THE LIE –
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
March
2010
by
Dr. David R. Wood
Greetings
partners and friends in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ. I hope that you
are being encouraged, strengthened and given greater insight into our Nation
by these articles. This month I will be addressing this issue of the
“separation of Church and State” or the corresponding term a “wall of
separation”. It has been reported that one of the great Christian leaders
of our time, Kenneth E. Hagin would say that issues such as this were
ignorance gone to seed. The larger issue here is that there are forces that
seek to erase the Christian foundation and heritage of this nation. We as
the children of God must arise and say “no” you will not erase the truth. I
find it very interesting that all of our institutions on Washington D.C. are
covered with Scripture or words based on Scripture yet the people working in
those very buildings or ride by those buildings on a daily basis deny our
Christian foundation, our Christian heritage.
Last year
President Barak Obama traveled to Turkey and declared that Americans “do not
consider ourselves a Christian nation.” The evidence that we are
established as a Christian nation is overwhelming so I will only be touching
on a very little of that evidence. The Bible (see last months teaching)
forms the very foundation of the Constitution of the United States of
America and the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration of
Independence states; “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men
are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted
among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
The Constitution of the United States of America starts with the words,
“We the people”. It seems that the founders of this nation understood that
the flow of authority was from God to man.
Genesis
1:26 (KJV)
26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our
likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over
the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and
over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Notice God
gave individual men (persons) dominion or authority over all the earth not
each other (except as outlined in the Bible). The founders of this nation
then instituted a government in the image of God to maintain order, prevent
anarchy, and protect us from those who would not follow the laws of God
(reflected in the laws of man) also called good conscience. This flows
right out of Romans Thirteen.
Romans
13:1 (KJV)
1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is
no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
The
peoples of all nations have in one way or another consented to the
government that is in place including our current governmental situations
here in America.
How is
this nation in the image of God? First consider that God is a three part
being, Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). God made man in His
image and is also a three part being, spirit, soul and body (1 Thessalonians
5:23). Notice that our government has three levels, local, state and
federal. Notice there are three branches of government, judicial,
legislative and executive. You think this is all coincidental?
Among the
first settlers of these United States were the Pilgrims who before going on
shore wrote and signed The Mayflower Compact on the 11th
of November 1620. It reads in part: “Having undertaken for the glory of
God and advancement of the Christian Faith… [we] combine ourselves together
into a civil body politic for…furtherance of the ends aforesaid.” Do you
think that they thought they were establishing anything but a nation with a
Christian foundation?
Let’s
consider the words of our forefathers. George Washington (first president)
declared: “The hand of Providence has been so conspicuous in all this that
he must be worse than an infidel that lacks faith, and more wicked that has
not gratitude to acknowledge his obligation…” George Washington thought
that the hand of God on this nation was conspicuous! John Adams (second
president) said: “Statesmen, my dear Sir, may plan and speculate for
liberty, but it is Religion and Morality alone, which can establish the
principles upon which freedom can securely stand. The only foundation of a
free Constitution is pure virtue, and if this cannot be inspired unto our
people in a greater measure, than they have it now, they may change their
rules and the form of government, but they will not obtain a lasting
liberty.” I wonder if he thought God was important in government. Thomas
Jefferson (third president) said: “God who gave us life, gave us liberty.
And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed
their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these
liberties are of the Gift of God?” We could go on, the founders had no
doubt that true freedom and liberty can only flow from God and adherence to
the Word of God. God by the Holy Scriptures tells man what is necessary for
a successful life upon the earth. The founders of these United States of
America then joined together forming a government that would accomplish the
will of God and bring glory to God just as the Pilgrims had done before
them. The government was to be saturated with God but the government was
not to interfere in the rights of men given of God.
So how did
this foolishness of separation of Church and State arise? It erroneously
arises from two primary sources. First let us look at the first article or
amendment contained in the Bill of Rights.
Amendment
1 – Bill of Rights
“Congress
shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting
the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the
press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the
Government for a redress of grievances.”
Seems
pretty clear that the government was not to interfere with or establish a
religion. There is no mention here of preventing religion from influencing
the government. These people had come from tyranny and they wanted an iron
clad guarantee that in this new nation the government would not dictate the
religion or interfere in the free exercise of that religion.
One
document used to give rise to the lie concerning the doctrine of separation
of church and state is the Treaty of Tripoli concluded on November 4, 1796,
ratified by the Senate June 7, 1797 and signed by President John Adams
(second president) on June 10, 1797. Article 11 of this treaty reads:
Art. 11.
As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense,
founded on the Christian religion,---as it has in itself no character of
enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility, of Mussulmen,---and as
the said States never entered into any war or act of hostility against any
Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from
religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony
existing between the two countries.
There is
some debate about the accuracy of this English translation from the Arabic.
In spite of this, when taken together in context it seems to say loud and
clear; we did not go to war with Moslems based on religion.
The second
source of the erroneous doctrine of separation of church and state is a
letter written (not a founding document) by President Thomas Jefferson to
the Danbury Baptists on January 1, 1802. Apparently the Danbury Baptists
were concerned as to whether the First Amendment was sufficient protection
from the government. The following is Jefferson’s response in part.
“Believing
with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God,
that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the
legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, 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.”
It seems
clear that Jefferson was assuring them that there was indeed an absolute
prohibition of the government from interfering with any people’s free
exercise of religion. Again, the government can not interfere with your
exercise of religion. From the very little I have written you can see that
the framers, the founders of this United States of American expected God’s
fingerprints all over the government and the people.
Unfortunately many Pastors have just acquiesced to what the secular culture
said starting with the Supreme Court in 1878 and becoming very popular since
1947. I will not go into detail but since then restraints have been put on
the freedom of speech of Pastors, prayer was taken from the school, Bibles
were taken from the school. In the place of these we have intolerance of
Christian speech, school shooting, free distribution of condoms, abortion
without parental consent (not that any abortion is good), homosexuality is
promoted as a desirable lifestyle and our children are being taught how to
be good global citizens. The devil knows that we are a chosen nation, the
jubilee nation for the end times and he wants to destroy us. The flag of
the United States has fifty stars on a blue background. Blue is the color
representing the Holy Spirit. The fifty stars represent the Church (stars)
and the number fifty is the day of the releasing of the Holy Spirit
(Pentecost) and also the year of jubilee when all is returned to the
original owners. So the Church, predominately in the United States of
America, is the instrument to bring the Anointing of God to all the earth
removing burdens and destroying yokes (Isaiah 10:27) and returning this
earth to the dominion of God’s people. We are to cause things to operate
according to God’s Word not the demonic Babylonian system.
Let us
consider one other interesting item before I conclude this teaching.
Consider the Treaty with the Kaskaskia Indians in 1803 during Thomas
Jefferson’s presidency.
Article 3
reads in part: “And whereas, The greater part of the said tribe have been
baptized and received into the Catholic church to which they are much
attached, the United States will give annually for seven years one hundred
dollars towards the support of a priest of that religion, who will engage to
perform for the said tribe the duties of his office and also to instruct as
many of their children as possible in the rudiments of literature. And the
United States will further give the sum of three hundred dollars to assist
the said tribe in the erection of a church.”
Wow, the
government doing exactly what the Pilgrims envisioned, showing the goodness
of God and advancing the Christian faith. In addition, the very man that
the enemies of God try to say favored a total separation of Church and State
is providing money for religious activity through the Federal treasury. I
hope you can see the absurdity of this lie and you will determine in your
heart to no longer be ignorant, no longer just believe on face value but
look at the source and the source documents.
The
Biblical world view is that all authority comes from God. God gave man
authority in the earth in the beginning. Men (individual persons) were to
have rule over the home (not the government). Man was to have rule over the
Church. That is to say worship or not however he sees fit. The government
could not dictate a given religion (denomination) nor prohibit the free
exercise thereof except as it disrupted good order. The violence or
deceitful practices that may arise from a certain “religion” may be
prohibited and face the full judgment of a free people. Man was to have
rule over the government. Remember, “We the people”. The people give to
government what is necessary to preserve life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness.
After the
Civil War there were two lines of thought that emerged in the Church
regarding their interaction with the government. One was that the Church
was to play no part in the government. The second was that religious people
could be involved in civil affairs but not on a Biblical basis. These ideas
have commingled over time. So we see Christians not exercising their right,
obligation to vote as citizens and abdicating their stewardship
responsibilities in the governance of this nation. Just as God held the
servant accountable for hiding his talent in Matthew 25 and the pound in
Luke 19 so will He hold you accountable for not voting or voting with wrong
motives (James 4:3). God will hold you responsible for not standing against
the lies of the devil including this one concerning “separation of church
and state”. Except God, Scriptural principles, guide this nation we all
labor in vain.
Psalms
127:1 (KJV)
1 Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build
it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.
Pastors
and lay leaders please arise, know what this nation is indeed a Christian
nation and bring the people of God to accountability. Stand against the
tyranny of Satan. Educate yourself, educate your congregation and educate
the public. They are not getting it in public school! Finally, meditate
what you have read and meditate the following Scripture and declare your
willingness to return to the full counsel of Scripture.
1 Timothy
2:1-6 (KJV)
1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers,
intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;
2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we
may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our
Saviour;
4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the
knowledge of the truth.
5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and
men, the man Christ Jesus;
6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
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