Occasionally in comments on this blog the link between Christianity and the Constitution arise. Inevitably, Romans Chapter 13 is referenced to bolster the excuse of Christians to remain safely out of the political arena. It allows them to throw their hands up and avoid political confrontation within the church, but Chuck Baldwin has done a masterful job of defining the truth (h/t Woody Creek Farmer).
As Baldwin points out, due to our unique political institution, the Constitution is our divinely sanctioned “leader” or “ruler.” We have no other king than God and our rights are not given to us by the Constitution, but by God and secured by ourselves through resistance to corruption and usurpation.
The church hates this reality, because the church seeks to secure and protect the church through social and political acquiescence. It does not necessarily defend Christianity and certainly not the United States of America. Augustine (340-430) first advanced the idea that the Bible rather than the church is the ultimate religious authority, just as we might look at the Constitution rather than the Supreme Court as the ultimate legal authority.
