Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 9
The speaker uses the Nazi belt (“God with us”) and Luther’s anti-Jewish writings to warn what church-state merging can become, and he says Constantine’s merger eventually made faith “an expression of politics.” What parallels do you see today in evangelicalism (or Anabaptist circles, as discussed afterward), and what safeguards would early Christians likely insist on to prevent the church from becoming a tool of the state?
Another way to ask: What ways do you see the church and politics getting mixed together today? What rules or protections do you think early Christians would demand so the church doesn’t become a tool of the government?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
The transcript draws a parallel between historical church-state fusion and today’s temptation to make national politics a Christian identity marker, even among Anabaptists. The implied safeguards are a clear two-kingdom mindset, refusing violence, and keeping church leadership and mission focused on Christ’s commands rather than “worldly policy.”
- He shows “God with us” on a Nazi belt and notes the Nazis were “voted in by Mennonites and evangelicals,” warning what “merge church and state” can become.
- He quotes Luther’s violent counsel toward Jews and says influence “poured down into Hitler’s life… Hitler seemed to do what Luther preached.”
- He says Constantine’s merger began with some “good things,” but later “their faith became a part of their politics, and the church almost dissolved to nothing.”
- He cites the modern critique: evangelicals “tightly interwoven… with the Republican Party,” making faith “an expression of their politics,” and he says he sees it “everywhere.”
- In discussion one brother says he is “grieved” at the mixture’s influence “even on our Anabaptist people… Jesus would want to call us back… serve a different master.”