True Faith Will Produce Good Works A Discourse To Which Are Perfixed Sic A Brief View Of The Present State Of The Protestant World With Some Remarks On The Writings Of Mr Sandeman

Religious liberty is one of the most contentious political issues of our time. How should people of faith engage with the public square in a pluralist era? Some citizens hope to reclaim a more Christian vision of national identity, while others resist any religious presence at all. This dispute is not new, and it goes back to the founding era of American history. As the country was being formed, some envisioned a Christian nation where laws would require worship attendance and Sabbath observance. Others advocated for a thoroughly secular society where faith would have no place in public life. But neither extreme won the day, thanks to the unsung efforts of a Connecticut pastor who forged a middle way. Historian Brandon O'Brien unveils an untold story of how religious liberty came to be. Between the Scylla and Charybdis of theocracy and secularism, Baptist pastor Isaac Backus contended for a third way. He worked to secure religious liberty and freedom of conscience for all Americans, not just for one particular denomination or religious tradition. Backus's ideas give us insight into how people of faith navigate political debates and work for the common good. Backus lived in an age of both religious revival and growing secularism, competing forces much like those at work today. The past speaks into the present as we continue to demand liberty and justice for all.

"American historians have long realized that the Baptist minister Isaac Backus (1724-1806) played a signal role in the separation of church and state in New England, but his diary, here published for the first time, makes clear as well his importance as a leader and spokesman of the small dissenting sect that would become after 1800 the largest Protestant denomination in the nation. The diary, covering the sixty-year span from the First to the Second Great Awakening, describes the campaigns he and his colleagues waged for religious liberty and for the propagation of their religious principles." (p. xv) Isaac was a direct descendant in the fifth generation of English immigrant William Backus Sr., who settled in Saybrook, Connecticut in 1637. Issac died before New England abandoned religious taxation (Connecticut in 1818, Massachusetts in 1833), but before his death he was certain New England would eventually switch to Thomas Jefferson's position of separation of church and state.

'Deserves to be as popular with non-specialists as with those who have a science background...I can think of sixth-formers I would offer it to, and I know of an eighty-year-old (non-specialist) who would not let me finish my copy in peace' - Elspeth Crawford, Physics Education 'Cantor...achieves a level of insight into Farday's life which far surpasses all other biographies. It will form the basis on which future studies of all aspects of Faraday's life and work will have to be built' - Frank A.J.James, British Journal for the History of Science 'A sympathetic and accessible treatment of Faraday's life and work' - David Gooding, Physics World 'For those who want to know more about one of the UK's greatest figures, it is essential reading' - A.R.Butler, Chemistry in Britain 'Excellent Biography' - John Kerr, Scientific and Medical Network Newsletter This book locates Faraday and his science in the context of the Sandemanians. We gain both a new interpretation of one of the most important scientists of the nineteenth century and a fascinating insight into the relation between science and religion.