Church and State: A US Perspective

Reference Wiki for REL 223

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Assignment

Church and State-Research Assignment

Presentations Begin April, 2009

Choose a Church-State related case from the contemporary period, since 1945. The final section of Wilson and Drakeman is a great place to start to find a case.
Provide an overview of the historical context of the case. Use primary source material such as newspaper and magazine articles from the period as well as relevant secondary source material.
Identify the issue; summarize the arguments by both sides in the case; and the decision reached by the justices.
Analyze the outcome based upon the knowledge of the Church-State debate that you have learned over the course of this semester.

o“How and in what ways does this episode fit into the history of the United States?

o“How does the case you have chosen match previous cases?”

o“How is this case similar or different from previous cases that we have studied?”

Requirements

Meet with me and/or Michael LaMagna to discover a topic.
Once you have chosen a topic, you must meet with me to discuss it. Why are you choosing this topic? What do you hope to learn?
Meet with Michael LaMagna to develop your research skills and to find relevant outside resources.
Visit the Writing Center to develop your writing skills. Meet with Writing Center personnel to outline, compose a draft, and proofread your final document.

Additionally, you can (and should) meet with me at any point during this process.

Relevant Scriptural Passages (from the New American Bible)

Relevant Primary Sources from the Ancient World (from the Internet Medieval Sourcebook, edited by Paul Halsall, ORB)

Constantine, Edict of Milan (313)

Theodosian Code (380)

Ambrose of Milan vs. Theodosius (390)

Gelasius on Spiritual and Temporal Power (494)

St Augustine (354-430), The City of God [Excerpts]

United States of America

An overview of the Church-State Debate at PBS.org

Resources from the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia:

Founding Documents

Information on the Founding Fathers

Interactive Constitution: Look up Church-State Separation under "topic."

Recommended Journals

The journals Church & State and The Journal of Church and State are available from the library's Academic Search Premier and Proquest Religion databases. You can search within the journals by connecting to the database and then selecting the search within this publication link. Connect to journals

The Rutgers Camden Journal of Law and Religion is available for free and in full text online. It is not searchable, but you can browse the table of contents of each volume. Connect to the Journal of Law and Religion

Recommended Web Sites

The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life has many useful resources including surveys, reports, legal backgrounders, etc grouped into categories such as Religion & the Law , Religion and Politics, and Pledge of Allegiance Resources .

The Wabash Center - Internet Guide to Religion aggregates links for websites, bibliographies, text collections, and more regarding religion. Useful topics include Church and State, Religion and Law, and Religion and Politics.

The website for the J.M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies at Baylor University includes information about their publications, conferences, projects, and a list of Church-State Links.

The Religious Liberty Archives includes information about state and federal laws, court cases, and historical materials related to the legal aspects of religious freedom.

Recommended Reference Books

Reference books are available on the main floor in the Reference collection.