Some definitions & foundations

Introduction

On many of occasions over the last years of ministry, I have been pressed on the doctrine of church & state, both from inside the church and outside the church. This is one of the pressing issues of the day. It demands a reasonable answer. From within the church and for those outside of the church.

A Definition

I will begin with a definition of the doctrine of the separation of church and state.

I’ve never seen a reason to reject the doctrine of the separation of church & state. In my youth, my parents grounded it in a Biblical worldview, and I have seen no reason to reject that worldview, either by rejecting the terminology or by joining in on those who use it to malign the church and the duty of the officers of the church in society. It also makes sense within a Kuyperian framework of sphere sovereignty.

I use it simply to distinguish between the institutions of church & state, differentiating between the offices of pastor and magistrate. The pastor and the magistrate have differing tasks and responsibilities and glories. The pastor is given the ministry of the Word and sacrament. The magistrate is given the ministry of justice. The pastor is given the preaching of the gospel, a spiritual sword. The magistrate is given the physical sword to punish evil and reward good.

What many in the culture have turned this into is the doctrine of the division of church and state. People don’t know how to make distinctions anymore, whether from ignorance or malice. To make a hard and fast division of church & state, is to remove the prophetic role from the pastor. And many people are invested in censoring pastors, for many reasons.

I’m sure I could have a few good intramural debates with other pastors, fleshing out the details. Fundamentally, the doctrine of church & state is a good concept.

Some History

Let’s take a moment to look a bit at the history.

The funny thing is, as much as Canadians hate America and love the doctrine of the separation of Church & State, the more formalized doctrine finds its roots in America, a very historically Christian nation. In 1802, Thomas Jefferson talked about the “wall of separation between Church & State.” In 1644, Roger Williams, a Baptist minister and founder of Rhode Island, called for a wall or hedge of separation between church and state. It’s funny that a baptist pastor was the one found calling for this, and also speaks of some of the segregationist, or separationist roots to this doctrine.

Kuyper’s doctrine of sphere sovereignty would have been a specific application of this concept of church and state. Kuyper received some pushback from the ministers of his age, such as Hoedemaker. Hoedemaker believed that the state always defends what it deems to be true religion. If it does not defend Christianity, it will defend something else. As we see in Canada in 2026, it defends secularism through the means of Bill C-4 and Bill C-9. Part of Hoedemaker’s case was that Kuyper started to promote some form of secularism in the Netherlands, through his exposition of sphere sovereignty.

Everyone is Religious

Everyone is religious. We could speak of the imago Dei or “image of God” implanted on the hearts of every man, woman and child. We could speak of the sensus divinitatis or “sense of the divine”. This plays out in consciences, in the realm of natural law. Everything has been deeply and thoroughly affected by sin, but man by nature is homo adorans or “worshipping man.” You will worship something.

The same is true of the state. The magistrate will worship God or himself or a false god. He will have a god, he will promote a religion. Yes, secularism is a religion. With its own dogma, its own high priests.

Prime Minister Mark Carney is a baptized Roman Catholic and professes to be a Roman Catholic. When he unties his office as Prime Minister from his Roman Catholic dogma, it is not that he is ruling without religion, he is just ruling by another religion.

Now, we should distinguish between religion and the church. Religion is in the heart of man. Nevertheless, the church is the framework within which Christians either express true religion, or turn to false religion during times of unbelief and revolution. Every man, woman or child is religious.

The Connection between Church and State

While we make distinctions between church and state, in its government and its organization and its rule, nevertheless we don’t deny connections between the two institutions. This is fundamentally in the sphere of homo adorans or “worshipping man.” Everyone will worship someone or something and even the state is called to bow down at the feet of Christ and worship Him as King of kings and Lord of lords.

Having been given the sword to administer God’s justice (Romans 13:1-7), the magistrate also has the authority and duty to execute God’s justice in the church. If a pastor has committed a crime, the state has every authority to deal with that crime, just as the church has a duty to depose such a pastor.

Having been given the Word of God to administer the Word & sacrament, the church has the authority and duty to speak the whole counsel and will of God to the civil magistrate. If the magistrate is in rebellion against God and is a member of the church and unrepentant, then the church has a duty to excommunicate.

There is then never a hard and fast division between church and state, no matter how much the Left hoots and hollers and turns red in the face. This is because Jesus is Lord. His truth stands over all, whether church or state.

A Few Final Words on the Church

The Church is the Temple of God through which blessing flows to the earth. It is the City of God which comes out of heaven and descends among the kingdoms of men.

Christian worship is a meeting between heaven and earth, bringing the nations of the earth before the throne of God, through the reconciling work of Jesus Christ in His death and resurrection.

The pastors of the church are ambassadors of the kingdom of heaven, bringing the claims of King Jesus to the kingdoms of men.

This is a divine and holy calling that has been much neglected in our age, either through widespread compromise or through widespread retreat. The causes may be rebellion or ignorance or laziness.

Whatever the reasons or causes, we must restore the church again to its former calling and glory that we see through the Book of Acts. It must be a church that functions in obedience to Jesus Christ. It’s pastors must be obedient to Jesus Christ. It must seek to be truthful and fruitful again in the midst of the nations.

The truth that Jesus died & rose again, that He is ascended and reigning in heaven and that He will come again to judge the living and the dead, means that we must be bold in our witness and faithful in our service. The truth of Scripture really is the hope of the nations. Jesus Himself, the incarnate Word, is hope for the nations.

Jesus is Lord. Over both church & state.