Church and State
Why Cooperation Matters
Church and State
McQuilkin and Copan point out Christians exclusion from public life in the early Church limited their role to sharing the gospel and social welfare programs.[1] Not until Constantine’s victory over Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge in A.D. 312 did Christians begin full participation in Roman culture. The edict Constantine and Licinius agreed to in Mediolanum (Milan) in A.D. 313 increased Christian involvement in state affairs. A synergistic relationship grew between the church and state during the decade that followed. After Constantine gathered bishops in Nicaea (A.D. 325) to address Christian controversies, the Church started ceding power to the state. The pendulum swings back to the Church with Pope Gregory VII’s assertion that he alone is the imperial power of the land who can depose emperors and absolve their subjects of allegiance to them.[2] The power struggle between Church and state reflects American contemporary culture and its government dominance over Christian morality. Secularists argue privatization of religion to isolate and drive God from the public’s purview.[3]
Alternative Approaches to the Church-State Relationship
The authors see four approaches to control Church/State relationships: state control, Church control, exclusive controls, or synergistic controls.[4] Man’s desire to use others to achieve goals, either by governance or religion, grows into authoritarian rule and punishment cycles, restricting people’s freedom.[5] When church and state respect each other’s roles in a functioning society, they achieve the best results. Benevolent cooperation produces a dynamic culture which seeks to improve spiritual, ethical, and moral standards for all to enjoy.
The Roles of Church and Government
Proclaiming the Gospel in a lost world is the Church’s role, along with caring for orphans and widows and performing other merciful acts.[6] The government’s role is to serve the will of the people, not its self-interest. A Prime Minister’s (typically elected by a sovereign people to lead their state) role is to attend to the needs of the people. Teaching morality and the consequence of sin is the Church’s role, supported by sovereign people living in a moral society. Legislated morality, and the repercussions for transgressing it, is the government’s role, again supported by sovereign citizens living in a moral society. Moral behavior requires synergistic cooperation between the church and the state.
[1] Robertson McQuilkin and Paul Copan, “An Introduction to Biblical Ethics: Walking in the Way of Wisdom,” 3rd ed. (IVP, 2014), 520.
[2] Ibid., 523.
[3] Richard John Neuhaus, “The Naked Public Square,” 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1988), 529.
[4] McQuilkin and Copan, “Biblical Ethics,” 530.
[5] Ibid., 531.
[6] Ibid., 545.