In a major original study

Graham Maddox analyses the role of religion in the development of democracy from the tribes of ancient Israel to the present day. The book contrasts Athenian direct democracy with the Old Testament monarchy in which the concept of religious opposition - vital to modern democracy - arose.

Maddox then develops his discussion of the relationship between religion and democracy through early Christianity to the Reformation and Calvinism, ending with a chapter on modern democracy.

Maddox's contentious thesis concerning the development of democracy is truly interdisciplinary drawing on political science, religious history and theology.