The church’s struggle to understand its relationship to national or secular governments is not new. For its entire existence, this question has been a vexing one and the church has come down on various sides of the issue at different times. Further, this struggle is not relegated to the life of the church, but surfaces throughout the story of the Bible as the people of God find themselves living in and even working for pagan governments. In this workshop we will examine the history of the relationship between the people of God and governmental structures noting the biblical support as well as the strengths and weaknesses of each kind of relationship.
Listen to Brad Harper’s workshop, “Church & State through the Ages”, from the Church & State conference on October 27, 2012 at Multnomah University.