Ukrainian Orthodoxy		Orthodoxie ukrainienne

Separation of Church and State

Question:

I was browsing through a Baptist book regarding their faith, and I noticed that one of the issues that the Baptists are proud of is the fact that they have always been for the separation of Church and State.  One benefit of this position is that the State is kept out of the affairs of the Church, thus removing a corrupting force within the Church.  What is the position of the Orthodox Church regarding this issue of separation.  There are obviously negative implications when the State moves further and further away from a position of faith, but is this necessarily so when the two entities are fully separated from each other?

Response:

Fr. Ihor Kutash - о. Ігор Куташ kutash@unicorne.org

In this matter it seems that the Orthodox are governed by two important values - which are symbolically expressed in the way we place our fingers in making the Sign of the Cross.

The first is Trinitarian - unity in diversity. Both Church and State ought to be clearly distinct from each other. The government ought not to be dictating to the Church. Some of the greatest troubles in the Church in the past - even, or especially, divisions in doctrinal matters - have been brought about by powerful men of the state seeking to impose their wishes and/or convictions upon people of the Church. Neither ought Church leaders seek to bend secular leaders to their will - or curry favor with them by special attentiveness that is not equally shown to the least powerful, the "anawim" (Hebrew word meaning "the poor who seek the Lord for deliverence").

The second is Incarnational. Our Lord Jesus Christ is true God and also true Man. In Him and by and through Him God has decidedly involved HImself in the life of the earth - material as well as spiritual. He has removed the dichotomy between the "profane" and the sacred. He has given His people "marching orders" - as for example in the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount - to be His hands and feet, His ears and His mouth, His very presence, everywhere in this world which He created, which He loves and which He has redeemed and sanctified. God's people must be active in matters of civic life. They must hear and seek to be heard. They must do their very best - even to the point of sacrificing their liberty and life - to embody the Lord's message in the world. This means that Church and State cannot ultimately be two separate, mutually exclusive domains of activity.

No one except the Lord Himself has an undisputedly clear vision of exactly how, when and by whom the increase of God's Kingdom must and shall come. Our civic activity must be humble as well as persistent. We must ever bear in mind that God coerces no one - not even the devil - and neither must we, although God has indeed given the State the responsibility of (justly!) administering the consequences of evil actions.

[ Home ] [ Articles ] [ Prayer ] [ Saints ] [ Theophilus ] [ Q & A ] [About Us] [ ]

Ukrainian Orthodoxy - Українське Православ'я