The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom: Its. Peterson<|

The Virginia Statute for Religious FreedomIts Evolution and Consequences in American History\nAuthor(s): Merrill D. Peterson, Robert C. Vaughan\nFormat: Hardback\nPublisher: Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom\nImprint: Cambridge University Press\nISBN-13: 9780521343299, 978-0521343299\nSynopsis\nThis book colourfully examines a famous Jeffersonian document which set the precedent for the US Constitution's guarantee of religious liberty. Jefferson wrote the Virginia Statute, shepherded it through a decade-long struggle to adoption, and included it in his epitaph (along with the Declaration of Independence and the founding of the University of Virginia). The Statute's history reflects two key revolutionary principles: absolute freedom of religious conscience; and the separation of church and state. Both principles remain lively topics of debate on the contemporary religious and political scene. Papers collected here were presented at a conference sponsored by the National Endow.