The Oxford Handbook of Church and State in the United States

Study of church and state in the United States is incredibly complex. Scholars working in this area have backgrounds in law, religious studies, history, theology, and politics, among other fields. Historically, they have focused on particular angles or dimensions of the church-state relationship, because the field is so vast. The results have mostly been monographs that focus only on narrow cross-sections of the field, and the few works that do aim to give larger perspectives are reference works of factual compendia, which offer little or no analysis.

The Oxford Handbook of Church and State in the United States fills this gap, presenting an extensive, multidimensional overview of the field. Twenty-one essays offer a scholarly look at the intricacies and past and current debates that frame the American system of church and state, within five main areas: history, law, theology/philosophy, politics, and sociology. These essays provide factual accounts, but also address issues, problems, debates, controversies, and, where appropriate, suggest resolutions. They also offer analysis of the range of interpretations of the subject offered by various American scholars. This Handbook is an invaluable resource for the study of church-state relations in the United States.

Derek H. Davis is the Dean of the College of Humanities and Dean of the Graduate School at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and Director of the UMHB Center for Religious Liberty. He was formerly
Director of the J.M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies and Professor of Political Science, Baylor University, and Editor of the Journal of Church and State. He is the author or editor of seventeen
books, including Original Intent and Religion and the Continental Congress, 1774-1789, and more than 150 articles in various journals and periodicals. He serves numerous organizations given to the protection of religious freedom in American and international contexts.