Leonard Levy's classic work examines the circumstances that led to
the writing of the establishment clause of the First Amendment:
'Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of
religion. . . .' He argues that, contrary to popular belief, the
framers of the Constitution intended to prohibit government aid to
religion even on an impartial basis. He thus refutes the view of
'nonpreferentialists,' who interpret the clause as allowing such
aid provided that the assistance is not restricted to a preferred
church.
For this new edition, Levy has added to his original arguments and
incorporated much new material, including an analysis of
Jefferson's ideas on the relationship between church and state and
a discussion of the establishment clause cases brought before the
Supreme Court since the book was originally published in 1986.
