Crosstalk: December 2, 2015

Michael Farris is a constitutional lawyer, as well as founder of the Home School Legal Defense Association and Patrick Henry College. He is the author of 'The History of Religious Liberty: From Tyndale to Madison'. Michael believes that if we don't fight to preserve liberty, we will lose it and if we don't understand liberty we won't know and recognize the incursions against it nor will we know exactly how to proceed. Michael also agreed that a proper understanding of Scripture is critical in order to have a proper understanding of religious liberty. He went on to note that the idea that we are the people of repression comes from those who are ignorant of Scripture and the nuances between the various factions of the church that professes to follow Christ. So those who believe that the church institution was the standard of truth and that it could command every person to that standard; that group consistently opposed religious liberty. On the other hand, those who believed that the Word of God was delivered to every person consistently stood for religious liberty. Here's what you'll learn on this broadcast. --William Tyndale was an Oxford scholar who became an activist and a martyr. Why did Thomas More oppose him? --Why was it forbidden for the Bible to be translated into English? --What does a wedding from the early 1500's have to do with religious liberty? --Who is considered the first English martyr of the Reformation? --Did Protestants engage in persecution? --Who was King James and what did he contribute to religious liberty? --Did people come to the New World for religious liberty or religious sanctuary? --How does the life of James Madison fit into the idea of religious liberty? --What's the difference between freedom of worship and the free exercise of religion? --Which state had the most influence in the fight for religious liberty?