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).
The two letters on the following pages illustrate the underlying values that members of the denomination seek to bring to their relations with that larger world. The first, written last year, concerns issues surrounding a controversial health-care law in the United States. The second, prompted by a recent incident of vandalism, recalls an earlier period when Christian Scientists in Germany were among many people of faith and goodwill who faced persecution and prejudice that was much more extreme.
Both letters reflect the spirit expressed in Mary Baker Eddy’s many statements on divine government and human law. “Mankind will be God-governed,” she wrote with strong conviction, “in proportion as God’s government becomes apparent, the Golden Rule utilized, and the rights of man and the liberty of conscience held sacred.” And more tenderly: “Individuals, as nations, unite harmoniously on the basis of justice, and this is accomplished when self is lost in Love—or God’s own plan of salvation. ‘To do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly’ is the standard of Christian Science” (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, pp. 222, 283).
Letter to a law school professor
Dear Professor _________:
Justice [Stephen] Breyer’s reference to Christian Science in the recent oral arguments [in the Supreme Court of the United States] reminded me that I’ve been meaning to write to you about the amicus brief submitted in the case by the Law School’s Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation.
I read it with much interest. The brief mentions Christian Scientists as among those who might be inclined to limit the health-care choices that employees or others of differing faiths might want to make. It’s a common assumption, but not one that reflects the values we try to live.
Without seeking to sort out the complex issues raised by the Affordable Care Act, it might be helpful just to note that Christian Scientists respect the rights of people of all beliefs and faiths in regard to decisions on care. Employers who are Christian Scientists would naturally share this respect for the rights of their employees. The denomination itself employs non-church members in a number of positions at its headquarters in Boston—some report for The Christian Science Monitor, for example—and the church has long provided medical insurance benefits to them. This is seen as a matter of basic Golden Rule ethics. It would be contrary to [our] ethics to impose [our] own religious convictions on others.
It’s true enough that Christian Scientists don’t typically rely on conventional medical care. This isn’t a fundamentalist thing. In most cases, at least, it’s a conscientious choice and part of a broader way of life that’s deeply meaningful to us even in this age of high tech. In many families (including my own), that way of life goes back for close to a century. Plenty of us have relatives or friends in the medical profession, and we certainly respect the love and compassion they express.
It’s also true that Christian Scientists have sought exemptions in certain laws that we feel may unduly restrict our own right to make responsible religious choices. Even in this regard, though, we recognize that rights and responsibilities go together. Obviously the word responsible can mean different things to different people. Working out these differences with mutual respect and genuine understanding on both sides isn’t easy.… But avoidance of stereotypes and a measure of goodwill on both sides can still go a long way. I hope the kind of two-way dialogue cited by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health back in 1974 is still possible in today’s environment:
“The Church of Christ, Scientist, was founded and has its headquarters in Boston. Although Massachusetts has not always led in accommodating the beliefs of minorities, it has respected philosophic and jurisdictional limits through regulation by state and local health departments. In part, this mutual tolerance owes much to the original teaching of Mrs. Eddy. In modern practice, the Church has also drawn a careful distinction between what the individual may be forced to do against his own beliefs and what society may reasonably expect him to do for the general good….” (“Christian Science and Community Medicine,” Massachusetts Department of Public Health, The New England Journal of Medicine, 2/14/1974, 401–2.)
In the same spirit, if it should ever be helpful to have a Christian Scientist’s perspective on other issues that might come up at the interface of health policy and religious practice, please feel free to be in touch.
Sincerely,
Rich Evans
Manager of Committees on Publication
A comment sent to the Las Vegas Review Journal
(later posted on the independent website medium.com)
It was sobering for our church members to find a swastika painted on one of our church windows downtown last week (“Las Vegas police investigate … graffiti …”). A subsequent Las Vegas Review-Journal article reported another similar act at a local school. The Christian Science branch church filed a report with local officials, and members continue to include the whole community in prayer.
Hate is never justified or right. The symbols of hate have no power in or on hearts alive with God’s love. This is our deep conviction both as Christians and Christian Scientists.
The incidents have brought to mind our denomination’s earlier history during the Nazi period. In Germany and the lands it occupied during the Second World War, our churches were forced by the Nazi government to close, and the practice of our religious faith was banned. Some of our church members were arrested. Some lost their lives. Many Christian Scientists from the US fought in the war, and our churches here sent thousands of packages of clothing and food to victims and refugees both during and after the conflict.
In late 1945, our church headquarters in Boston received a letter from the leaders of the Jewish community in Rotterdam, United Synagogues of the Netherlands, which had received some of these packages through the Red Cross. Their letter read in part: “Years of the deepest sorrow are behind us. Terror and persecution were our daily companions. Our community … sank from twelve thousand to seven hundred souls. In those years of persecution our ideals have sustained us and given us the strength to keep on and lead secretly the remainder of our community. The knowledge that man is created after the image and likeness of God kept alive in us the divine light, the very same divine light that united you with us by your brotherly actions.”
Christian Scientists are very diverse in our political views, but we continue to stand with Jews, Muslims, our fellow Christians, all people of faith—and yes, our secular brothers and sisters as well—in this “very same divine light” that shines in us all.
Steep Weiss
Christian Science Committee on Publication for Nevada
