The Earnest Contender

Saturday, April 08, 2006

What Is Separation of Church and State?

I What Is Separation of Church and State?

Separation of church and state means that the church will not control the government and that the government will not control the church.

a) There should be no union between the church and the state.

b) The state should not control religious affairs.

c) No religion should control governmental affairs.

This does not mean that Christian’s should not respect, sustain, and obey civil government as long as it does not violate the conscience or biblical convictions. It does not mean Christians should not get involved in government. Christian reader, we should at least pray and vote.

God has ordained three institutions: Family, in Genesis 2:20-25, God planned and blessed marriage/the home. The church, in Matthew 16:18, Jesus states He will build the church. God also established civil government.

Dr. L. Duane Brown, recognized as an authority on church trends and movements, articulates the establishment of civil government,

After Adam disobeyed the commandment of god and was cast out of the Garden of Eden, children were born to Adam and Eve (Gen. 4, 5). There were no social rules to follow and much wickedness developed because every man followed his own conscience. Soon the human race was completely corrupted except for Noah and his family (Gen. 6:5-8). Following the flood, God established a covenant with Noah (Gen.9) which included civil government. Its basis was the ultimate human retribution of capital punishment (Gen.9:5, 6). Nowhere in Scripture has God rescinded this principle. (Biblical Basis For Baptists pp. 41, 42)

This means that churches should submit to governmental regulations intended to protect the health and safety of the public, but the government must not interfere with the beliefs and practices of a church or its ministries.

Separation of church and state, once again, means that the church will not control the government, and the government will not control the church.

Next post: What Does the Bible Say about Separation of Church and State?

12 Comments:

Good post John. I'm really looking forward to the next one. ;-)

By Kc, at 9/4/06 2:14 PM
Thanks KC!

By J. Wendell, at 9/4/06 2:18 PM
John,

I thank you for your work, buddy.

Would you say that Elijah got involved in government...No rain for 3 years and six months, putting those prophets of Baal on a permanent vacation,and who could forget that thing with Jezebel and the dogs?

By mark pierson, at 9/4/06 10:54 PM
Mark,
Yes, I sometimes wish I had that kind of power... then I'm glad I don't. Involment, is a far cry from control. Thanks for sharing this insight.

buddy John

By J. Wendell, at 9/4/06 11:06 PM
Yes, that is the right idea.

By Matthew Celestine, at 10/4/06 9:18 AM
i'll really be looking fwd to the next post... ahh.. i just realized KC wrote the same thing.. .great minds think alike, I think :)

By Nunzia, at 10/4/06 3:25 PM
Matthew!!!

Welcome back. I'm sure I am the only one who has noticed you were gone ;~)

Manny blessings in Christ.
brother John

By J. Wendell, at 11/4/06 5:14 AM
Hi Nunzia,
Good to see you again too. Great minds do, at times, think alike the best minds think God's (Pill. 2: 1-5).

I'll look forward to seeing you and KC later as well.

brother John

By J. Wendell, at 11/4/06 5:33 AM
Is allowing something the same as establishing it?

If the government allows a Christian experience to take place (such as prayer at a public gathering) the same as the government extablishing that religion?

By Joe, at 12/4/06 6:38 AM
Hi Joe,
No, absolutely NO! Prayer in public schools should be allowed as long as it does not interfere with curricular activities. I would be uncomfortable with teacher lead prayer time.

Christian assemblies should be allowed in public places as long as it is peaceable.

The Ten Commandments, the Golden Rule, and prayers should be allowed to be on display in and on government buildings, and monuments.

The can of worms is, what about sayings from the Koran, Mien Kopf, or any other writings. Wouldn’t liberty have to be for all in a given community?

By J. Wendell, at 12/4/06 6:57 AM
I respectfully disagree that our founders separated the church from the state in the sense that God's laws take no part in our form of government. I believe history teaches that our founders very much intended to establish Christianity as the law of the land, though they prohibited any one Christian denomination to be established. Of course they did not force citizens to worship the Christian God and they did allow other religious practices so long as they did not bring harm to individuals or society.

I do agree, however, that the federal government was not to interfere with the affairs of the church. Our form of government was based on the rule of law, God's law.

In fact, I've recently addressed this issue at my blog. I just happened to find you through Rose's blog. :-)

I do believe the church is separate from the state, but not to the extent that our government has mandated in recent decades.

Dr. L. Duane Brown: "There were no social rules to follow and much wickedness developed because every man followed his own conscience."

I disagree with Brown here. I do believe that God taught Adam His system and Adam, in turn, taught his posterity God's system, and so on. True, it was not recorded and established as it was in the day of Moses, but I do believe it was there. We know that the sacrificial system had been established when God made Adam and Eve's coats of skins. (Genesis 3:21). We later see the detail recorded in the book of Leviticus.

I believe the bible teaches that man's conscience knows the laws of God. It is written on their hearts. (Romans 2:13-15) I do agree that the people in the day of Noah seared their consciences unto utter wickedness. (I Timothy 4:2) I know this scripture in Timothy is speaking of those in the last days, but I do believe it still pertains to men's consciences in general and throughout all time.

Thanks for the opportunity to voice my opinion.

By Dawn, at 25/4/06 10:23 AM
Hi Dawn,
Respectfully disagree away.

That is proving a point of tolerance that men like John Leland, a Baptist, fought for in these United States. ;~)

You see Dawn, John Leland was among a number of notables who advocated complete separation of (NOT FROM) church and state and full religious freedom. The others were Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, George Mason, Patrick Henry, and Samuel Davies.

Jefferson was opposed to the Federalists and was a deist. Madison, Henry, and Mason were an Anglican. Davies was a Presbyterian. None, to my knowledge, stood opposed of serving the state with Catholics or with those with those of Jewish conviction or no conviction at all... as long as the common wealth and welfare were served.

I think in fairness to Dr. Brown, in the context of his statement, and giving you, also, the benefit of the doubt, it seems that you agree with each other, and who am I to disagree? You both seem to be saying the same thing.

I mean no disrespect. I hope you sense that your voice is welcomed and valued here.

God’s blessings to you,
brother John

By J. Wendell, at 25/4/06 10:38 PM