The Witherspoon Institute
Church and State:
Protestantism and the American Revolution

July 25 - 31, 2010
Seminar Overview
The seminar on church and state for young faculty will examine the question of Protestant traditions and the American Revolution. In particular, it will explore why the great majority of dissenting American Protestants supported the War for Independence even though the Calvinist tradition (illustrated by Calvin himself) originally advocated obedience to rulers and was hostile to the antinomianism of more radical reformers. We will compare this with the thinking of Protestant Loyalists who for religious or other reasons chose against the American Revolution, as well as Enlightenment themes in American Revolutionary thought. The seminar will also study the effects of colonial experience on Protestant arguments during the Revolution, the effects of the War on these opinions, and subsequent Protestant contributions to the Constitutional Convention and the adjudication of religious questions in the new states. Seminar faculty will include Mark Noll (Francis A. McAnaney Professor of History, University of Notre Dame), Michael McConnell (Richard and Frances Mallery Professor of Law, Stanford Law School), Harry S. Stout (Jonathan Edwards Professor of American Christianity, Yale Divinity School), and Gerard V. Bradley (Professor of Law, Notre Dame Law School).

Seminar Faculty:
Mark Noll (University of Notre Dame)
Gerard V. Bradley (Notre Dame Law School)
Michael McConnell (Stanford Law School)
Harry S. Stout (Yale Divinity School)

Select Readings:
 - Ellis Sandoz, ed., Political Sermons of the American Founding Era, 1730-1805 (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund)
 - Daniel Dreisbach and Mark David Hall, eds., The Sacred Rights of Conscience: Selected Readings on Religious Liberty and Church-State Relations in the American Founding (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund)

Seminar Participants
This seminar is open post-doctoral, tenure-track and non-tenure-track scholars in the fields of political science, history, law, and political philosophy

Seminar Facilities
Seminar participants will be provided with room and board for the duration of the seminar.

Application Instructions
Please send via email to Patrick Hough (phough@winst.org) the following forms and documents by April 1, 2010:
1. Completed Application Form
2. Curriculum vitae or resume with all previous academic and profession experience.
3. Cover Letter expressing the reasons for your interest in the seminar and discussing any relevant experience in the seminar topic

Applicants to the seminar can expect to receive a decision by April 15, 2010.


Church and State
Seminar
Seminar Home

Application Form

Faculty Profiles

Readings


Preliminary Schedule
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