Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2005
Publication Information
5 (11) Journal of Lutheran Ethics (Nov. 2005)
Abstract
“Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s” is as much a challenge as a command. It is a cryptic call to Christians to consider more thoughtfully what we owe to the state—and as importantly, what we do not—rather than, as we might want to pretend, a clear signal of the boundary between the governances of God’s left and right hands.
Modern Americans in mainstream Christian churches often forget, because we do not feel the heavy hand of the state upon our congregations, our worship, and our activities, that this Biblical challenge is effectively issued to us every day. The recent controversy involving the warning of the Internal Revenue Service to All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena that it could lose its tax-exempt status for political commentary on an upcoming election is a reminder that Christians always need to consider our obligations to our communities as well as to our congregations.
Repository Citation
Failinger, Marie, ""Render unto Caesar"" (2005). Faculty Scholarship. 609.
https://open.mitchellhamline.edu/facsch/609