Separation of Church and State

notwithstanding this shortcoming, Ambrose served as the bishop of Milan for several(prenominal) twenty-three years, an adherent of the Nicene creed, and was highly influential in that capacity. He had dealings with a succession of Emperors, beginning with Valentinian I, and final with Theodosius I (who was the last Emperor over both the double-u and the East).

Two of Ambrose's most troubling episodes in the emerging judicial separation of church and secern involved Valentinian II, or, more pointedly, his mother, Justina (an Arian Christian), and Theodosius. The first is set forth in two of Ambrose's letters which will be examined, unmatchable to Valentinian in February 386, and a nonher to his own sister, Marcellina, at Easter in the same year. The second is addressed in a letter to Theodosius in 390, following the slaughter of about 7,000 individuals at Thessalonica (Todd, 1977, p. 142).

Valentinian II was only about four years old when he became co-Emperor (with his brother Gratian) in 375. It is quite likely that his mother, Justina, exerted much warp over him, and perhaps provided much, if not most, of the impetus behind the actions of the unripened ruler. His father, who reigned from 364 until his death, was particularly tolerant of Christianity, and "made a practice of not interfering with the bishops in matters of faith" (Beyenka, 1954, p. 53 (note 1)).

Apparently, the fifteen year-old Valentinian had been encourage

The letters of Ambrose, and others like him, help to guidance the concept of the separation of church and state. What was clear 1600 years agone was that the church believed the state had a right to conduct its origin and manipulate its citizens as it saw fit, so long as it did not attempt to regulate or conduct the duty of the church. The church, on the other hand, has often tried to exercise just a bit more control over the government.

Despite these events, the entanglement of governments and religions endures to this day. In some cases, there is tacit treaty that the state will not interfere with the church so long as the church does not incite confusion against the government, as was the case in the former Soviet alliance under communist rule.

In others, such as in the United States of late, some religious groups seem to be attempting to visit their tenets upon the masses through legislation designed to appear benign, moreover which may actually disturb the separation of church and state which the founders believed necessary for each to function independently of one another.

Todd, R. A. (1977). Constantine and the Christian Empire. In T. Dowley (Ed.). Eerdmans' Handbook to the History of Christianity (pp. 130-143). Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

Ambrose thence goes on to recount several incidents recorded in the Hebraic Scriptures, involving King David, Job, and King Saul, asking the Theodosius, "Are you ashamed, O Emperor, to do what King David the Prophet did, the forefather of the family of Christ, according to the flesh?" He illustrates for the Emperor that while in David's time the expiation for ungodliness involved physical sacrifice, "now they are sacrifices of penance," and in the linguistic communication of Job, "I have not hid my sin, but declared it onwards al the people" (Beyenka, 1954, p. 23). Acknowledging that although Theodosius most certainly is "zealous for the faith," Ambrose lets him know, in no uncertain terms, his sin is so great th
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