Let us be clear: We are not implying that our faith doesn't have a great deal to say about all of our this-worldly affairs, politics included. Of course it does -- which is why we consult the Scriptures and the fathers in the faith on these matters. But what do we find in these sources? Often that we have previously failed to note the distinct means and ends of the various spheres that God has instituted. Indeed, both the Church and the state are God's. But they have different purposes (salvation of sinners versus the restraint of the harm caused by sin), different constituencies (all the redeemed across time and space versus all the created within certain geographic borders), different authorities (special revelation versus reason/natural revelation), and different means (the supernatural tools of preaching and the Sacraments versus the natural means of the sword and the purse-strings).
Both Church and state are God's wonderful gifts, and they are spheres in which Christians can faithfully labor to the glory of God and for the good of our neighbors. But we dare not identify the two, limiting the Church to natural tools, or suggesting that political activity can produce genuine righteousness. For we are "dual citizens" and will remain so until Jesus comes to put an end to our pilgrimage, and to identify all our loves as one. --ben sasse
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