Jesus' words in this lesson could...
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Jesus' words in this lesson could be taken as a biblical authorization for the separation of church and state. But does that marginalize the impact of Christians in the political institutions, relegate the church's influence to a so-called private sphere? In fact, the strengths of the model that is described in this text (with parallels to the American system) have been recognized by some of the great theologians of the past. For one item, the separation of church and state entails that Christians need to become wise in the ways of the world. The Bible does not teach how to govern, how to stimulate the economy, or how to solve the problem of the Ukraine. Martin Luther recognized this nearly 500 years ago: "To be sure, God made the secular government subordinate and subject to reason... For this reason nothing is taught in the gospel about how it is to be maintained..." (Luther's Works, Vol. 13, p. 198).
Famed American social ethicist Reinhold Niebuhr has noted that this in turn makes Christians more realistic and so more effective in politics. For they do not have the right to hide behind the Bible in order to justify their own positions as somehow above and better than everyone else's views. And their view of original sin offers a healthy cynicism about claims politicians make about their intentions and what even a good law can accomplish:
Christians ought to be able to analyze a given situation more realistically than moralists and idealists because they are not under the necessity of having illusions about human nature in order to avert despair and preserve their faith in the meaning of life... but the Christian faith gives him no warrant to lift himself above the world's perplexities and to seek or to claim absolute validity for the stand he takes. It does, instead, encourage him to the charity which is born of humility and contrition.
(Reinhold Niebuhr, p. 130)
You've got a better shot at bringing about justice when you don't hide your politics behind the Bible.
Famed American social ethicist Reinhold Niebuhr has noted that this in turn makes Christians more realistic and so more effective in politics. For they do not have the right to hide behind the Bible in order to justify their own positions as somehow above and better than everyone else's views. And their view of original sin offers a healthy cynicism about claims politicians make about their intentions and what even a good law can accomplish:
Christians ought to be able to analyze a given situation more realistically than moralists and idealists because they are not under the necessity of having illusions about human nature in order to avert despair and preserve their faith in the meaning of life... but the Christian faith gives him no warrant to lift himself above the world's perplexities and to seek or to claim absolute validity for the stand he takes. It does, instead, encourage him to the charity which is born of humility and contrition.
(Reinhold Niebuhr, p. 130)
You've got a better shot at bringing about justice when you don't hide your politics behind the Bible.
