In 1644, Williams published The Bloudy Tenent of Persecution. Historians consider it his most famous work. He wrote Bloudy after arriving in London in midsummer 1643. It was on sale by July 15, 1644. It is a fierce attack on religious and political intolerance in both Old England and New. He advocated for free thought and belief because he felt that punishing those that did not believe was not part of his faith and government should be separate from religion. Roger advocated for a “hedge or wall of Separation between the Garden of the Church and the Wilderness of the world” in order to keep the church pure. His ideas raised questions and challenges but his ideas endured over time.
Author note.
Explore voice = Exploratory style. Very punchy. Personal, and lively using “me,” “you,” “us,” and “I” freely.
I want you to feel me right there with you. We use “I” and “me” and “us” without apology. If the Explain voice is a bridge, the Explore voice is the hike we take across it. It is lively, reflective, and sometimes a bit raw. It is the sound of a shared exploration where I lead you by the hand, but we both discover the view at the same time.
This is where I get to think out loud. Not with definitions, we aren’t just looking at the facts; we are looking at how they feel and what they mean for our lives. I’m talking to you about what I’ve found and what I’m still figuring out. It is engaging because it is real, and it is reflective because it is honest.
The goal is real advice and enjoyable reading. I want to land on something you can actually use. It’s about being direct, being punchy, and making sure that by the time we reach the end of the page, we’ve both found something worth keeping.
And now the piece.
Book: The Bloudy Tenent of Persecution
1644
SEPARATION OF POWERS
From chapter 24 of “30 Philosophers” by Michael Alan Prestwood.
The following passage talks about the importance of checks and balances in our history and how it’s used to prevent tyranny. I’ve been asked why I included Roger Williams among these 30 great thinkers, this is partly why…
On the philosophy of politics and law is the story of the separation of powers as formalized by Roger Williams, John Locke, and Montesquieu.
Montesquieu was born in 1689, six years after Roger Williams passed and the same year Locke published his “Two Treatises of Government.”
Late in life, in 1748, when Montesquieu was 59, he published his seminal work, “The Spirit of the Laws.” In this work, Montesquieu argued that for the preservation of individual liberty and the prevention of tyranny, political power must be distributed among different branches of government: executive, legislative, and judicial.
This framework was grounded in the ideas that human nature is easily corruptible and concentrating power is dangerous. It embodies the philosophical idea of checks and balances. It ensures that no single authority goes unchecked.
Montesquieu extended the ideological foundation laid by Williams and Locke. In 1644, Roger Williams helped forge a check and balance between the state and church. Williams, whose fervent advocacy for religious freedom and separation of church and state, challenged the idea of concentrated power.
John Locke, in his 1689 “Two Treatises of Government,” evolved the separation of legislative and executive powers, emphasizing the importance of checks and balances to prevent abuses of power. In essence, Locke’s idea was to modify the existing parliamentary system raising the importance of the legislative branch. He wanted parliament to be able to check their King.
It was Montesquieu, in 1748, who explicitly articulated the separation of powers into legislative, executive, and judicial complete with checks and balances.
In 1776, the American colonies declared their independence, and the American Constitution was born, a living testament to these philosophical ideas.
The lesson taught endures: power must always be checked.
- Finally, the core takeaway. The main philosophical idea taught by Williams, Locke, and Montesquieu was that power needed to be checked, which in turn protects individual liberties. Williams split state and church. Locke established natural rights and split King and Parliament. Montesquieu came along and said let's split government into three branches of checks and balances.
That History Story,
was first published on TST 7 years ago.
The flashcard inspired by it is this.
All this is part of the broader TST project.
Tidbits are written to stand alone, but they are also designed to interlock—forming a research layer that supports deeper synthesis.
By keeping editions identifiable and research reusable, the project remains coherent even as its thinking evolves.
The end!