Six Religious Reasons for the Separation of Church and State
(February 21, 2010)
SERMON TEXT: Romans 12:17 - 13:7
("Overcome evil with good"). We will also hear a testimony from Jon
Newman as we welcome him into membership as well as a children's
lesson. And once more, the officers would appreciate your prayers
as we meet to pray and plan tomorrow. Thank you!
SUNDAY SCHOOL & ADULT CLASSES: Winter
Session continues through March 14th
SUGGESTED FAMILY WORSHIP TEXT: Deuteronomy 32 (The
Song of Moses)
HYMNS:
~ Love Divine, All Loves Excelling (Trinity 519)
~ Christ is Coming! (Trinity 324)
SONGS:
~ He is Exalted
~ How Deep the Father's Love for Us
~ Days of Elijah
~ Jesus, I Come
DEVOTIONAL: Six Religious Reasons for the
Separation of Church and State
First, to let you know, the Roanoke Times did indeed publish the
editorial I sent you last week, without any editing of
content. If you missed last week's devotional, you can read
it online here:
http://www.roanoke.com/editorials/commentary/wb/236911.
Again, pray for God to use it as he sees fit for His glory.
Now, the next couple of weeks, as we go through Romans 12 and 13, we
will be looking at the different ethic which the New Testament
prescribes to the Church and to the State. While we may
take the separation of church and state for granted today, we must
realize that we are enjoying a relatively recent historical return to
the New Testament doctrine of the two kingdoms. That is that
there are two distinct realms that the Christian must live in -- the
Kingdom of Christ (the Church), and the kingdom of man (ruled by civil
magistrates).
While the Protestant Reformation began this return in reaction to the
political power of the Medieval church, it still took centuries to work
out. In fact, the only reason Presbyterians came to embrace the
separation of church and state is that we eventually had the humility
to learn from other Protestant traditions on this score. In
particular, we learned from the Anabaptist tradition, as well as
Puritan Baptists, many of whom were jailed by fellow Protestants;
including John Bunyan who wrote his classic, Pilgrimn's Progress,
while imprisoned for preaching without a state-issued license.
This is a subject I have given a good bit of thought to, though I by no
means claim to be an expert. At the same time, how these
two kingdoms should interact is not an easy question to answer, and
there is much debate within the Reformed tradition on the
subject. Some emphasize Christ's Lordship over all creation,
including the civil realm. Others emphasize the unique role of
the Church to gather and perfect the saints, as the Westminster
Confession puts it. But almost all Reformed Christians today are,
thankfully, disestablishmentarians (yes, I did just use that
word!) -- that is, we believe that Church and State are to be formally
separated, while yet allowing for proper Christian influence upon the
State as Christians fulfill our duties as dual citizens of both
kingdoms.
Therefore, I scoured the internet for brief essays I might steal (I
mean borrow) from scholars I trust to explain this basic Protestant
doctrine of the Two Kingdoms. I found plenty of material.
The problem was when it came to the brief part.
Thus, instead of copying one long essay as the devotional,
I want instead to do two things.
First, to refer you to my editorial on abortion again as one example of
speaking to the culture about a common grace ethic of life
which all people should embrace, regardless of religion, without yet
endorsing any specific statute, which is the realm of the State to
decide, not the Church.
Second, to refer you to an essay by an old professor of mine (and who
happens to be a Roanoke College grad), T. David Gordon, now at Grove
City college. I don't always agree with Dr. Gordon, but his
writings are always thought provoking. This essay is entitled
"Religious Reasons for the Separation of Church and State." To
perhaps intrigue you, here are the six reasons T. David lists out:
1. Liberty and liberty of conscience -- so that all can worship
according to their own convictions
2. Church, state and family each sovereign in its own area (the famous
Dutch doctrine of "Sphere Sovereignty" championed by Dutch Prime
Minister Abraham Kuyper)
3. The Spirituality of the Church -- the Church's ministry and
power is spiritual, not temporal
4. The theocracy of Israel was typological (of heaven) and not an
economy to be continued in the NT age
5. The proof of history, that the blending of Church and State
has had disastrous consequences
6. Practical considerations, namely that pluralism benefits both
Church and State by preventing geographical "balkanization" based on
faith
If that intrigues you, you can find the rest of the essay here: http://www.tdgordon.net/theology/.
In the meantime, pray that we can not only think these things through
together well as a church, but more importantly live up to the high
ethic of mercy Paul calls us to in Romans 12:17-21. That, I
think, is the greater challenge. See you Sunday! ~ Pastor H