Isaac Backus On Church State And Calvinism PDF Download

"William McLoughlin's vivid biography of Isaac Backus throws light on the developments which imparted a religious dimension to the struggle for American nationality. Already in the seventeenth century, the colonists had worried about the obligations imposed by conscience and the relationship of the individual to society. That anxiety grew deeper in the eighteenth century. Isaac Backus grew up in an environment which repeatedly thrust those problems upon men's attention. He lived at a time when religious issues raised the question of where the true source of spiritual authority. Backus and his Baptist following wrestled with both sets of issues; and the course they took as the Revolution unfolded would have a permanent effect upon American character and institutions." -- Oscar Handlin (excerpt from Editor's Preface)