08/27/2019
I can not take credit for this, but found it upon a FB page of a Baptist Historical Group and I have read and heard this taught by some of our very scholarly brethern......JOHN LELAND: THE BAPTIST PREACHER RESPONSIBLE FOR THE FIRST AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION From Baptist Biographies and Happenings in American History by Dan Nelson. You can contact me thru messenger to get a copy. (James Madison is generally recognized as the architect of the Constitution. However, the First Amendment to Constitution and its wording was placed there due directly to the influence of Leland.
Leland was a Virginia preacher originally from Massachusetts but had the bulk of his ministry in Virginia. He knew firsthand about the persecution and restriction of religious liberty. First Baptists were not recognized as legitimate and their churches were not recognized because they were not licensed with the Church of England which was the colonial church and ruled with an iron hand. Due to the league with the government, their pastors were imprisoned. Their meetings were broken up, baptisms were threatened with violence and in some cases, people were in danger of being shot if they were immersed. Leland had an experience like this more than once.
America needed a Constitution that would grant religious liberty and do away with a state-favored religious group. Leland felt so strongly about it that he lobbied consistently for this and became a candidate for the Constitutional Congress. His meeting on the side of the road with James Madison in Orange County Virginia was historic. Leland agreed to step down as a candidate if Madison would back the first amendment granting religious liberty to all.
Madison was true to his word reversing the trend of state-sponsored religion.
After the establishment of the first amendment which does not restrict churches from having an influence in government, freedom of religious expression was guaranteed. It instead restricts the government from having an influence on the churches. The freedom of religion clause states, "Congress shall make to no laws respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."
Later when Leland moved back to Connecticut, he was instrumental in the Danbury Baptist Association petitioning then-President Jefferson for an explanation of "the Separation of Church and State." The President basically said that there was a wall of separation that prevented the government from influencing religion but did not restrict churches from influencing the government.
Leland concluded his ministry in Connecticut with outstanding numbers of conversions, baptisms and church growth. He had the same response in Virginia with intense persecution. These results disprove the myth that a pastor or church who stands for moral issues and lobbies for change in government will not have many results in church growth. Leland proved this myth wrong. He worked most of his ministry for the freedom to further the gospel against government restriction. Due to his influence, he is one of the most important figures in Baptist History in the area of Religious Liberty.
