§ 13. NEW POSITION OF THE CHUECH IN THE EMPIRE. 93
o Christianity, but must at least allow it a legal existence and -Tee play ; and if she would attain a higher development and better answer her moral ends than she could in union with
dolatry, she must surrender herself to its influence. The Kingdom of the Father, to which the state belongs, is not essentially incompatible with the church, the kingdom of the Son ; rather does " the Father draw to the Son," and the Son leads back to the Father, till God become " all in all." Henceforth should kings again be nursing fathers, and queens nursing mothers to. the church,' and the prophecy begin to be fulfilled : " The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever." ' The American separation of ctiurch and state, even if regarded as the best settlement of the true relation of the two, is not in the least inconsistent with this view. It is not a return to the pre-Constantinian basis, with its spirit of persecution, but rests upon the mutual reverential recognition and support of the two powers, and must be regarded as the continued re suit of that mighty revolution of the fourth century.
But the elevation of Christianity as the religion of the state presents also an opposite aspect to our contemplation. It in volved great risk of degeneracy to the church. The Roman state, with its laws, institutions, and usages, was still deeply rooted in heathenism, and could not be transformed by a magical stroke. The christianizing of the state amounted therefore in great measure to a paganizing and secularizing of the church. The world overcame the church, as much as the church overcame the world, and the temporal gain of Christianity was in many respects cancelled by spiritual loss. The mass of the Koman empire was baptized only with water, not with the Spirit and fire of the gospel, and it smuggled heathen manners and practices into the sanctuary under a new name. The very combination oi the cross with the military ensign by Constantine was a most doubtful omen, portending an unhappy mixture of the temporal and the spiritual powers, the
' Ifl. xlii. 23. » Bev. xi. 16.
94 TUIB7_ PEEIOD. A.D 311-590.
kingdom whicli is of the earth, and tliat wliich is from heaven The settlement of the boundary between the two povrers, which, with all their unity, remain as essentially distinct as body and soul, law and gospel, was itself a prolific source of errors and vehement strifes about jurisdiction, which stretch through all the middle age, and still repeat themselves in these latest times, save where the amicable American separation has thus far forestalled collision.
Amidst all the bad consequences of the union of church and state, however, we must not forget that the deeper spirit of the gospel has ever reacted against the evils and abuses of it, whether under an imperial pope or a papal emperor, and has preserved its divine power for the salvation of men under every form of constitution. Though standing and working in the world, and in many ways linked with it, yet is Chi-istianity not of the world, but stands above it.
Nor must we think the degeneracy of the church began with her union with the state.' Corruption and apostasy can-
' This view is now very prevalent in America. It was not formerly so. Jonathan Edwards, in his " History of Redemption," a practical and edifying survey of church history as an unfolding of the plan of redemption, even saw in the accession of Constantine u type of the future appearing of Christ in the clouds for the redemption of his people, and attributed to it the most benelicont results ; to wit : "(1) The Christian church was thereby wholly delivered from iicrsecution. . . . (2) God now appeared to execute terrible judgments on their enemies. . . . (3) Heathenism now was in a great measure abolished throughout the Roman empire. . . . (4) The Christian church was brought into a state of great peace and prosperity." . . . "This revolution," he further says, p. 312, "was the greatest that had occurred Bince the flood. Satan, the prince of darkness, that king and god of the heathen world, was cast out. The roaring lion was conquered by the Lamb of God in the strongest dominion he ever had. This was a remarkable accomplishment of Jcrem. x. 11 : ' The gods that have not made the heaven and tlie earth, even they shall perish from the earth and from the heavens ' " This work, still much reail in America and England, wiis written, to be sure, long befoie the separation of church and state iu New England, viz., in 1Y39 (first printed in P>linburgh in 1774, twenty-six year-s after the author's death). But the great difference of the judgment of this renowned Puritan divine from the prevailing American opinion of the present day is an interesting proof that o^' view of history is very much determined by the ecclesiastical circumstances in which we live, and at the same time that the whole question of ihurch and state is not at all essential in Christian theology and ethics. In America all confessions, even the Roman Catholics, are siUisfied with the separation, while in Europe with few exceptions it is the reverse.