Church and State: a biblical perspective.

I was glad to see in your November issue of Church & State in the article written by Paul F. Rack ("Goodbye Christendom--And Good Riddance!: A Pastor's Reflection On Church And State,") that someone is actually reading the Bible.

The question of separation of church and state can quite simply be derived from the history in the Bible. The government of Christianity is a monarchy ruled by the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ. This kingdom is above all earthly governments and nations. It is not God's will to combine the church with any man-made government or religion of any kind. This is quite clear throughout the New Testament's teachings.

In Mr. Rack's article, he states that Jesus rejected violence to achieve his goals. Jesus Christ became violent about one thing when He inhabited this Earth. We find this in the gospel of John (chapter 2, verse 14-16) when he made a scourge of cords and bodily drove the merchants out of the temple, saying, "Take these things away and stop making My Father's house a place of business."

God's house today is the church, and many of the leaders of the Religious Right are using their churches to do business and sell their religion on TV and radio to make money. They ignore much of the biblical teaching on morality for their own personal gain. They use abortion, gay marriage and other moral issues as a weapon to energize their membership into supporting them and their agenda, totally ignoring the rest of the moral issues that are taught in the Bible--such as greed, bribery, lying and coercion. They support the rich and not the poor. They show their Christian love by belittling and attacking anyone who disagrees with them.

Roy Langston

Bismarck, Ark.

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