The Oxford Handbook of Church and State in the United States

by Davis, Derek H.

• ISBN13: 9780190657888
• ISBN10: 019065788X
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2017-03-01
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Study of church and state in the United States is incredibly complex. Scholars working in this area have backgrounds in law, religious studies, history, theology, and politics, among other fields. Historically, they have focused on particular angles or dimensions of the church-state relationship, because the field is so vast. The results have mostly been monographs that focus only on narrow cross-sections of the field, and the few works that do aim to give larger perspectives are reference works of factual compendia, which offer little or no analysis.

The Oxford Handbook of Church and State in the United States fills this gap, presenting an extensive, multidimensional overview of the field. Twenty-one essays offer a scholarly look at the intricacies and past and current debates that frame the American system of church and state, within five main areas: history, law, theology/philosophy, politics, and sociology. These essays provide factual accounts, but also address issues, problems, debates, controversies, and, where appropriate, suggest resolutions. They also offer analysis of the range of interpretations of the subject offered by various American scholars. This Handbook is an invaluable resource for the study of church-state relations in the United States.

Author Biography

Derek H. Davis is the Dean of the College of Humanities and Dean of the Graduate School at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and Director of the UMHB Center for Religious Liberty. He was formerly
Director of the J.M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies and Professor of Political Science, Baylor University, and Editor of the Journal of Church and State. He is the author or editor of seventeen
books, including Original Intent and Religion and the Continental Congress, 1774-1789, and more than 150 articles in various journals and periodicals. He serves numerous organizations given to the protection of religious freedom in American and international contexts.

Table of Contents

Part One: Introduction
1. Religious Pluralism as the Essential Foundation of America's Quest for Unity and Order, Derek H. Davis
Part Two: Historical Dimensions
2. The Founding Era (1774-1797) and the Constitutional Provision for Religion, John F. Wilson
3. Eighteenth-Century Religious Liberty: The Founding Generation's Protestant-Derived Understanding, Barry Alan Shain
4. Church and State in Nineteenth-Century America, Steven K. Green
5. Religious Advocacy by American Religious Institutions: A History, Melissa Rogers
Part Three: Constitutional Dimensions
6. Constitutional Language and Judicial Interpretations of the Free Exercise Clause, Bette Novitt Evans
7. The U.S. Supreme Court and Non-First Amendment Religion Cases, Ronald B. Flowers
8. The Meaning of the Separation of Church and State: Competing Views, Daniel L. Dreisbach
9. Managed Pluralism: The Emerging Church-State Model in the United States? Nicholas Gvosdev
Part Four: Theological and Philosophical Dimensions
10. Religious Liberty and Religious Minorities in the United States, Elizabeth A. Sewell
11. Religious Symbols and Religious Expression in the Public Square, T. Jeremy Gunn
12. Religious Liberty as a Democratic Institution, Ted G. Jelen
13. Pursuit of the Moral Good and the Church-State Conundrum in the United States: The Politics of Sexual Orientation beyond Lawrence, Andrew R. Murphy and Caitlin Kerr
Part Five: Political Dimensions
14. Monitoring and Surveillance of Religious Groups in the United States, James T. Richardson and Thomas Robbins
15. The U.S. Congress: Protecting and Accommodating Religion, Allen D. Hertzke
16. The Christian Right and Church-State Issues, Clyde Wilcox and Sam Potolicchio
17. American Religious Liberty in International Perspective, John Witte, Jr.
Part Six: Sociological Dimensions
18. Supply-Side Changes in American Religion: Exploring the Implications of Church-State Relations, Roger Finke
19. Peeking through Jefferson's Wall: A Sociological Assessment of U.S. Church-State Relations, N.J. Demerath, III
20. The Role of Civil Religion in American Society, Richard V. Pierard
Part Seven: Conclusion
21. The Interplay of Law, Religion, and Politics in the United States, Derek H. Davis