LIBERTY UNIVERSITY
JOHN W. RAWLINGS SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
Reflection Essay: “Christianity and The State”
Submitted to Dr. Joe Easterling
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of
THEO 650 - D03 LUO
Public Theology
by
Joseph S. NaDolski
December 16, 2022
Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................. 3
America’s Puzzel ......................................................................................................................................... 3
America’s Southerner ................................................................................................................................. 3
America’s Voice........................................................................................................................................... 4
America’s Entrepreneur ............................................................................................................................ 4
America’s Counselor .................................................................................................................................. 5
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 5
Bibliography ................................................................................................................................................ 5
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Introduction
This essay summarizes the strengths and weaknesses of chapters 29-32 in An
Introduction to Biblical Ethics: Walking in the Way of Wisdom (2014). It presents the essayist’s
critical interpretation of benefits Christians obtain by reading them. The paper outlines the
essayist’s individual perspective on the history, approach, role, and relationship engagement
between the Church and state.
America’s Puzzel
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. Not until Constantine’s
victory over Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge in A.D. 312 do Christians begin full participation
in Roman culture. The edict Constantine and Licinius agreed to in Mediolanum (Milan) in A.D.
313 increases Christian involvement in state affairs. A synergistic relationship grew between the
Church and state during the decade that followed. After Constantine gathered bishops in Nicea
(A.D. 325) to address Christian controversies, the Church starts 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. 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.
America’s Southerner
The authors see four approaches to control Church-State relationships: state control,
Church control, mutually exclusive controls, or synergistic controls. Man’s desire to use others to
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achieve goals, either by governance or religion, typically grows into authoritarian rule and
punishment cycles, restricting people’s freedom. When Church and state respect each other’s role
in a properly functioning society, they achieve the best results. Benevolent cooperation, morally
and politically, produces a dynamic culture which seeks to improve spiritual, ethical, and moral
standards for all to enjoy.
America’s Voice
Proclaiming the Gospel in a lost world is the Church’s role along with caring for orphans,
widows, and performing other merciful acts. 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 consequences of 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 State.
America’s Entrepreneur
Francis Schaeffer argued sovereign people, based on self-interest, delegate to the state its
role and authority in society. When tyrants punish good and reward evil, the people must revoke
governmental authority. McQuilkin and Copan attempt to explain Christian social engagement
but see no clear biblical guidance on the issue. Instead, choosing to advocate the Holy Spirit’s
guidance in all worldly matters. Scripture, God’s Word, prayer in the Church and a Christian
heart is the stranger’s priority while sojourning through a lost world.
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America’s Counselor
Conclusion
The essayist believes increased Christian action, stopping the irreligious effort to
privatize belief in Jesus’s completed work on the cross, obligates the Church’s participation.
Combatting moral decline requires God’s people to confront social depravity wherever it reveals
itself, i.e., Church or state. These confrontations work best when Christians understand and
articulate Church and state social roles, fostering improved spiritual, ethical, and moral standards
for all. Faithful Christians engage the world using the tools God gives them, His word and
prayer, to affect the relationship between the Church and state in today’s world.
Bibliography
Wacker, Grant. “Billy Graham’s America.” Church History 78, no. 3 (2009): 489–511.
