America's Founders, Christianity, and the Path to Liberty

The Liberty Exchange
S01E05 -

What role did Christianity play in the founding and early life of the United States of America?

Download Episode
Subscribe:
RSS
Hosts
Lib​er​tar​i​an​ism​.org
Guests
Jonathan Fortier

Jonathan Fortier is the director of Lib​er​tar​i​an​ism​.org. Over the past 25 years he has worked to promote the principles of a free society with many organizations, including Liberty Fund, the Institute for Humane Studies, and the Fraser Institute. He earned his MPhil and his doctorate at the University of Oxford.

Mark David Hall

Mark David Hall is a Professor in Regent University’s Robertson School of Government and a Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Religion, Culture & Democracy, an initiative of First Liberty Institute. As well, Mark is Distinguished Scholar of Christianity & Public Life at George Fox University, Associate Faculty at the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University, and a Senior Fellow at Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion. In 2022-2023, he was a Garwood Visiting Fellow at Princeton University’s James Madison Program and a Visiting Scholar at the Mercatus Center.

SUMMARY:

As terms like Christian nationalism and catholic integralism are bandied about regarding their place (or lack thereof) in modern American politics, it becomes important to ask; what role did Christianity play in the founding and early life of the United States of America? To answer this question, Lib​er​tar​i​an​ism​.org Director Jonathan Fortier is joined on this episode of The Liberty Exchange by guest Mark David Hall.

Jonathan and Mark discuss the role of Christian belief in the American founding and the early Republic. They highlight the influence of Puritan ideals on the development of democratic institutions and the concept of consent-​based political order, as well as the issues of religious liberty and equality, emphasizing the contributions of Christians in advancing religious freedom.

Further Reading:

Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land: How Christianity Has Advanced Freedom and Equality for All Americans by Mark David Hall