Separation of Church and State Essay

Freed from original sin, the City of God is the perfection of harmony between God and human beings. In his book, Augustine then finally dispels the idea of the Roman Empire being the earthly establishment of God's kingdom. It was simply too imperfect. Hence, he promoted the separation of Church and state as entities with two distinct purposes on earth.

Because of this separation, Augustine holds that Christians cannot feel fully at home in any society. Because these societies are imperfect, they are but temporary homes for Christians. Because they are imperfect, no society has the purpose of eternal salvation. Furthermore, Christian hope does not rely on any form of society or political program.

Human imperfection for Augustine meant that the Gospel was a permanently unsettling force to prevent total Christian identification with the social order. For these reasons, the heavenly Jerusalem as described by Augustine cannot exist on earth. Hence, the concept of Christendom as a society that exists on earth, but separate from society is manifest in the Church.General earthly society provides a platform for Christians to thrive, in terms of the Church, but it does not provide a home for Christians within it. Law and education are the "sword" by which the sinful human being is disciplined. In this way, the state contains disorder and wrongdoing. The church, on the other hand, represents the perfect and eternal City of God.

In conclusion, Augustine therefore not only promoted the separation of Church and state, but indeed pioneered it. The Medieval prosperity of Christianity brought into the Church the corrupting influence of politics and personal gain. Having observed this, Augustine's idea of Church and state as separate entities promoted the idea of a Christianity that lives and functions within the world, but not as part of it.

Bibliography

Augustine. City of God. Retrieved from http://augnet.org/default.asp?ipageid=260&iParentid=960

Cantor, N.E. The Civilization of the Middle Ages, Harper Press, 1995......