Church and State in Historical Perspective A Critical Assessment and Annotated Bibliography

Subjects:

• Religious Studies » History of Religion

Awards:

• Best Bibliographies in History 2006 RUSA History Section, Bibliography and Indexes Committee

Reviews:

• This title has been reviewed jointly with "Church and State in the Modern World: A Critical Assessment and Annotated Bibliography," by James E. Wood Jr. Products of a lifetime of scholarship, these substantial companion bibliographies bring together nearly 5,000 carefully annotated citations of English-language books that deal with church and state in world history in the ancient, medieval, and modern worlds. The subtitle for both volumes, "A Critical Assessment and Annotated Bibliography," is accurate. Together they will likely stand as the definitive bibliographies of their genre....This comprehensive work appears at a most appropriate time for growing academic interest in the subject. Essential. Upper-level undergraduates and above.
  —Choice March 2006
• Researchers inspired by current events to study the relationship between religion and civil authority throughout history would do well to turn to this guide. More than twenty-three hundred well-annotated entries describe monographs, collections, and journals dealing with religion and the state from the ancient through the modern world....Recommended.
  —Reference & User Services Quarterly Summer 2006
• The title indicates that the subject is treated in historical perspective, as indeed it is, reaching back all the way to the ancient and the biblical worlds. But it should be immediately noted that the perspective is worldwide as well, covering such religions as Buddhism, Hinduism, Shinto, Islam, and others. Thus one has within the covers of this single volume a reference and research tool of inestimable value....The annotated bibliography covers the church-state field from the first century to the present, with clear evidence that the author/editor has made heroic efforts to keep his bibliography up to date. This "bibliographic survey," the main contribution of the book, covers nearly 500 pages with subjects ranging from antiquity to the nuclear age.
  —Journal of Church and State 2006
• [S]urvey relations between religion and the state in the ancient and biblical world, from the Roman Empire through the Middle Ages to the Counter Reformation and the Inquisition, in other religions (besides Christianity of course), religious tolerance and religious freedom, religion and the secular state, and religion in international affairs and interfaith religions.
  —Reference & Research Book News August 2005

Table of Contents:

• Preface
• Introduction
• Religion and the State in the Ancient World
• Religion and the State in the Biblical World
• Christianity and the State
• Religion and the State in Other Religions
• Religious Tolerance and Religious Freedom
• Religion and the Secular State
• Religion in International Affairs and Interfaith Relations
• Bibliographical Survey