Editing Artaxerxes I (section)

==Interpretations of actions==
[[File:Naghsh-e rostam, Irán, 2016-09-24, DD 18.jpg|thumb|Tomb of Artaxerxes I at [[Naqsh-e Rostam]].]]
[[File:Tomb of Artaxerxes I ethnicities with labels.jpg|thumb|300px|Ethnicities of the Empire on the tomb of Artaxerxes I at [[Naqsh-e Rostam]].]]
[[Roger Williams]], a 17th-century Christian minister and founder of [[Rhode Island]], interpreted several passages in the Old and New Testament to support limiting government interference in religious matters. Williams published ''[[The Bloudy Tenent of Persecution for Cause of Conscience]],'' arguing for a [[separation of church and state]] based on biblical reasoning. Williams believed that Israel was a unique covenant kingdom and not an appropriate model for New Testament Christians who believed that the Old Testament covenant had been fulfilled. Therefore, the more informative Old Testament examples of civil government were "good" non-covenant kings such as Artaxerxes, who tolerated the Jews and did not insist that they follow his state religion.<ref>James P. Byrd, ''The challenges of Roger Williams: Religious Liberty, Violent Persecution, and the Bible'' (Mercer University Press, 2002)[https://books.google.com/books?id=M4FK-j35yFYC] (accessed on Google Books on July 20, 2009)</ref>