ABSTRACT Christianity, Secularism, and America: An Exploration and Critique of the Historical, Legal, Social, and Philosophical Implications of Secularism from an American Perspective Terry Hunter Baker, Jr., Ph.D. Mentor: Barry G. Hankins, Ph.D. The historian C. John Sommerville has invited academics to treat secularism much as they have religion, which means he thinks it should be studied, written about, and taught critically. This dissertation represents an attempt to accept Professor Sommerville’s invitation and perhaps to become a new student of a discipline we might call secularism studies. In a world divided into a growing number of religious factions, secularism has been supposed by many to be an answer to the fact of religious plurality. The logic of secularism is that by conducting our affairs without reference to God we can avoid religious division and deal with each other on a common basis. In the American context, it is often suggested that secularism is not only conceptually wise, but is mandated by our