, Thomas Jefferson and his Statute for Establishing Religious Freedom have stood at the center of our understanding of religious liberty and the First Amendment. Jefferson’s expansive vision–including his insistence that political freedom and free thought would be at risk if we did not keep government out of the church and church out of government–enjoyed a near consensus of support at the Supreme Court and among historians, until Justice William Rehnquist called reliance on Jefferson demonstrably incorrect. Since then, Rehnquist’s call has been taken up by a bevy of jurists and academics anxious to encourage renewed government involvement with religion. In Religious Freedom: Jefferson’s Legacy, America’s Creed, the historian and lawyer John Ragosta offers a vigorous defense of Jefferson’s advocacy for a strict separation of church and state. Beginning with a close look at Jefferson’s own religious evolution, Ragosta shows that deep religious beliefs were at the heart of Jefferson’s views on religious freedom. Basing his analysis on that Jeffersonian vision, Ragosta redefines our understanding of how and why the First Amendment was adopted. He shows how the amendment’s focus on maintaining the authority of states to regulate religious freedom demonstrates that a very strict restriction on federal action was intended. Ultimately revealing that the great sage demanded a firm separation of church and state but never sought a wholly secular public square, Ragosta provides a new perspective on Jefferson, the First Amendment, and religious liberty within the United States. — Publisher’s description.

Subjects:

• Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826 — Religion.
• Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826 — Political and social views.
• Freedom of religion — United States — History — 18th century.
• Freedom of religion — Virginia — History — 18th century.
• Church and state — United States — History — 18th century.
• Church and state — Virginia — History — 18th century.
• Virginia. Act for establishing religious freedom.
• Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826. gnd
• Religionsfreiheit. gnd
• USA. gnd

Requested by Lansing, M.