Roger Williams and the Creation of the American Soul: Church, State, and the Birth of Liberty by John M. Barry

By Joseph Kellard

Roger Williams and the Creation of the American Soul: Church, State, and the Birth of Liberty by John M. Barry.

New York: Viking, 2012. 464 pp. $35 (hardcover).

Though few know it today, Roger Williams preceded Thomas Jefferson in calling for a “wall of separation” between church and state, and he founded Rhode Island on freedom of conscience—even for ath…