It is impossible to meditate on the topic of “faith and politics” without considering church history and the seemingly endless involvement the Christian church (arguably all denominations) have had with (or against) political systems for the last 2,000+ years.
It is viewed by many nowadays that there should be a separation between church and state. However, when we rewind history, we quickly realize that this notion is fairly new and that for most of the human experience, societal religion and politics were viewed as basically inseparable. (And, as an aside, even if we were to consider certain sects of Christianity that claim to be apolitical, isn’t that alone a political statement?)
Since this blog was initially begun as a way to contemplate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation a few years ago, let us consider for a moment the time period of the protestant reformers, when the influence of the church in Europe was was all-pervasive, especially when it came to matters of political government. In many ways, the Reformation was a response to the complexities of this entanglement and without the mingling of faith and politics the Reformation may not have happened as it did. We must understand though that most reformers did not seek to fully separate the church structures from the governmental structures—the goal was simply reform. (The idea of “separation of church and state” was a later, Enlightenment era, ideal and thoughts on that will need to be saved for a later time.)
Indeed, the Reformation, did change the political landscape of Europe for years to come and led to later political and religious ideology that greatly impacts our lives today (including “separation of church and state”). Kings and queens in the years surrounding Martin Luther, John Calvin, and their contemporaries imposed Reformation and Counter-Reformation agendas squarely within their political agendas. Wars began or ended, books were written or burned, people were chained or freed, churches were destroyed or rebuilt—all because of the binding of politics and religion.
The point here is that when we begin to peel back the curtain of this topic it does not take long to see that faith and politics have a storied past together and the question we are left with is not “is faith and politics intertwined”, but “how is faith and politics intertwined?” And, to that point we must ask:
In what way are politics and faith intertwined today?
What does it mean for our faith?
What does it mean for our political viewpoints?
Now, to continue onward with this 2020 blog journey through the forest of faith and politics we must also establish an understanding of what I am talking about when I write about politics. When talking about politics here on this blog, I am talking about political systems, societal structures, national and world leaders, and the impact governmental systems have on our daily life. And, most importantly, how our faith is affected by these things and how we affect these things by living out our faith.
So, let’s press on…
Relevant Reformation 