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The Travail of Religious Liberty
Nine Biographical Studies
Series: Roland Bainton Reprint Series
Imprint: Wipf and Stock
The pages of history are filled with stories of men and women burned at the stake, exiled, and ostracized in the name of religion. Thus Roland Bainton explains the struggle within the Christian Church to achieve religious liberty by telling, in popular biographical style, nine stories of sincere people--both persecutors and persecuted--who took part in the struggle.
Bainton's biographies begin with Thomas of Torquemada, instrument of the Roman Catholic Inquisition, and with John Calvin who active in the burning of Michael Servetus. He then covers how such persecution brought about the toleration controversy of the sixteenth century, when Sebastian Castellio struck his blow for religious liberty, when Hollander David Joris made a mystical approach to tolerance, and when Franciscan Bernardino Ochino believed in the cultivation of the inner life. Finally he concentrates on the champions of religious liberty in the 17th Century: John Milton, Roger Williams and John Locke.
Roland H. Bainton (1894-1984) was Titus Street Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Yale University Divinity School for 42 years. He wrote well into his retirement and authored 34 books, including Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther. In addition to writing, he was an artist and cartoonist, illustrating many of his own books. He was ordained a Congregationalist and also joined the Quakers. In 1979 he was presented with the Promoting Enduring Peace Gandhi Peace Award.
"At a time when religious violence is again rearing its ugly head around the globe, this timeless classic by Roland Bainton offers a compelling testimony to the the necessity of religious liberty. Readers of this book will soon realize that they don't have to roam the world for instances of religious intolerance; they exist in our own 'European' back yard. Roland Bainton's works are timeless because he brings that rare combination of wisdom and literary grace to everything he wrote. An essential resource for scholars and lay readers alike."
Harry S. Stout (2008)
Yale University