The modern doctrine of "separation of church and state" is
a myth. It is anti-American. Modern secularists have problems
understanding the American relationship between religion and government
because they do not understand that the Founding Fathers believed:
- Religion was the foundation of government;
- There was a true religion and there were other false religions;
- It would be suicidal to base a commonwealth on a false religion;
- The Government, in order to survive, must endorse
and promote the true
religion.
Every single person who signed the Constitution agreed with these
four premises, and they agreed that the true religion was Christianity.
It doesn't matter that they didn't agree among themselves as to the details
of the Christian religion. It doesn't matter that they made sure that
one variety of Christianity would have no legal power over other
varieties of Christianity. What matters is that not a single signer of
the Constitution believed in the "separation of church and
state" where the word "church" means "Christianity,
the true religion." A secular (that is, atheistic) government was
not in the mind of a single signer of the Constitution. None of them
accepted the possibility of a Civil Magistrate separated from true
religion and independent of God, owing no duties to God to abide by His
Standard of Justice.
Both Church and State were under God,
though there was a "wall of separation" between these two
Christian institutions. And make no mistake: the "minister of
justice" in the State was just as directly responsible to God as a
"minister of the Word" in the Church.
All of these beliefs were largely deduced by the Founding Fathers
from a single passage of Scripture. All of their political thinking
ultimately rested on this single Biblical text.
Probably one of the most important Biblical texts in the history of
political science in Western Civilization is the
thirteenth chapter of the Apostle Paul's letter to the Romans. Since
the time of Augustine,
this passage has been the starting point for all discussions of
government. And that starting point led to the conclusion -- universally
held by the Founding Fathers -- that the human task of forming civil
governments was a religious obligation. If
you're a Christian, you probably don't need to click those links.
Yet most Secular Humanists haven't the foggiest idea what this
passage of Scripture says, nor have they the remotest sensitivity for
how the Founding Fathers reverenced this text. History shows it pervaded
their thinking. It was an underlying assumption. Even today, when people
speak of "the powers that be" they are using the language from
Romans 13, likely without knowing the source.
If you know nothing about Romans 13, start
by reading the passage here.
Then review some history. Romans 13 and a Biblical
doctrine of government pervades Western thought and influenced the
Founding Fathers. (The ironic thing about the use of Romans 13 in
Western political science is that the passage, though clearly intended
to inculcate non-resistance to the magistrates, has been most frequently
cited in treatises which advocate violent revolution.)
Romans 13 says that the civil magistrate is "the minister of
God." The Founding Fathers, to a man, agreed.
Here is a sampling of what the Founders believed about government's
dependence on God:
[T]he only true basis of all government [is] the laws of God and
nature. For government is an ordinance of heaven, designed by the all
benevolent Creator.
Samuel Adams
Writings, vol. I, p. 269, Samuel Adams in the Boston Gazette
of Dec. 19, 1768 as "Vindex."
Has it [government] any solid foundation? Any chief corner
stone? . . . I think it has an everlasting foundation in the
unchangeable will of God. . . . The sum of my argument is that
civil government is of God.
James Otis, mentor of Sam Adams and the Sons of Liberty
The Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved
(London: J. Williams and J. Almon, 1766) pp. 11, 98.
[W]e will look for the permanency and stability of our new
government to Him who bringeth princes to nothing and teacheth
senators wisdom [Isa. 40:23; Ps. 105:22]
John Hart, Signer of the Declaration of Independence
Address, October 5, 1776, in, The Papers of William Livingston
(Trenton: New Jersey Historical Commission, 1979) Vol. I, p. 161.
[T]he rights essential to happiness . . . . We claim them from a
higher source -- from the King of kings and Lord of all the earth.
John Dickinson, Signer of the Constitution
The Political Writings of John Dickinson (Wilmington: Bonsal
and Niles, 1801) Vol. I, p. 111.
If civil government is ordained by God, and answerable to God, then
the fact that civil government and ecclesiastical governments were
"separate" does not contradict the fact that both forms of
government were "under God," and
based on a religious foundation. The modern doctrine of "separation
of church and state" is not concerned with a separation between
civil and ecclesiastical powers. It attempts to assert a separation
between the life of man and the Law of God. The modern doctrine is a
myth.
Anti-Pluralism
Home Page
The pages below are designed to expose the myth of pluralism and to
show that pluralism was universally denied by the Founding Fathers. The
truths found in the links below stem from the belief of our Founding
Fathers that the institution of civil government is ordained
by God. The "separation of church and state," as
understood today (the separation of religion and civil government) is a
myth.
Vine
& Fig Tree's Romans 13 Home Page
The most disastrously misunderstood Biblical text in history!
|| Romans
13 and Parallel Texts || Romans
13 in American History || Romans
13 in Western Political Thought || Romans
13 and the American Revolution || Romans
13 and the "Separation of Church and State" ||
Christian
"Anarchism" is Our Goal | | All
Evil is Predestined by God | | Pray
for a Servant's Understanding | | Angels
and God's Throne of Government | | Stars
and Idolatry | | Why
the State Always Encourages Immorality | | Unlucky
13 -- Romans 13, Revelation 13 and Isaiah 13 | | A
Roman's-Eye View of Romans 13 | | "Principalities
and Powers" | | Lakes
of Fire in "Smoke-Filled Rooms" | | Romans
13: The Burden is on the Archists | | Taxation,
Representation, and the Myth of the State | | Why
the State is not a "Divine Institution" |
| Angels
and Autarchy | | 95
Theses Against the State | | Here
is what a Christian Anarchist looks like after he has joined The
Christmas
Conspiracy.