Persecution & toleration : the long road to religious freedom / Noel D. Johnson (George Mason University, Virginia), Mark Koyama (George Mason University, Virginia).
Includes bibliographical references (pages 312-350) and index.
Contents:
Conclusions. Modern states, liberalism, and religious freedom -- Religion and the state in the premodern world -- Why do states persecute? -- Jewish communities, conditional toleration, and rent-seeking -- Climatic shocks and persecutions -- The shock of the Black Death -- State building and the Reformation -- The Inquisition and the establishment of religious homogeneity in Spain -- From confessionalization to toleration and then to religious liberty -- From persecution to emancipation -- The persecution of witchcraft -- Religious minorities and economic growth -- The emergence of modern states, religious freedom, and modern economic growth -- Applying our argument to the rest of the world -- Modern states, liberalism, and religious freedom -- Conclusions.
Summary:
"Religious freedom has become an emblematic value in the West. Embedded in constitutions and championed by politicians and thinkers across the political spectrum, it is to many an absolute value, something beyond question. Yet how it emerged, and why, remains widely misunderstood. Tracing the history of religious persecution from the Fall of Rome to the present-day, [the authors] provide an...explanation of the birth of religious liberty. This book treats the subject in an integrative way by combining economic reasoning with historical evidence from medieval and early modern Europe. The authors elucidate the economic and political incentives that shaped the actions of political leaders during periods of state building and economic growth."-- Provided by publisher.
Series:
Cambridge studies in economics, choice, and society
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.