It is frequently argued that liberalism as a set of political ideas arose out of the 16th and 17th century wars of religion that culminated in the Peace of Westphalia. Does liberalism provide a way of dealing with contested doctrines and, if it does, is this bought at what from a religious point of view may be seen as too high a cost, that is by turning religion into a set of private beliefs which should have no place in the public realm. Many religious believers dispute this, insisting that their beliefs have an intrinsic social and public dimension. If this is so then such religious beliefs pose a central challenge to liberal political and legal thought.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/religion-a-challenge-to-liberalism

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