Cities of Earth Heaven Christian Faith Secular Government

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Cities of Earth & Heaven: Christian Faith, Secular Government, And Religious Freedom Week 1:

Cities of Earth & Heaven: Christian Faith, Secular Government, And Religious Freedom Week 1: Parsing Religious Freedom 1

Prayer for our National Life (BCP) • Almighty God, who hast given us this

Prayer for our National Life (BCP) • Almighty God, who hast given us this good land for our heritage: We humbly beseech thee that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of thy favor and glad to do thy will. – Bless our land with honorable industry, sound learning, and pure manners. – Save us from violence, discord, and confusion; from pride and arrogance, and from every evil way. – Defend our liberties, and fashion into one united people the multitudes brought hither out of many kindreds and tongues. – Imbue with the spirit of wisdom those to whom in thy Name we entrust the authority of government, that there may be justice and peace at home, and that, through obedience to thy law, we may show forth thy praise among the nations of the earth. • In the time of prosperity, fill our hearts with 2

True or False? • The United States Constitution guarantees separation of church and state.

True or False? • The United States Constitution guarantees separation of church and state. – False. • • • 1 st Amendment forbids Congress to establish a religion. This is not separation of church and state. 1803 -1946: efforts by various groups to add separation language … fail. – Or is it True? • 1946: Supreme Court rules that separation is and always has been a constitutional principle. • An unprecedented legal development. 3

A Sense of Historical Context! • Terms associated with the issue: – Freedom of

A Sense of Historical Context! • Terms associated with the issue: – Freedom of Conscience; Separation of Church & State; Establishment of a religion – All of these terms have complex historical backgrounds. • So where does the historical context begin? – Well, the Founding Fathers were thinking of recent Church history: • Sectarian conflicts—i. e. wars—after the Reformation • E. g. English Civil War: Catholic v Anglican v Presbyterian v Baptist – What was the Reformation about? • Augustine’s theory of the Cities of Earth and Heaven, … • Appropriated for a 1, 000 years by popes trying to rule the world 4 for Christ, …

5 To understand the relationship between Church and State in America … We must

5 To understand the relationship between Church and State in America … We must return to the time when Churches first embraced secular power: The late Roman Empire.

6 Introductory quiz: Parsing Religious Liberty: Question 1—what do you think? (Note: you can

6 Introductory quiz: Parsing Religious Liberty: Question 1—what do you think? (Note: you can choose more than 1!)

7 Most obvious challenge to religious freedom: Religious Persecution! When did the Roman Empire

7 Most obvious challenge to religious freedom: Religious Persecution! When did the Roman Empire start persecuting Christians?

July 19, 64 A. D. : Fire Ravages Rome • All the lavish gifts

July 19, 64 A. D. : Fire Ravages Rome • All the lavish gifts of the emperor [Nero] and the propitiations of the gods, did not banish the sinister belief that the conflagration was the result of an order. Consequently, … Nero fastened the guilt … on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians…. • Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus. • A most mischievous superstition … again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular. • Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against mankind…. 8 • Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were 1876 nailed Siemiradzki, Henryk. Pochodnie Nerona.

Quiz question 2: • During the 2 nd and 3 rd centuries after Christ,

Quiz question 2: • During the 2 nd and 3 rd centuries after Christ, persecution of Christians by the Roman emperors was … – Massive and relentless. – Sporadic and localized. – Triggered by subversive activities planned by the churches. – Ineffective, since virtually no Christians renounced their faith under threat • (We’ll look at items 3 & 4 next week. ) 9

Was persecution of Christians relentless under Roman rule? • In the 19 th year

Was persecution of Christians relentless under Roman rule? • In the 19 th year of the • Emperor Trajan to a reign of Diocletian … governor, Pliny: royal edicts were – You observed proper published … procedure, my dear Pliny, in commanding that the sifting the cases of those churches be leveled to who had been denounced to the ground and the Scriptures be destroyed you as Christians…. by fire, and ordering – They are not to be sought that those who held out; places of honor be – If they are denounced and degraded, and that the proved guilty, they are to be household servants, if punished…. they persisted in the profession of – [Yet] whoever denies that he 10 Christianity, be deprived is a Christian and really

11 Persecution was spotty and intermittent. Some emperors persecuted. Some didn’t. Some persecution was

11 Persecution was spotty and intermittent. Some emperors persecuted. Some didn’t. Some persecution was local: e. g. Lyons, Gaul.

Quiz Question 3: • The persecution of Christians in the Empire ended … –

Quiz Question 3: • The persecution of Christians in the Empire ended … – Because of the effectiveness of Justin Martyr’s Apology. – By the vote of the Council of Nicea. – Because of the reprimand of Emperor Theodosius by St. Ambrose. – By order of the Edict of Milan. 12

312 AD: Constantius, Augustus of the Western Roman Empire, dies in Britain. • Son

312 AD: Constantius, Augustus of the Western Roman Empire, dies in Britain. • Son Constantine must fight for his father’s title. – Before the Battle of Milvian Bridge, he sought divine aid. – He called on [the Christian God] with earnest prayer…. And while he was thus praying … a most marvelous sign appeared to him from heaven…. About noon, … he saw … the trophy of a cross of light in the heavens, above the sun, and bearing the inscription, CONQUER BY THIS (Eusebius, Life of Blessed Constantine 1. 27 -32). • Emperor Constantine re-unifies a fractured empire … 13

313 AD: Edict of Milan • Now any one of those who wish to

313 AD: Edict of Milan • Now any one of those who wish to observe Christian religion may do so freely and openly, without molestation…. – We have given to those Christians free … opportunity of religious worship…. – We have also conceded to other religions the right of … free observance of their worship for the sake of the peace of our times, that each may have the free opportunity to worship as he pleases (Emperors Constantine and Licinius). 14

Or was it? (Sozomen, Ecclesiastical History, 2. 5 -2. 6) • As many nations

Or was it? (Sozomen, Ecclesiastical History, 2. 5 -2. 6) • As many nations … throughout the whole realm of his subjects retained … fear and veneration towards their vain idols, which led them to disregard the doctrines of the Christians, … it appeared necessary to the emperor to teach the governors to suppress their superstitious rites of worship…. – Christian men belonging to the palace went from city to city bearing imperial letters. – The people were induced to remain passive from the fear that, if they resisted these edicts, they, their children, and their wives, would be exposed to evil…. – [Temples] were stripped … and others were … allowed to fall into ruin, or destroyed. . – The efforts of the emperor succeeded … for on beholding the objects of their former reverence and fear boldly cast down … the people were led to despise what they had previously venerated…. – Others, envious at the honor in which Christians were held by the emperor, deemed it necessary to imitate the acts of the ruler; – others devoted themselves to an examination of Christianity, and by means of signs, of dreams, or of conferences with bishops and monks, 15 were convinced that it was better to become Christians.

16 What basic religious freedom are we talking about here? Freedom to openly practice

16 What basic religious freedom are we talking about here? Freedom to openly practice one’s faith. But wait—who chooses for the people?

6 th Century: • Western Roman Empire falls to barbarian warlords. • Rome and

6 th Century: • Western Roman Empire falls to barbarian warlords. • Rome and the Church there are in trouble! – – They’re beset by Lombards, Goths, Vandals They desperately needs a powerful ally. • Powerful Frankish King Clovis: 17

Narrative of Gregory of Poitiers: • In 496 … • Baptism of Clovis laid

Narrative of Gregory of Poitiers: • In 496 … • Baptism of Clovis laid the foundation… – A war arose. . . in which … Clovis's army began to be in – For Germany and France danger of destruction…. – For the Dream of – “Jesus Christ, whom Clotilda Christendom: asserts to be the son of the • Christian Europe 1 iving God, who art said to … administered at Rome bestow victory on those who • A world Empire ordained by hope in thee…. [I] vow that if Christ thou wilt grant me victory over – For centuries of war over these enemies, . . . I will believe disputed middle: Italy, in thee and be baptized in thy Burgundy, the Netherlands name. • The baptism of Clovis also – I have invoked my gods but … became a model for they have withdrawn…. I now call upon thee. ” … Christianization of Europe! – And so the king confessed … – How do you convert a pagan 18 God in the Trinity, and was people? Baptism of Clovis. West front, Notre Dame Cathedral, Rheims, France baptized…. And of his army

Saxon England? • Augustine of Canterbury led a papal mission to England: – King

Saxon England? • Augustine of Canterbury led a papal mission to England: – King Edwin … with all the nobility of the nation, and a large number of the common sort, received the faith, and the washing of holy regeneration, in … the year of our Lord 627 (Bede Ecclesiastical History of England II. 8). – Augustine converted kings—the people obediently followed. 19

 • Emperor Charles V wants to suppress the Reformation. – “Germany” was divided

• Emperor Charles V wants to suppress the Reformation. – “Germany” was divided into 200+ principalities. – And Charles needed his princes to fight invading Turks! • So, Charles negotiated the Peace of Augsburg (1555): – To bring peace to the Holy Roman Empire of the Germanic Nation … let neither his Imperial Majesty nor the Electors, Princes, etc. , do any violence … on the account of the Augsburg Confession…. 20

Today, princes are nearly extinct. • We have representative government. • So did 1530

Today, princes are nearly extinct. • We have representative government. • So did 1530 s Geneva—a “free city” with an elected council. – Troubled by Reformation turmoil, Geneva invited Jean Cauvin (Calvin) to town. – Eventually, Calvin worked out a deal with the council. • Calvin advocated Separation of Church & State: – Consistory of Reform ministers enforced a “godly” lifestyle among the people. • Ministers (most of them French immigrants) could not serve on the council. • But ministers advised the council … especially concerning behavior of townspeople! 21 – Secular Council (native Genevans) had no ministers!

What was Calvinist Geneva like? Selections from the Ordinances of Geneva developed by Calvin:

What was Calvinist Geneva like? Selections from the Ordinances of Geneva developed by Calvin: – Times of Assembling at Church: the temples be closed for the rest of the time, in order that no one shall enter therein out of hours, impelled thereto by superstition ; • and if anyone be found engaged in any special act of devotion therein … he shall be admonished…: • if it be found to be superstitious … he shall he be chastised. – Blasphemy: whoever shall have blasphemed, swearing by the body or by the blood of our Lord, . . . shall be made to kiss the earth for the first offence ; for the second to pay 5 sous, and for the third 6 sous, and for the last offence be put in the pillory for one hour. – Drunkenness: no one shall invite another to drink under penalty of 3 sous…. • If anvone be found intoxicated he shall pay for the first offence 3 sous and shall be remanded to the consistory ; • For the second offence he shall he held to pay the sum of 6 sous, and for the third 10 sous and be put in prison…. – Songs and Dances: if anyone sings immoral, dissolute or outrageous songs, . . . 22 he shall be put in prison for three days and then sent to the consistory.

What church/state model … • Guided the Pilgrims in Massachusetts? • Calvin’s! – As

What church/state model … • Guided the Pilgrims in Massachusetts? • Calvin’s! – As in Calvin’s Geneva, ministers could not be magistrates. – Yet magistrates enforced Mosaic law on the whole society. • Selections from the Massachusetts Body of Liberties (1641): – 1. If any man after legal conviction shall … worship any other god but the lord god, he shall be put to death – 2. If any man or woman be a witch, . . . or consulteth with a familiar spirit, they shall be put 23 to death.

24 What religious liberty are we discussing here? The liberty to live the lifestyle

24 What religious liberty are we discussing here? The liberty to live the lifestyle of one’s choice. Lifestyle—what did Jesus have to say about that?

How did the early church live? • All the believers were together and had

How did the early church live? • All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need (Acts 2. 43 -45). • Justin Martyr(100 -165 AD) Apology LXVII: – The wealthy among us help the needy; and we always keep together; and for all things wherewith we are supplied, we bless the Maker of all…. – And there is a distribution to each. . . and to those who are absent a portion is sent by the deacons. And they who are well to do, and willing, give what each thinks fit…. 25

Who was Peter Waldo? • Anonymous Chronicle (circa 1218): – [In 1173] at Lyons

Who was Peter Waldo? • Anonymous Chronicle (circa 1218): – [In 1173] at Lyons … Waldo … had made himself much money by wicked usury. – One Sunday, … he was smitten by the [story of] the holy Alexis … [and ] hurried to the schools of theology to seek counsel for his soul…. The master answered him with this text: “if thou wilt be perfect, go and sell all that thou hast” (Matthew 19. 20) – Then Waldo went to his wife and gave her the choice of keeping his personal property or his real estate… She was much displeased at having to make this choice, but she kept the real estate. – From his personal property he made restitution to those whom he had treated unjustly…. – But the greatest of his money he spent for the poor. A very great famine was then oppressing France and Germany. The prudent citizen, Waldo, gave bread, with vegetables and meat to every one who came to him…. – At the Assumption of the blessed Virgin, casting some money among the village poor, he cried, “No man can serve two masters, God and mammon. ” – Then his fellow-citizens ran up, thinking he had lost his mind. 26 – “My fellow-citizens and friends, I not insane … but I … I do it … so

Did Waldo become a saint? • Excerpts from an inquisitor’s account of the “errors”

Did Waldo become a saint? • Excerpts from an inquisitor’s account of the “errors” claimed by the Waldensians: – That they are the true poor in spirit, and suffer persecution for righteousness and faith. – That the Church of Rome is the Harlot in the Apocalypse, [for] its superfluous decoration. – That tithes are not to be given, because first fruits were not given to the church. – That the clergy ought not to have possessions. – That the Bishops and Abbots ought not to have royal rights. – That no one is to be forced into belief (Reinarius Saccho, Sects of the Modern Heretics 1254) • The 12 th Century Church heavily persecuted people choosing a lifestyle of poverty. 27

28 Another area of religious freedom: Freedom to life the lifestyle one chooses. Note:

28 Another area of religious freedom: Freedom to life the lifestyle one chooses. Note: religious challenges to the idea of privilege through personal property have always been harshly suppressed!

What is the Nicene Creed? • A statement of orthodox doctrine. – What authority

What is the Nicene Creed? • A statement of orthodox doctrine. – What authority supported that orthodoxy? • The Council of Nicea: – Called by Constantine to resolve a debate about Christ: • Apostolic tradition: Jesus seen as consubstantial with God. • Arius and his disciples at Alexandria: Jesus was created by God. – Constantine acted as an umpire during the debate. 29

What happened to Arian Christianity? • Constantine backed off his enforcement of Nicea for

What happened to Arian Christianity? • Constantine backed off his enforcement of Nicea for political reasons. – The emperors who succeeded him were Arians, so … – Further church councils vacillated between Nicene and Arian views of Christ. • Arian missionaries converted barbarians—Goths and Vandals—to Christianity. • Rome and the Western Empire fell in 412: – Gothic King Theodoric ruled Italy in the 5 th Century. 30

What’s an Auto da Fe? • An instrument of the Inquisition: – A religious

What’s an Auto da Fe? • An instrument of the Inquisition: – A religious rite of condemnation and penance. – Directed at heretics—people who thought and believed things condemned by church authority • 12 th Century: papacy establishes Inquisitions – Inquisitors were prelates trained in theology … – And interrogation: • • Torture was used to extract confessions Pedro Berruguete. Saint Dominic Presiding over an Auto-da-fe. 1495. And thereby purify the heretic (if possible) and the Church. Retrieved from Wikipedia, 4/15/2008. Condemned writings were burned. So were persistent heretics … and Jews suspected of lapsing into Judaism. – But inquisitors never tortured or executed anyone. • They directed local soldiery in administering the penance. • Imposition of an orthodoxy requires secular powers of enforcement! 31

Fortunately, the Reformation ended the Popish practice of persecuting people for “heresy”! Right ?

Fortunately, the Reformation ended the Popish practice of persecuting people for “heresy”! Right ? 32

Predestination: a key Reformed Theme • Synod of Dordt (1619): – Before the foundation

Predestination: a key Reformed Theme • Synod of Dordt (1619): – Before the foundation of the world, by sheer grace, according to the free good pleasure of his will, [God] chose in Christ to salvation a definite number of particular people out of the entire human race, which had fallen by its own fault from its original innocence into sin and ruin. – Those chosen were neither better nor more deserving than the others, but lay with them in the common misery…. – And so he decided to give the chosen ones to Christ to be saved, and to call and draw them effectively into Christ's fellowship through his Word and Spirit. – In other words, he decided to grant them true faith in Christ, to justify them, to sanctify them, and finally, after powerfully preserving them in the fellowship of his Son, to glorify them. 33 – God did all this in order to demonstrate his mercy, to the

Did all Protestants embrace this view of Predestination? • Well, no. • Dordt was

Did all Protestants embrace this view of Predestination? • Well, no. • Dordt was called in reaction to Jacob Arminius. – Arminius was a Reformed pastor who questioned extreme statements of Calvinist predestination. – After he died, his ideas shook the Dutch Reformed Church: • The Remonstrants challenged extreme views of predestination … • And the meddling of Reform ministers in the development of a fledgling state resisting Catholic Spanish rule. • Dordt: the usual mixture of politics and theological zealotry. – The leader of the Remonstrants was condemned and executed. – An extreme view of Cavlinist predestination was established as orthodoxy. • Note: Dordt’s orthodoxy was embraced by many Cavlinists. – E. g. Scots Presbyterians 34

35 Orthodoxy is generally based … on a secular power to enforce obedience!

35 Orthodoxy is generally based … on a secular power to enforce obedience!

36 A basic religious freedom: Freedom to express one’s understanding of faith. What shapes

36 A basic religious freedom: Freedom to express one’s understanding of faith. What shapes one’s understanding?

Available reading options! • Council of Trent: Rules on Prohibited Books (1586) – All

Available reading options! • Council of Trent: Rules on Prohibited Books (1586) – All books which have been condemned either by the supreme pontiffs or by ecumenical councils before the year 1515 … shall be considered condemned in the same manner as they were formerly condemned. – The books of … those who are or have been the heads or leaders of heretics, as Luther, Zwingli, Calvin … and others like these … are absolutely forbidden. – Book dealers who sell or in any other way supply Bibles written in the vernacular to anyone who has not this permission, shall lose the price of the books … and in keeping with the nature of the crime they shall be subject to other penalties which are left to the judgment of the same bishop. – All book-dealers … shall have in their libraries a list of the 37 books which they have for sale subscribed by the said persons,

Enough for 1 day? • Aspects of religious freedom: – To practice one’s faith

Enough for 1 day? • Aspects of religious freedom: – To practice one’s faith without persecution • Is freedom from persecution found when it shifts to the “other side”? – To choose one’s faith—but who chooses? • Prince? Government? Ministers? • The people? The individual? – To live the life style that reflects one’s faith – To think about faith as one chooses – To read the books one wishes to read • Any thoughts? 38

Looking Ahead • 4/27: Christendom—the City of Heaven on Earth – Augustinian theory –

Looking Ahead • 4/27: Christendom—the City of Heaven on Earth – Augustinian theory – Medieval disillusionment • 5/11: the Reformation Heritage – Magisterial and Independent models of Faith – The English Civil War and its American Heritage • 5/18: Covenants and Disestablishment in American Life – Covenant Society in New England – Sectarian Tension and the 1 st Amendment • 6/1: The Separation Ruling and its Discontents 39