Part two of The Separation of Church and State

The open air and circuit riding preachers following in the tradition of Whitfield and Wesley were new lights. This was not the only difference. The new lights also were a work in progress much like the colonial governments of that time. The intersection of church and government was a conflict that created a diversity of church experiences. These differences spurred the creation of many Protestant denominations. The conflicts were based upon Calvinism versus Arminianism, the place of the sacraments in the Christian Faith, and the individual revelation of believers versus the theologically schooled ministers who had gained degrees. Jonathan Edwards was also a new light that led a revival at Princeton University as a student. But, he also preached in church pulpits, and was removed from a Presbyterian Old Light church. At the end of his life he became president of Princeton University. He was one of the few crossover preachers who went from open air to pulpit reformer. The desire for religious diversity is a contributing factor to the colonies rejecting the judgement of Henry the Eighth's establishment of the Anglican Church in England and its colonies.

Within these divisions into camps there were also varying views about government. For the sacramental camp the idea of a monarchy worked well. For the predestination crowd a representative form of government parodied Presbyterian Presbyteries. The congregationalist who believed that every congregation should create its own polity was more akin to a populous direct democracy. The inner light camp believed that governments and church government should remain separate. They separated themselves and judged the governments of this world as evil. In US church history, the Presbyterians prevailed as did a republican form of government. In more recent years, and after the Third Great Awakening the congregational form of government has become more prevalent among protestant churches.

There are two Supreme Court cases that validate the guidelines between church and state set forth at our country's founding. In Everson v. Board of Education, (1947) Hugo Black validated Jefferson's wording of a separation of church and state. In Zorach v. Clauson (1952) accommodationism, was upheld holding that the nation's "institutions presuppose a Supreme Being" and that government recognition of God does not constitute the establishment of a state church as the Constitution's authors intended to prohibit. Accommodationism is seen as providing an important moral foundation for societal order. Accommodationist are challenged regularly by establishment clause proponents. 

The friction between accommodationism and the establishment clause continues today. As the free exercise clause ( the personal right to exercise expression of your religious faith) is balanced against the government establishment of religion (The endorsement of a religion based upon government funding or promotion)  more conflict occurs that continues to change our religious experience. The question becomes; is God's message changing because of historical developments, or is God using change in church history to purify his message in an increasingly sinful world? My thesis is the latter. As we look at church history through US history we will consider how religion has influenced government, and how government has influenced religion.

The next BLOG post will look at the impact of the second great awakening. If the first great awakening balanced the reason of the enlightenment with the faith of the protestant reformation, then the second great awakening balanced religious experience with emotion and faith. My wife looked over this post and begged not to publish it yet. I am still in need in need of much research. I am currently reading Dietrich Bonhoeffer's,"No Rusty Swords". This introductory post is pretty complicated. Bear with me as I am writing my ideas as they come, in the hopes of writing something like Virgil did for the ancient Roman Empire. I can only hope that at the end of my life I will not be like Virgil and lament what I wrote.