The life and work of James Dunn is honored in this volume, which represents a warm, from-the-heart remembrance from the pen of thirteen people who know him well.

The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States asserts that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." The initial statement of this amendment boldly asserts that religious freedom is the "first freedom" of the American people. The BJC stands guard, defending the first freedom of the First Amendment. Brent Walker identifies the historical and theological principles that undergird freedom of religion. In doing so, he challenges the myth that religious freedom and church-state separation are rooted only in the ideas of the Enlightenment. Religious persons with spiritual convictions preceded the Enlightenment years, though most Enlightenment leaders certainly embraced and advocated religious freedom.

This title looks at the fight to defend and extend religious liberty by keeping church and state separate. For nearly two decades, Brent Walker has fought to defend and extend religious liberty for all and uphold the wall of separation between church and state in our nation's capital. First as the Baptist Joint Committee's legal counsel and as executive director since 1999, Walker articulates a cogent Baptist understanding of the importance of the First Amendment's religion clauses in protecting our God-given religious liberty. This collection of essays, speeches, sermons, and congressional testimony provides a living history of the modern era the life of the Baptist Joint Committee, now in its eighth decade. It includes historical essays dealing with the role of the pulpit in the fight for American independence, the involvement of James Madison and Thomas Jefferson in fashioning the First Amendment, and the contribution of numerous Baptists like Roger Williams and John Clarke to our understanding of the proper relationship between church and state. It also addresses specific religious liberty issues such as school vouchers, charitable choice, the Ten Commandments, religion in the public schools, attempts to amend the Constitution, including testimony he has given before House and Senate committees on these and other issues. Both a lawyer and an ordained minister, Walker writes on church-state cases decided by the Supreme Court and about the justices themselves as well the theological underpinning of his passion for religious liberty. Sermons he has preached in Baptist pulpits across the land are also included.