Church and State

Quiz Time! Where does the phrase "Separation of Church and State" come from?
A) The Constitution
B) The Declaration of Independence
C) The Mayflower Compact
D) None of the above

And the answer is....D! So, if the phrase "Separation of church and state" doesn't come from any of our founding documents, where does it come from?
Actually, the phrase comes from a letter that Thomas Jefferson wrote to the Danbury Baptists on January 1, 1802. Here is the link to the full article, if you wish to read it, but the relevant text is provided below.

"I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between Church & State."  

"MAKE NO LAW RESPECTING AN ESTABLISHMENT OF RELIGION, OR PROHIBITING THE FREE EXCERCISE THEREOF" Jefferson said, and yet we never hear that part of the letter (Which, by the way, is in the Constitution (First Amendment)

We hear this phrase "Separation of church and state" tossed around by the courts constantly as if it were some bedrock of American principle, when in fact, it was part of a personal letter to a specific group of people, as part of a larger context. The founders never intended the state to limit the church, unless the church was harming people. Evidence:

Exhibit A) George Washington, speaking to the Indians: 

"You do well to wish to learn our arts and ways of life, and above all, the religion fo Jesus Christ. These will make you a greater and happier people than you are. Congress will do everything they can to assist you in this wise intention" (Emphasis added)

Exhibit B) George Mason, "The Father of the Bill of Rights"

"All men have an equal, natural, and unalienable right to the free excercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience, and that no particular sect or society of Christians ought to be favored or established by law in preference to to others"

Exhibit C) Thomas Jefferson- 

"I consider the government of the United States as interdicted by the Constitution from intermeddling with religious institutions, their doctrimes, discipline, or excercises."  (Emphasis mine)

I could go on for volumes. David Barton, in "Original Intent" (From which I stole the all the quotes in this post) actually did go on... for over 600 pages. If you read that book, it is quite clear that if the Founding Fathers had had any concept what Jefferson's letter would be turned into, they might well have burned it. 

Capitalism

I saw something on facebook recently, a meme that had several quotes from Scripture, including "Give all you have to the poor." among others, and at the bottom it read "It's pretty clear, Jesus was a socialist." This is not uncommon; because socialists, in their attempts to revise a society that is based on, and even still influenced by the Bible, find that to get the results they want, they must use the Bible.

Before we start talking, let's define some terms.

Socialist: An advocate of a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole.

Capitalist: An advocate of an economic system in which investment in and ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange of wealth is made by private individuals or corporations

Let's let the Scriptures speak for themselves.

Luke 6:38, Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

Mark 10:21, Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

Luke 3:11, ...“The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same.”

Proverbs 14:21 He who despises his neighbor sins, but blessed is he who is kind to the needy

It seems that the Scripture unequivocally advocates generosity. But does it advocate socialism? Remember, socialism doesn't give you a choice of whether or not to give; a socialist government takes what you have and redistributes it.

2 Thessalonians 3:10 For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “If a man will not work, he shall not eat.”

Matthew 20:15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’

Matthew 25:26-27 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

Galatians 6:5 for each one should carry his own load

These verses seem dreadfully capitalistic. Let's look at two parables Jesus told. The first one is the parable of the talents

14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. 15 To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. 17 So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. 18 But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’

21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

22 “The man with the two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.’

23 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

24 “Then the man who had received the one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

28 “‘Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. 29 For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The Master gave each servant different amounts according to their ability. They took their different amounts and achieved different outcomes. Then the master returned and rewarded those who had earned and punished those who had not. This is capitalism that gave Vladimir Lenin nightmares.

Let's look at one more passage. Matthew 20:1-15

1 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

3 “About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went.

“He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. 6 About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’

7 “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.

“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’

8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’

9 “The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘These men who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’

13 “But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’

As far as I can tell, this is clearly capitalistic. A person who had a large amount of material wealth paid people who had less wealth than he did to produce more wealth for him; and he did this because he was able to do what he wanted with his own money. Under the socialist system, this is not possible, because there are none with wealth, so generosity is both impossible and, in the perfect socialistic system, which is unattainable (Matthew 26:11 The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me) pointless.

One last thing, I quoted Galatians 6:5, which says "each one should carry his own load". If you go back a few verses to Galatians 6:2, you will find a verse commonly used to support the socialist position: "Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." Antagonists of Christianity also love to point at this as a contradiction. However, if you look at the original Greek, the word that verse 2 uses is "Baros" which means a crushing load that cannot be carried without help. Verse 5 uses the Greek word "Phortion" which was used to denote the normal load carried by a soldier.

So, entirely consistent with the rest of Scripture, we are called to carry our own normal burdens, produce something, pay our own way, and to be generous and help others when they are being crushed by something especially heavy. This is Scriptural economics in action.