Episode 387: Church and State, Part One--Introduction

Should the government get to dictate what the correct belief in God is?  Should the church be able to punish people with jail time for incorrect theology or unorthodox biblical interpretation?  Are there good reasons why the Founders of the American experiment chose deliberately NOT to establish an official religion when the United States was formed?  These questions kick off a new series for this summer as pastors Erica, Sarah, and Steve look at the separation of church and state, and why at least these three Christian faith leaders think it's a good idea--precisely as Christians--that we do not have an "official religion" in the United States.  In this first episode we'll set the table for the rest of this series, looking at where the language of "separation of church and state" came from, and how the lessons of centuries of religiously-affiliated wars in Europe prior to the drafting of the US Constitution informed those leaders like Jefferson when they insisted on "a wall of separation" between church and state.  We'll also look at how important voices from church history in our various traditions lay the ground work for seeing the work of the church separated from the work of the government.  This will be an important and, we hope, a valuable series to listen to this summer--check it out here on Crazy Faith Talk!