“The Religious Roots of the First Amendment: Dissenting Protestants and the Separation of Church and State” – Nicholas Miller
Date: September 28, 2013
Speaker: Dr. Nicholas Miller
Position: Associate Professor of Church History & Director, International Religious
Liberty Institute, Andrews University
Topic: “The Religious Roots of the First Amendment: Dissenting Protestants and the
Separation of Church and State”
Venue: Chan Shun Hall
Attendance: 32
Presentation: Miller traced such ideas as the priesthood of all believers, the right of private judgment in religious matters, liberty of conscience, & separation of church & state through various religious dissenters from the 16th to the 19th centuries by linking the writings of Luther, the Dutch & English Anabaptists, Roger Williams, John Milton, William Penn, John Locke, Elisha Williams, Isaac Backus, John Witherspoon, and James Madison across 250 years to show how they influenced the Founding Fathers’ words in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. He concluded with a rare Ellen White quote on the importance of teaching moral philosophy, Bible & PE to students today.
Michiana Adventist Forum 