I strongly feel that a unique heresy of the American church is it’s adoption of politics in the church. In my observation, this really ramped up after Jerry Falwell used the church to help elect Ronald Reagan.

To divide the church along liberal vs conservative lines is simply un-biblical.  Instead, it’s an incorporation of American politics in our churches—which is a clear heresy.

I’m a liberal Christian but I would never ever suggest that conservative Christians are somehow less Christian than me. This would be a heretical dividing of the church and break more than a couple of direct commands of Jesus and Paul.

Unfortunately, far too many conservatives Christians consider us liberal Christians as either bad Christians or unsaved altogether. (I’m sure the reverse happens, but I hear it far less) This is a heresy, IMHO.

But earlier Jefferson wrote, and the Continental Congress adopted, that people are “endued by the laws of nature and of nature’s God with certain unalienable rights...” So natural law (Jehovah’s law) precedes the Constitution.  Peter and John got it right when they rhetorically asked the authorities: “...whether we are to obey God or you?”

So the Constitution is not my go-to authority in matters of Christian behavior, much less Mr. Jefferson’s private letters.

Dr. Land is there a Southern Baptist exegesis of political philosophy?  Since Jesus said “all authority in heaven and on earth is given unto me” it would seem important to get God’s truth on the matter.  I also would expect this exegesis to address other’s such as Greg Bahnsen’s Theonomy in Christian Ethics.

I’m not sure what you would require of a “Southern Baptist exegesis of political philosophy”, but you may be aware that the most widely-accepted statement of faith among Southern Baptists is the The Baptist Faith and Message.  The two sections which may specifically apply to your question are The Christian and the Social Order and Religious Liberty (available at SBC.net).

I would certainly encourage anyone interested in this subject to read it for themselves, but for the sake of this thread, I’ll highlight a brief portion of the statement on Religious Liberty that looks to apply to this particular conversation:

Civil government being ordained of God, it is the duty of Christians to render loyal obedience thereto in all things not contrary to the revealed will of God. The church should not resort to the civil power to carry on its work. The gospel of Christ contemplates spiritual means alone for the pursuit of its ends. The state has no right to impose penalties for religious opinions of any kind. (Emphasis mine)

Additionally, I’d encourage you to take advantage of the weekly (and public) opportunity to speak with Dr. Land directly during his 3 hour live radio broadcast, every Saturday from 12 noon to 3 pm Eastern (11 am Central). The toll-free number is 1-888-324-8456 (1-888-FAITH-56). In the event you converse with him about this topic on-air, I’ll post either the transcript of that conversation or an audio link here in this thread. If the program does not air in your area, online listening is available here.

Thank you for taking the time to participate in our discussion threads at ERLC.com.

Carry on,

Matt Hawkins (ERLC Staff)

The problem I have with the bold text from the BF&M;is that there is an implicit assumption that civil power is not spiritual.  This goes against the Scripture of Romans 13 which says the civil servant is God’s servant to punish the evil doer.  The civil servant certainly must know the difference between good and evil in the civil sense.  Hebrews chapter 5 says distinguishing good from evil is for the spiritually mature.  The whole function of civil power is spiritual.  This is what Bahnsen’s Theonomy goes into.  So, what book, reference, or ? do Southern Baptist’s have?