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.
Book: The Bloudy Tenent of Persecution
By Michael Alan Prestwood
Author and Natural Philosopher
02 Feb 2019
Published 7 years ago.
Updated 2 weeks ago.
Book: The Bloudy Tenent of Persecution
1644
By Michael Alan Prestwood.
Then end.
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.