James Madison On Religious Liberty

This long-overdue volume is the only one of its kind containing all of Madison's religious writings, as well as new contributions by leading scholars. Madison's writings assume even more importance to thoughtful Americans as the Supreme Court continues to decide issues of school prayer, and as the Moral Majority tries to desecularise American public and private life. Imagine an America without the Bill of Rights, without the Constitution. This image of our nation, existing without these two foundations of freedom, justice, and inquiry, assaults the imagination, for these two documents are the fuel that runs the republic. What is even more remarkable is that their primary author was one man - James Madison. "James Madison On Religious Liberty" is the definitive work of scholarship in its field, and will lay to rest any questioning of Madison's enormous historical stature. The essays are exhaustive in scope - many appear here for the first time in published form - and they include all of the available scholarship on Madison's religious writings.