Backus Appeal to the People

Backus begins the most famous sermon of his life with the argument that no government may justifiably intervene in ecclesiastical life.

Backus details the ways in which early modern British statecraft merged church and state into the same invasive impediment to true salvation and happiness.

Backus details the long history of Baptist sufferings in the American colonies, suggesting that only full disestablishment could protect minorities' interests.

In his conclusion, Backus links his own generation's "new light" theological revival of antinomianism with the struggle against "taxation without representation."