About this episode

Dr. Thomas Kidd discusses the complexities of whether America was founded as a Christian nation, exploring historical evidence and the role of evangelical Baptists in advocating for religious liberty.

Dr. Thomas Kidd, professor at Midwestern Seminary and author of biographies on Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Patrick Henry, and George Whitefield, has spent his career at the intersection of American history and Christian faith. He is one of the most careful historians working on the founding era today, and when he says the debate over whether America was founded as a Christian nation has enough to offend both sides, he means it — and he can explain exactly why. The founders, the First Amendment, and the tens of millions of churchgoers nobody is counting: Dr. Kidd unpacks why the separation of church and state was actually championed most fiercely by evangelical Baptists who were being persecuted by state churches, why Jefferson hosted church services in government buildings while also being the architect of religious liberty, and why Christianity thrives more when the government stays out of it. He also drops a finding from upcoming research that could reframe the entire conversation about American religious decline — congregational surveys are undercounting the total number of churches in America by at least 25%, and the tens of millions of people showing up…

People in this episode

Guest: Dr. Thomas Kidd

Topics covered

• American history
• Christian faith
• founding era
• separation of church and state
• religious liberty
• Christianity in America

Keywords

• Christian nation
• American history
• religious liberty
• evangelical Baptists
• First Amendment
• Thomas Jefferson
• church and state
• Christianity
• historical evidence

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Midwestern Seminary, First Amendment

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