Dialogue With The World May 1, 2017 Issue

Rendering to Caesar, rendering to God

from the Office of Committee on Publication

The founder of Christianity was executed by soldiers under the authority of a government official serving imperial Rome. Over the centuries since then, the relations between Christians and the governments under which they live have veered drastically back and forth.

The early Christians were often persecuted. Within a few centuries, church and state were unified—and churches themselves sometimes persecuted those perceived as opponents. The establishment of basic religious freedoms has taken many more centuries, and has brought incalculable blessings where these freedoms have taken root. The broader relations between religion and society are still being sorted out, often with great controversy, even in this twenty-first century.

Christ Jesus gave his followers a simple rule for navigating their relation with the state. Challenged by questioners to choose between obedience to the Roman law and obedience to God, he responded: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (see Mark 12:13–17). This rule has guided Christian Scientists since the early years of our movement. The church’s founder, Mary Baker Eddy, cites it six times in her published writings. When Christian Scientists have at times faced legal challenges or even suppression of their religious practice, Jesus’ counsel has been a source of strength and spiritual wisdom, moderating willful human reaction and reminding them of their basic purpose of healing in all their relations both with each other and with the larger world. Smiting an ear was not the Christian response Jesus taught, but healing it was (see Luke 22:47–51).

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