The Origins and Development of American Church-State Law

Taught by Dr. Daniel L. Dreisbach
August 11-13, 2008

A study of the historical formation and development of American church-state law.  Topics discussed will include English influences on religion’s place in America, sources of law in early America, the significance of the Reformation and colonization in the seventeenth century, the influence of the Great Awakening and Enlightenment in the eighteenth century, themes of religious liberty in the founding of America, religion in the U.S. Constitution, the wall of separation metaphor, church-state controversies in the early republic, and the use (and misuse) of history in church-state jurisprudence.