"It is the will and command of God that, since the coming of His Son the Lord Jesus, a permission of the most paganish, Jewish, Turkish, or anti-Christian consciences and worships, be granted to all men in all nations and countries; and they are only to be fought against with that sword which is only (in soul matters) able to conquer, to wit, the sword of God's Spirit, the Word of God." — Roger Williams, The Bloody Tenent of Persecution for Cause of Conscience (1644)
Williams's ideas anticipated which later American constitutional principle?
- A
The Tenth Amendment's reservation of powers to the states
- B
Article I's grant of taxation power to Congress
- Ccheck_circle
The First Amendment's prohibition of an establishment of religion
- D
The Three-Fifths Compromise on enslaved population counts
Explanation
Williams's separation of civil and spiritual authority is a clear ancestor of the First Amendment's Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses, although the legal framework took 150 more years to mature.