Religion and the American Constitutional Experiment

by Joel A. Nichols and John Witte Jr.

Book Overview

This accessible introduction tells the American story of religious liberty from its colonial beginnings to the latest Supreme Court cases. The authors provide extensive analysis of the formation of the First Amendment religion clauses and the plausible original intent or understanding of the founders. They describe the enduring principles of American religious freedom--liberty of conscience, free exercise of religion, religious equality, religious...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0190459425
• ISBN13: 9780190459420
• Release Date: April 2016
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 424 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.1" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

A fine, if a bit shallow, study

As its modest dimensions would suggest, Witte's book is meant to be a quick overview of judicial attitudes towards religious freedom in the United States, instead of a comprehensive history. The author does a marvelous job of consolidating the varied factors that have gone into the current stare decisis in First Amendment religion jurisprudence. Witte has a very readable style, and this book would hold the interest of the casual reader while serving quite well as a text book for classes on the subject.