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SHOULD THE CHURCHES BE TAXED? by D. B. Robertson

SHOULD THE CHURCHES BE TAXED?

By

Pub Date: Nov. 11th, 1968
Publisher: Westminster

Pressures upon public finances, on the one hand, and the growing body of church holdings in properties, investments as well as sanctuaries and schools, is giving new urgency to this question. From the professional literature, from archives to magazine articles, Professor Robertson has assembled a good deal of information. In colonial times, state taxes supported the established churches in such colonies as Massachusetts and Virginia. Disestablishment after the Revolution reversed the order: until 1840 churches in Virginia were regularly taxed to support the state. Today the question involves a whole range of formidable issues -- separation of church and state, the tax-exempt status of non-profit agencies, the nature of those activities properly called ""worship,"" and others. Well-ordered, impartial in tone, soundly supported in its statements, this book should be required reading for clerical and lay leaders who will have to deal, sooner or later, with the problem involved.