Welcome to Breakpoint, a daily look at an ever-changing culture through the lens of unchanging truth.

For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street.

While all of this buzz over Christian nationalism, muddied as it is by the lack of a definition of what exactly that means and who's guilty of it,

it's an opportunity to reflect on the proper relationship of religion and government.

Despite all of the dire warnings we hear of an imminent and existential threat from Christian

theocrats, it's important to note that this kind of discussion, including a discussion about

the limits of religious influence on the state, well, that only happens in a culture widely shaped

by Christianity. In fact, many scholars of religion argue that the idea of religion itself

is a product of Christianity. And that's because, in most cultures throughout the history of the

world, religion simply cannot be separated from the rest of society. It's far too intertwined. Christianity,

however, is different. And that's because the church's first 300 years was as an illegal minority

religion, which established Christianity as a separate and independent entity from the rest of culture,

especially the state. This history was the origin of the idea that religion can, in fact,

be disentangled from the rest of culture. When Constantine legalized Christianity in the Roman

Empire, the question of how to negotiate the relationship between church and state emerged. That, of course,

was new territory for both sides. Overall, the clergy were thrilled to have a Christian emperor, but still, many had been tortured

for their faith under Constantine's predecessors.

The idea that they'd simply roll over and fully submit to this new, kinder emperor's authority,

while that greatly underestimated their grit, their courage, and their faithfulness.

And so the church, to various degrees, continued to maintain its independence.

For several centuries, the church and the state generally cooperated.

But around the 11th century, things began to get complicated.

...