Todays dispute over the line between church and state (or the lack thereof) is neither the first nor the fiercest in our history. In a powerful retelling of the birth of the American body politic, religious historian Forrest Church describes our first great culture wara tumultuous yet nearly forgotten conflict that raged from George Washingtons presidency to James Monroes. On one side of the battle, the proponents of orderFederalists, Congregationalists, New Englandersbelieved that the only legitimate ruler of men is God. On the other side, the defenders of libertyrepublicans, Baptists, Virginianscheered the Enlightenment and the French Revolution, and believed that only the separation of church and state would preserve mans freedom. Would we be a nation under God, or with liberty for all? In this vigorous history, Forrest Church offers a new vision of our earliest presidents beliefs, reshaping assumptions about the debates that still reverberate across our land.