This book argues that commitments by certain dissenting Protestants to the right of private judgment in matters of Biblical interpretation, an outgrowth of the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers, helped promote religious liberty and religious disestablishment in the early modern West. This movement climaxed in the disestablishment of religion in the early American colonies and nation. It describes a continuous strand of this religious thought—as well as the thinkers who spread it—from the early Protestant Reformation, across the European continent, through the English reformation, civ ... More

This book argues that commitments by certain dissenting Protestants to the right of private judgment in matters of Biblical interpretation, an outgrowth of the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers, helped promote religious liberty and religious disestablishment in the early modern West. This movement climaxed in the disestablishment of religion in the early American colonies and nation. It describes a continuous strand of this religious thought—as well as the thinkers who spread it—from the early Protestant Reformation, across the European continent, through the English reformation, civil war, and restoration, into the American colonies. It examines eight key thinkers, as well as a number of other figures, who played a major role in the development of this religious trajectory as it came to fruition in the American political and legal contexts. The seven main figures are Martin Luther, William Penn, John Locke, Elisha Williams, Isaac Backus, William Livingston, John Witherspoon, and James Madison. The connections of ideas and beliefs between these figures are traced, either directly or through other background figures who provided these connections. The project aims to show that religion played more than a pragmatic role in contributing to religious disestablishment in America. It argues that one main theme of dissenting Protestant tradition contributed to the ideology behind disestablishment among both American common people as well as among the educated elite.Law and Religion.