Coercion of opinion by the state in the interest of uniformity, Jefferson thought, had served only “to make one half the world fools, and the other half hypocrites.”
Basic to the Baptist position was the belief that all direct connections between the state and institutionalized religion must be broken in order that America might become a truly Christian country. Backus, like Jefferson and Madison, believed that “truth is great and will prevail.” But unlike his “enlightened colleagues,” by truth he meant the revealed doctrines of Scripture.
“Kötü bir anıyı unutmanın en iyi yolu güzel bir tanesiyle değişmektir.”
Puritans were in a position to say which laws were for the public good because they had secured the charter granting them the right to settle in New England. Thus in their colony in Massachusetts they had the authority to permit only freemen to vote for the governor and magistrates and to insist that all freemen be church members. So the vote and public morality were controlled by the churches.
This attempt to legislate morality is one reason later Americans came to hate the Puritans. Most later Americans prized their personal freedoms above the character of the society in which they lived. Civil liberties became more important than community character.
We call this condition voluntaryism because the churches, deprived of state support, were compelled to maintain their mission of preaching and teaching on a voluntary basis. Anyone could accept or reject the gospel as they pleased. The state had nothing to do with it. The denominations had to win converts and raise funds without state aid.
In some cases, states maintained confessional orthodoxy by suppressing nonconformity and persecuting heresy. In other cases, when conflicting doctrines could not be reconciled, states pursued a policy of inclusiveness. They allowed latitude in doctrinal views so long as the church followed a minimum of formal unity. Nonconformity was tolerated, though not sanctioned. This was the route of the Church of England
Thus by 1748 “the people called Methodists”—like the Pietists in Germany—were a church within the church. For the next forty years, Wesley resisted all pressures from his own followers and all charges from Anglican bishops that suggested separation from the Church of England. “I live and die,” he said, “a member of the Church of England.”