Politics and Christianity?

Question

I had asked another question about Christianity and Politics. I explained how religion and politics were not separate to first century Christians; I meant for this observation to have strong implications for the reader and my question. However, I feel many misunderstood what I was asking, so let me rephrase.

Many Christians feel the country will be better off ran by a Christian. However, it is hard to tell who is genuine, and religious beliefs do not necessarily ensure leadership and good decision-making. The question then is: should we revert (as many have) to the view that God's Kingdom needs to be manifest on this Earth and continue to vote for Christian presidents, feeling they are the best representatives of the country? Or should we except the country is based on the constitution and not the Bible and church and state are separate and vote for leaders completely regardless of their religious beliefs but because of their policies?

What would the first century Christians think?

Answer 1

Given the way those "first century Christians" were treated, I think is all the evidence one would need to keep religion out of politics.

Answer 2

The country is run by men based on the US Constitution. Where and when has anyone ever said that all candidates had to be Christians. As a Roman Catholic I see nothing suggesting such a thing about our country. When JFK became President many felt that the Pope would control our nation threw JFK. There were foolish people back then also. There is know need for concern in this area, it has already been taken care of. Peace

Answer 3

Jesus made it very clear when he gave his Great Commission prior to his Ascension... he said we are to tell the story of the Gospel to all the people of the Earth (paraphrase), that is, we are to convert all the people of the Earth... Jesus also spoke of tolerance and patience and it is for this reason that I think that neither Jesus nor 1st century Christians would be in support of state enforced religion... it is our job as Christians to present the Gospel to non-Christians; if the Gospel is presented with the proper faith, conviction and, above all, PATIENCE then the Holy Spirit will do the rest... for those who believe, the Gospel is the greatest story ever told... even if you do not believe, you must admit, the story of a creature so powerful and infinite as God, giving his life for the sake of you and me is pretty powerful...
Personally, as difficult a job as being President is, I don't see how anyone could do it without having faith in some higher power, or without some moral code to guide them (not that all atheists lack moral character)... but that's just me...

FYI Karl K: you are half correct... there is significant evidence, though, that the Gospels were written within a lifetime of Jesus' death... In fact the earliest Gospel, Mark, is generally thought to have been written as few as 60 years after Christ's death ("conservative estimates" claim about 50 years but consensus is about 60) which, in the Anceint world, is a very short period of time (many accounts of famous individuals in the ancient world that are accepted today as being truthful were written up to 100 or even 200 years after the person's death, Alex the Great is a good example)... the four Gospels as we know them today were not officially CANNONIZED until the 5th century but they certainly existed in the 1st century... you are also probably correct in saying that there were few 1st century Christians only because they would have not, at that time, called themselves Christains, most of them would have still considered themselve Jewish... however, accourding to the Acts of the Apostles and the Letters of Paul, the new faith sprend beyond the Jewish world very quickly and it is likely that, by the end of the first century, a majority of the followers of Christ were not originally Jews...

Answer 4

Religion and politics have been intertwined for centuries. Good or bad, its always been part of politics. Since the 1970's religion has been under attack in the USA for many reasons. Some criticism is deserved and some is not.

Could this be the reason why we have some of the problems we do in today's society? Morals and beliefs are what hold a group of people together. Has our society become so immoral that we can't even accept the fact that killing unborn babies is wrong and unnatural? We know what causes this problem, but all of the education in schools has been ineffective. We are even providing birth control.

I agree that some levels of religion & politics is wrong, but to totally abolish is from politics is goofy and has led to the lack of morality in today's society.

Answer 5

I am a Christian, however I would not wish to impose my views on others by voting for a leader just because of his religious value.

First century Christians would probably not appreciate this point of view since at the time it was customary that the state dictates the religion. As was the case in Rome before and after the Romans converted to Christianity.

Answer 6

The Founding Fathers of America had sense enough to acknowledge their Creator and placed their faith in His hands, Promising to uphold the constitution according to Godly knowledge...We are to obey the Law of the Land when It does Not Conflict with God's word...Romans 13 and was applicable then under threat of death.

They were wise to allow all people to practice or not practice religion and freely exercize it.....They put their faith into action and forged a nation, that was Democratic and free of Tyrannts or a State Mandated Church.

Just Read the Thanksgiving Proclamations of Washington and then Lincoln's 80 years later! Psalm 9:17 to America...

Answer 7

Politics and Christianity were not separate to Christians in the early church because many Christians were being persecuted, beaten and killed because of their beliefs. That is not happening in America.

The Religious Right movement is part of what I see as an epidemic of "spiritual obesity" in this country. The idea is that as Christians, we shouldn't have any troubles...the "non-believers" ought to be the ones with the troubles, since "the nation was founded on OUR beliefs!"

Arguments can be made until the end of time about the beliefs of the founding fathers. Many now believe they were general "deists" rather than strong Christians. Even if they were strong Christians, though, that makes no difference. The Bible says that there is no one righteous in God's eyes (Rom 3:10). The Son's blood does not cover an entire nation--each individual must make the decision to accept Christ or not.

The argument over prayer in schools is a moot point. If there are believers in schools, there ought to be prayer in schools, regardless of the laws. What I mean is, if there's no prayer in schools, that means believers aren't praying privately. You don't have to have "public prayers" in order to lift up a prayer to the Lord. And to me, the idea that "public prayers" are necessary is lazy.

Believers can stop for a moment and pray privately, and won't be bothered. If they are bothered or harrassed, then that's a violation of personal rights. But there's so much concern about not violating the beliefs of others, that I don't see that as a problem.

Bob...Christianity has been under attack since its existence. Any other viewpoint is naiive. The Word of God says the world will hate us because of who we follow. And it's talking about Christians specifically, not Americans. Christians across the globe are persecuted and are dying everyday--that's true hatred of Christianity.

Society is immoral now? It's **always** been immoral! Just in different forms! Thankfully we don't have wild-west style shootouts now as we did in the 1800's, but wasn't that immoral?

What about that evil under the table when the Constitution was created....slavery? Wasn't that an evil of society?

Politics is a worldly institution...bringing Christianity into it is like putting lipstick on a pig. The Pharisees of Jesus day thought they finally "got it," that they could construct the law so that they could be seen as "pleasing" to God, that their nation was "good enough" for God. That's why Jesus came right at that time, to prove that it's not about being good enough collectively or individually...the OT law showed that we failed miserably to measure up to God's standards, and Jesus righteousness became our righteousness as we accept Him as Savior.

We should always carry our beliefs into our daily work, and into every facet of our lives. But Jesus warned in Matthew 6:5, Don't pray to be seen by men, in other words, don't advertise how "Christian" you are, but just live it out in your daily life.

Answer 8

there were virtually no Christians in the first century. the particulars of that religion would not be ironed out quite a while after Christs death. the gospels werent even written until about a hundred years had passed and the concept of voting would be quite foreign to them.
christ told his followers that the political leaders of his day were put there by god and should be obeyed and none of them were christians.
you should never vote for a bad candidate just because they are your race, sex or religion. i am sure christ would agree.

Answer 9

Religion and politics have -always- been intertwined. In ancient times, all the way up through the 18th century, kings have had a religious leader to appear with them on the balcony and assure people that the king was chosen by God and ruled by God's will, and to oppose the king was to oppose God.

Christianity was originally a movement -against- this. Jesus railed against the hypocrisy of the leaders of his religion, their conflation of a political message with their religious one, their selling out to secular power.

But when Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire, it got corrupted and began supporting secular power just as the Jewish leaders had in Jesus' day.

The cooperation of modern American Christians with the GOP is a textbook 'faustian bargain'--a deal with the Devil. If Christians were paying attention they'd realize that the real agenda of the GOP has nothing to do with 'values'. Corrupt Christian leaders, as the corrupt Pharisees in Jesus' day, conflate a message of 'conservative' politics with their message of Christian values, for their own self-aggrandizement, their own wealth and power.

And I think Christians are just beginning to realize this. At least I hope so. Jesus himself said you can't serve two masters. The real agenda of the GOP is Mammon-worship.

I have no problem with a president who is a Christian or espouses real Christian values. But that's a far cry from what we have now, presidents and candidates who use Christian rhetoric for very non-Christian ideas--to justify crime, war, torture, illegal imprisonment, etc. Who talk the talk but clearly don't walk the walk in their personal lives. And corrupt religious leaders who teach their flocks that it's their Chrisitian duty to vote for one particular party.

Answer 10

First century Christians did not have the luxury of being citizens of a nation which accorded them Constitutional free speech and freedom of religion.

Certainly, Roman citizens saw some rights as Roman citizens, but Christians were hunted as enemies of the state.

We do not get our right to be politically involved from the Bible, we get it from the US Constitution.