Separating Church and State : ROGER WILLIAMS AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY

      Roger Williams, founder of the colony of Rhode Island, is famous as an         apostle of religious tolerance and a foe of religious establishments.       In Separating Church and State, Timothy Hall combines impressive         historical and legal scholarship to explore Williams's theory of religious         liberty and relate it to current debate.

Williams's fierce religious dogmaticism,         Hall argues, is precisely what led to his religious tolerance, making         him one of the most articulate champions of the argument for the necessary         separation of church and state.       "Both timely and provocative. . . . Offers Williams's largely overlooked         but deeply important perspective on the peaceful coexistence of committed         believers of diverse faiths.

The book also brings into question crucial         tenets of the United States Supreme Court's First Amendment religion clause         jurisprudence at a time when many are raising questions about it."         -- Marci A.

Hamilton, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, New York City       "Hall has the entire Williams corpus under his command, and he plays         the relevant texts like a master organist.

He also has the legal corpus         equally at his fingertips.

One of the great strengths of his book is that         it bridges the too often separate fields of history and jurisprudence."         -- Edwin Gaustad, author of Liberty of Conscience: Roger Williams in         America