ABSTRACT
Between 1920 and 1960 there were continuing attempts to define what "independence of Church and State" might mean in a society self-conscious of its religious pluralism — at least to the extent of its three major faiths. To the present generation this is undoubtedly "a hard saying". The separation of Church and State, which obtains substantially in the majority of countries, is generally understood as forbidding the State to make "a public profession of religion". The juridical result of the American limitation of governmental powers is the guarantee to the Church of a stable condition of freedom as a matter of law and right. It should be added that this guarantee is made not only to the individual Catholic but to the Church as an organized society with its own law and jurisdiction. There is no Protestant doctrine concerning Church-State relations. There is a Baptist doctrine that is very clear and that has always had great influence in this country.
