There were also opponents to the support of any established church even at the state level. In 1773, Isaac Backus, a prominent Baptist minister in New England, wrote against a state sanctioned religion, saying: "Now who can hear Christ declare, that his kingdom is, not of this world, and yet believe that this blending of church and state together can be pleasing to him?" He also observed that when "church and state are separate, the effects are happy, and they do not at all interfere with each other: but where they have been confounded together, no tongue nor pen can fully describe the mischiefs that have ensued." Thomas Jefferson's influential Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom was enacted in 1786, five years before the Bill of Rights. COUNT 5
QSN1 What did an established church, even at the state level, have? ANS1 opponents QSN2 What was Issac Backus' profession? ANS2 Baptist minister QSN3 What region did Isaac Backus come from? ANS3 New England QSN4 When did Isaac Backus write against a state sanctioned religion? ANS4 1773 QSN5 When was Thomas Jefferson's Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom enacted? ANS5 1786