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Schaff, Philip. (2014). "Chapter III.Alliance of Church and State and Its Influence on Public Morals and Religion." In History of the Christian Church. (The Complete Eight Volumes in One). Volume 3, Nicene and Post-Nicene Christianity A.D. 311-600, from Constantine the Great to Gregory the Great. (pp. 1856-1908). (Original work published 1889). Amazon Kindle Edition. (Personal Library).
§13. The New Position of the Church in the Empire. (pp. 1857-1861).
Schaff notes that since the move of the Roman Empire toward Christianity there have been models of church and state in which the churchly power guided the temporal government, the two were merged, or, particularly in the United States, the two are self-consciously kept separate. All these models would have been unimagined by the early Christian martyrs (Schaff 2014, p. 1857). Schaff observes that the Roman pagans had always assumed politics were unified with religion, so the change in the Roman view was not completely unfamiliar to them. Schaff further describes the rise of Christianity to dominance as being as unavoidable as the resurrection of Christ (Schaff 2014, p. 1858). He sees neither a necessity for union of church and state nor a problem with it, since the government, as part of the world, is influenced by forces which shape the world. If the influence is positive, as Christianity is, it only makes sense for the state to receive that influence (Schaff 2014, p. 1859).
Schaff describes separation of church and state, as seen in America, as a "mutual reverential recognition and support of the two powers" (Schaff 2014, p. 1859). This would also be a valid development from the situation found in the fourth century.
Elevation of Christianity as a state religion does involve risks. Schaff observes that when this occurred in Rome, there was a significant effect of "paganizing and secularizing of the church" (Schaff 2014, p. 1859). Schaff describes the developments in terms of a set of civic forms, rather than a conversion to a living faith (Schaff 2014, p. 1860).
Schaff continues to maintain the supreme power of the Church as opposed to our earthly conceptions of power. He further observes that corruption and degeneracy did not wait for the time of Constantine to arrive. They have been present throughout the history of Christianity (Schaff 2014, p. 1860). He will continue his analysis of this dynamic in future sections of the chapter.