Separating church and state

the long version

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 dogmatism, Hall argues, is precisely what led to his religious tolerance, making him one of the most articulate champions in history of the argument for the necessary separation of church and state.