“With its emphasis on stability and Christian unity, colonial Virginia was not a receptive place for religious dissenters. Catholic clergy were banned, and in 1640 the assembly required all officials to take an oath of allegiance and supremacy to the… — Steven K. Green Copy Share Image
“Jefferson then distilled and enunciated these “essentials” in several personal works he shared with friends, his “Syllabus,” and two extracts from the Bible: “The… — Steven K. Green Copy Share Image
“Cotton’s code was never enacted, but in 1641 the General Court adopted the Body of Liberties, written by lawyer and pastor Nathaniel Ward, the… — Steven K. Green Copy Share Image
“Religious imagery and symbolism were the common idioms that all speakers employed when making rhetorical points. Rather than indicating a level of personal piety,… — Steven K. Green Copy Share Image
“Whether it was celebrated or lamented, the Constitution was universally seen as a secular document establishing a civil frame of government. In essence, few… — Steven K. Green Copy Share Image
“The myth of America’s religious founding thus provided an explanation for those who needed to sanctify the past before they could go forward with… — Steven K. Green Copy Share Image
“The haphazard unfolding of religious toleration described above occurred chiefly by default (and in New York, to enhance a commercial environment), not to promote… — Steven K. Green Copy Share Image
“Because Americans lack a common ethnicity or extensive heritage, our founding myth is more important than it is for most other peoples. Unlike other… — Steven K. Green Copy Share Image
“In both instances of Franklin and Jefferson, revisionist writers have emphasized those aspects of their beliefs that are consistent with Christian faith, while discounting… — Steven K. Green Copy Share Image
“At the risk of oversimplification, the unifying theme of the Hebrew scripture is one of forging a national identity connected to God through a… — Steven K. Green Copy Share Image
“All in all, Christian nation proponents commit several errors in their claims about the religious beliefs of the Founders. Their claims isolate the religious… — Steven K. Green Copy Share Image
“With religious nonconformists outnumbering Anglicans after 1700, and economic motives eclipsing any sense of a religious mission, the colony adopted a moderate religious stance… — Steven K. Green Copy Share Image
“Colonial America was not settled out of a search for religious liberty, but it stumbled onto that principle just in time.” — Steven K. Green Copy Share Image
