什么是基督教社会的上千年历史的伟大的政教分离？（中英文版）

1.基督教二头蛇似的政教分离保证欧洲上千年的稳定发展！下面将要论述的是威廉姆斯事件，威廉姆斯被认为是宗教自由的创始人，正是他提出良心自由、宗教自由的概念，最后才使不同的基督教派在美国融洽地共存共荣。但是我这里提出与这个传统说法相反的观点，我认为宗教自由这个概念并不是威廉姆斯首创的，宗教自由在英格兰就已经广泛存在，克伦威尔护国时期，宗教自由已经相当普遍，各教派和谐共处，在承认上帝在良心中的绝对权力这个基础上，自由自在地信仰，毕竟不同的新教教派读的是同一本圣经，都是以路德、加尔文理论为基础，都奉行兄弟之爱，并没有激烈冲突的基础。它们之间冲突的性质与天主教与新教完全不同，路德一开始就提出了天主教是敌基督的思想，所以新教与天主教的矛盾势如水火、不可调和。而威廉姆斯提出的更多是完全政教分离的观念，也就是国家完全不得干涉宗教事务，教会也不得干涉国家事务，其实这就是清教徒不断分裂的原因与开始，可以说，正是威廉姆斯这种政教分离理论造成了如今美国教会一盘散沙的局面，从而使世俗政府不断蚕食教会的权利，使美国社会潜藏着进入警察国家的危险。为什么这么说，原因很长，只能听我慢慢道来，首先要理解威廉姆斯事件，威廉姆斯完全政教分离的理论，我们必须了解什么是真正的、原初的政教分离。

圣经确实字字分明地写着，“上帝的归上帝，凯撤的归凯撤。” 耶稣这么说的语境是在以色列背叛上帝亡国后，上帝以耶稣圣子的身份来到人间，在一片道德废墟中重建信仰。基督教在发展的初期，在非基督教国度中为了生存不得不忍气吞声，当时这样说只能说是不得已，因为耶稣从来没有想用刀剑来传教，或者表达了一种良好的愿望，但同时也有着极为深远的寓意。良好的愿望毕竟是良好的愿望，接下去的残酷现实也说明这只是个良好的愿望，非基督教国家从来没有政教分离的概念，罗马帝国代表异教对基督教几次残酷的迫害，也说明了这点。但是它的深远寓意是，政教分离因而成为基督教国家的基本概念，使基督教国家形成有别于非基督教国家的独特社会。当代政治学将人类历史上的国家分成三类，一类是纯世俗国家，如，东方世界的大多数国家，这里世俗皇帝的权力完全压制宗教，宗教完全为世俗政权服务，成为维护世俗王权稳定的工具。一种是伊斯兰社会的政教合一，这里宗教影响力远大于世俗政权，世俗政权完全沦为教会的工具，这二者都是非基督教国家。第三类也就是基督教国家，这里宗教与政治、教会与世俗国王是分离的，二者时常处于冲突状态，但是却能达到互相制约、互相促进，使社会协调、有序地发展。对这样的分类，我个人深以为然，很好地反映了人类社会的本质。中世纪随着基督教在欧洲的辉煌胜利，欧洲社会中的每一个人都是教会成员，每个国家也都是基督教国家，基督教影响着人们生活的一切，但是由于“凯撤的归凯撤，上帝的归上帝”，新的矛盾出现了。代表教会的教皇与代表世俗政权的国王之间，在教权与王权谁占主导地位上争论不休，伴随着教皇与国王的权力之争，政教分离也成为这些基督教国家经常讨论话题，这些都是其他社会不可能出现的现象。对于政教分离这个问题，几代人耗费了无数的心血深入讨论，最后形成了双剑理论，将人类社会分成精神与物质、宗教与世俗的二重社会，教会执掌着精神之剑，国王执掌物质之剑，教会掌管着宗教事务，而国王掌管世俗事务，他们的权柄都来自上帝，各执一方。教会与国家互相依存、互相依赖，而又互相制约、互相对抗。丛日云教授将基督教社会形容成二头蛇怪兽，互相撕咬、缠斗，但是又必须互相妥协、协调一致，否则蛇身将无法行动，这样比喻虽然怪异，但却很形象。这样一来就形成了基督教社会独有的现象，就是教会制约王权，束缚住王权的肆虐，免于纯世俗社会的改朝换代之苦，同时世俗政权又抑制宗教，免于政教合一社会的野蛮与愚昧，反而使社会能够平稳、有序、健康地发展，避免了纯世俗的王权专制社会与政教合一社会的弊端。

我们在第二章中，通过对人类道德哲学的大量梳理，知道在世俗社会里由于人类的私心、贪婪堕落，自然情况下人类是无法维持道德水准的，最后的结局必然是道德崩溃，社会大乱，所以世俗社会里，一定要有法律法规及最低的道德标准，并且存在强制执行的警察、军队等暴力机构，通过强制手段来维持社会的稳定与秩序。不过我们在精神领域内却是另外一回事，此时绝对不能使用世俗社会的手段，不能使用为抑制人性恶而制定的法律法规，并且强制执行，在精神领域内必须要承认人性是善的，人类可以成为道德高尚的圣人，通过信仰，通过上帝在人类良心中的作业，使人类自觉自愿地行善，如果不承认人性的善，不承认上帝在人类良心中可以成功作业，在精神领域内依仗强制手段，那就是中世纪天主教会的精神压迫了，世俗与精神领域内的事务完全不同，千万不能混淆在一起。这些都证明了，圣经中对人性二重性的定义是极其深刻、完全正确的，同时根据这种二重性而将人类社会划分成，精神与物质、宗教与政治二重的作法，也无比正确，运作起来与其他类型社会相比，很轻易就显出优势，放眼当今世界可以发现，最发达的国家，美国、德国、英国、北欧，都是基督教国家，它们的社会就是通过“凯撤的归凯撤，上帝的归上帝。”宗教与世俗分开的政教分离的原则来运作的。

我们就对人性二重性在经济生活中的影响，再简略地说几句，我们知道，单纯通过上帝之手调节的经济叫做市场经济，由于资本家人性的贪婪，很可能造成生产过剩的经济危机，美国大萧条就是生产过剩的危机。美国在大萧条之前遵行的是完全市场经济的原则，政府完全不干预经济，胡佛总统又是这一原则的坚定支持者，面对经济危机仍然采取不干预政策，使经济危机愈演愈烈。接任的罗斯福总统面对危机，奉行凯恩斯的经济理论，打破政府不干预市场的铁律，大胆改革，通过修建公路，限制生产等政府干预经济的手段，使美国迅速摆脱危机。这实际上是通过政府强行对财富进行二次分配抑制资本家的贪婪，使社会走上正轨，但是罗斯福干预政策的持续执行又走向另一个极端，当时奉行凯恩斯主义的美国、英国都越来越趋向某某主义，不过此时不是资本家的贪婪，而是工人的贪婪使社会走向另一个极端。我们看到当时英美许多国有企业工人，同样出工不出力、效率低下、浪费严重，于是催生了里根经济学、重回自由主义，及铁娘子撒切尔夫人的裁减国有企业的私有化改革。我个人认为政府干预也是上帝之手的一部分，通过它的调节，确实可以抑制资本家的人性贪婪，但是政府的干预又不能太过，太过的话又会激发普通人的人性贪婪，例如当今的欧洲社会，许多人通过高福利就可以很好的生活，那么谁又会想去工作呢？政府干预应该尽可能地少，尽量通过社会上其他竞争的机构干预经济，实现财富的二次分配。例如，充分利用不同基督教派慈善机构之间竞争的良性作用，社会福利等许多财富二次分配的手段，可以通过它们实施而不是政府，也就是说尽量减少政府的权力，形成一种大社会、小政府的治理模式，这也是许多人心目中最理想的社会。在世俗社会中任何时候人性是恶的、贪婪堕落的，任何时候都必须让竞争存在，社会福利由不同教派的慈善机构竞争执行，绝对比单独垄断的政府执行更可靠，我们接下去还会论述到，政府也是由贪婪堕落的个人组成的，它同样是贪婪堕落的，如果不加以制约的话将把整个社会都吞噬。

至此我们知道，基督教世界政治制度的二头蛇理论，他们的政教分离是在同一个信仰、同一个上帝的基础上，实行精神与物质、宗教与政治的分离，在不同的领域内分管自己的事务，并且绝对不能互相混杂，要区别对待，因为他们是不同性质的两种事物。在欧洲中世纪几百年历史上，教会与世俗政府双方纠缠、争斗不休，都想扩大自己的管辖范围，双方以圣经为依据对管辖范围据理力争、寸步不让，最后根据圣经明确了教会、教士禁止从事的一些事务，于是对它们二者的管辖范围有了较明确的划分。主要内容如下。

1.圣经中明确规定教会、教士是属灵的，专管精神领域内的事，所以不得拥有武器，不得执掌军队。于是保护教会、教士免受异教伤害是，中世纪基督教社会的世俗国王的存在意义，世俗政府的存在目的，最主要功能。

2.警察这个保护人身及财产安全的机构，由于涉及武力、暴力，教会也同样不能涉足，它同样完全归世俗国王管辖。

3.圣经中明确规定教士不得杀人，所以死刑及一些重罪必须交由世俗国王的民事法庭审理。

4.由于圣经不鼓励追求物质财富与物欲享乐，所以发展贸易，设立市镇等经济事务一般也归于世俗国王管辖，同理，一般经济案件也必须交由民事法庭审理。①

基督教会除了以上这些圣经中明确禁止的行为外，它们几乎囊括了社会其他的所有功能。包括洗礼、婚礼、忏悔、墓葬等牧灵的关怀，以及孤儿院、养老院、穷人看护所等慈善机构，教育、医院等重要部门以及一些轻罪法庭，甚至包括道路桥梁维护等，而世俗国王存在的作用就是保护教会，保护每一位基督徒的人身及财产安全，管理经济事务这几个方面，他们掌管着军队、警察、监狱、税务官员、民事法庭等。在基督教社会里，教会无论怎样与世俗政府相比都是超越的、道德的、无私的、灵魂的，社会责任由教会承担，可以得到更多的保证与更好的质量，所以除了圣经中明确规定教会不能承担的功能外，应该尽大可能地让教会承担社会责任。

从历史经验来看，教会不得拥有军队，这是底线，绝对不能触碰，由于信仰牵扯到永生、永恒的问题，任何一方都寸土不让，教会拥有军队必然带来的是杀戮与血腥，但是教会不得拥有军队的前提是，世俗国王必须保护教会不受伤害，当世俗国王无法保证这点时，基督徒只能是待宰的羔羊。亚美尼亚几百万的基督徒，由于得不到任何一个世俗国王的保护，最后如同羔羊般被异教徒屠杀，当时几百万基督徒尽然无法组织一支军队自救，因为圣经中不允许教会拥有军队，这种长留在潜意识中的理念的力量是十分强大的，人们自然而然地根据它行事，于是上帝也只能在天堂独自垂泪了。因为政教分离是基督教独有之物，非基督教世界，例如伊斯兰国家并没有政教分离的概念，他们国家就是教会，教会就是国家，很容易组建一支属于教会自己的军队。在基督教世界里，如果这个国家不是基督教占据垄断地位，得不到国家保护，基督徒只能面临被异教任意屠宰的命运，因为圣经中字字分明地写着“凯撤的归凯撤，上帝的归上帝。”教会不得拥有军队，这是圣经的明训，这就是基督徒的伟大与悲哀之处。虽然历史上曾经有过尚武的教皇，并且也曾经有过教皇国，教会拥有自己的军队，但是这些行为从未得到过尊重，被认为是严重违背圣经的教诲，严重削弱教皇的精神权威，反而造成了所有世俗国王联合起来对抗教皇，教皇拥有军队的时期也是教皇权威最弱的时期。

在中世纪的基督教社会里，由于基督教的垄断地位，教会与世俗王权之间虽然有权力划分，各执掌精神之剑与物质之剑，由于双方都认为自己的权力来自于上帝，他们在推进基督教信仰上是一致的，对信仰的强制上双方想法是相同的，对异端、异教、无神论者的镇压上也是默契的。中世纪教会有自己的教会法庭，由于教会本身没有军队、警察等执行机构，只有通过世俗国王执行教会法庭的判决，对各种违反教会法的行为，施加物质、肉体、精神上的惩罚。而世俗国王也利用教会所握的精神之剑，加强自己的权威，如，通过教皇或者主教的加冕、涂油礼等仪式加强自己的权威，对帮助教会法庭执行判决这种事自然乐此不疲，双方互相依存、互相依赖，即独立又无法分开。同时双方又互相提携、促进，当一方腐朽、堕落而有不当行为时，另一方有权指责、斧正。教会利用自己掌握精神权力对世俗王权的不当行为谴责、批评，要求他们给予改正，同样世俗国王也利用自己，掌握军队、警察、监狱等暴力机构的优势，对教会不当行为施加影响。他们对精神领域与世俗领域的管辖范围激烈争夺，都想将双方限制在最小的范围内，世俗国王绝不让教会染指军队、警察、监狱这些至关重要的暴力机构，而教会也将世俗王权限制在这几个重要却有限的范围内，自己承担大量其他的社会责任，如教育、慈善、医院等等。所以说两头蛇怪兽是非常贴切的比喻，两头蛇在互相撕咬、缠斗的同时，又因为属于同一身体，为了同一个信仰，为了同一个上帝，同一个目标——基督教社会的稳定和谐，又不得不相互提携、促进，双方互相纠缠着一路前行，但是却走得比其他任何社会都平稳、踏实。这就是基督教真正的、原初的政教分离的伟大作用，也正是这种政教分离，使基督教世界既避免了世俗政权的专制腐败，又避免了政教合一的落后愚昧，将人类的文明一步步推进向前，直至今天。

我们在上面论述过，清教徒在建造上帝山巅之城过程中的政教关系，正是继承了这种真正的、原初的政教分离关系，而且更为水乳交融、浑然一体，虽然教会与民事政府都有自己明确的管辖范围，牧师等圣职绝对不能担任民事职务，但是并不表明教会不能干涉民事事务，因为要想成为殖民地的股东、自由人，必须经教会批准，也就是成为教会成员、圣人必须经教会批准，教会控制着任何人选举民事官员，成为民事官员的资格。同时教会也为民事政府的繁荣稳定做了大量的协调润滑工作，使殖民地政府可以一次次平稳渡过地难关。我们前面章节就介绍过，在马萨诸塞殖民地参议院的否决权形成过程中，牧师们对镇代表做了大量的细致工作，使他们最终同意参议院拥有否决权。在萨德伯里镇的自治中，教会成员、牧师也对镇居民做了大量的工作，希望他们能够从维护州政府的权威，殖民地的稳定出发，尽量服从、执行州政府的税收计划，最后镇居民们也听从了他们的意见。而且在我们没有论述的许多事件中，教会同样为了殖民地的稳定发挥了重大作用，正是教会这些同心同德、齐心协力的努力，使兄弟之爱成为政坛各种势力的润滑剂，使各种势力之间能够互相妥协、退让，达成共识，最后才使山巅之城得以建造成功。而且我可以肯定地说，没有他们润滑协调也就绝对没有，后来令英国人胆战心惊的马萨诸塞，而后来的林肯也就是，由于失去了教会这种润滑协调的作用，才是南北双方的矛盾不断激化，最后只能以战争来解决争端。不只教会为殖民地的持续发展立下了汗马功劳，而且民事政府也为教会的团结稳定，起到定海神针的作用，由于公理会的特殊性，不承认任何的上级机构，如果没有民事政府在其中的统领作用，那么当真是一盘散沙、一触即溃。在哈钦森的唯信论，使是殖民地教会处于分崩离析的关键时刻，正是身为州长的温斯罗普以上帝行政长官的身份干涉教会事务，驱逐了哈钦森夫人等唯信论异端，才是殖民地教会得以继续存在。所以说在清教徒的心目中，教会与国家关系是更为水乳交融的，是不可能分出彼此的关系，而威廉姆斯反对的就是这种密切的政教关系，想将二者截然分开，这是温斯罗普“孰可忍，孰不可忍”的事。

注：①引用自《剑桥中世纪政治思想史 上》新知三联书店,伯恩斯著,程志敏译. 346页-426页，《在上帝与凯撒之间》左岸文化事业有限公司，丛日云编写193页-282页

In the second chapter, through much combing of human moral philosophy, we know that in the secular society, humans can not maintain the moral standard under natural circumstances due to human selfishness, greed, and degeneration, and the final outcome must be moral collapse and social chaos. Therefore, there must be laws and regulations and minimum moral standards in the secular society, and there must be police, the military, and other violent institutions to maintain social stability and order through coercive means. However, in the spiritual field, there are other things. At this time, we must not use the means of secular society and the laws and regulations to suppress the evil of human nature or enforce them. In the spiritual field, we must recognize that human nature is good. Humans can become saints with noble morality through faith and God’s operation in human conscience, making humans do good voluntarily. If they do not recognize the goodness of human nature, do not recognize that God can work successfully in human conscience, and rely on coercive means in the spiritual field, it is the spiritual oppression of the Catholic Church in the middle ages. The affairs in the secular and spiritual fields are completely different and must not be confused. All these prove that the definition of the duality of human nature in the Bible is highly profound and entirely correct. At the same time, it is proper to divide human society into spiritual and material, religious and political, according to this duality. Compared with other types of societies, the duality can easily show its advantages. Looking at the world today, we can find that the most developed countries, the United States, Germany, Britain, and Northern Europe, are all Christian countries. Their society operates through the separation of religion and state based on the duality of human nature.

Let’s briefly discuss the impact of human nature’s duality on economic life. We know that an economy regulated by the hand of God is called a market economy. Due to the greed of capitalists’ human nature, the market economy is likely to cause an economic crisis of overproduction. The great depression in the United States was a crisis of overproduction. Before the great depression, the United States followed the principle of a complete market economy, and the government did not intervene in the economy at all. President Hoover supported this principle firmly; he still adopted the policy of non-intervention in the great depression, which intensified the economic crisis. In the face of the crisis, President Roosevelt, who took over as president, pursued Keynesian economic theory, broke the iron law that the government did not intervene in the market, and boldly reformed. He quickly extricated the United States from the crisis by employing government intervention in the economy, such as building roads and limiting production. In fact, it is that the government forced the secondary distribution of wealth to curb the greed of capitalists and put society on the right track. However, the continuous implementation of Roosevelt’s intervention policy went to another extreme. At that time, the Keynesian United States and Britain were more and more inclined toward socialism. However, it was not the greed of capitalists at this time; it was the greed of workers that drove society to the other extreme. We can see that many workers in state-owned enterprises in Britain and the United States also lied down on the job, which was inefficient, and was wasted seriously. It gave birth to Reagan economics, returning to liberalism, and the privatization reform of reducing state-owned enterprises by Mrs. Thatcher, the iron lady. Personally, I think government intervention is also part of the hand of God. Its regulation can bridle the human greed of capitalists, but government intervention can not go too far. If it goes too much, it will stimulate the human greed of ordinary people. For example, in today’s European society, many people can live a good life through high welfare, so who wants to work? Government intervention should be as little as possible and try to intervene in the economy through other competitive institutions in society to realize the secondary distribution of wealth. For example, we can make full use of the benign competition between different Christian charities. Social welfare and many other secondary distributions of wealth can be implemented by them rather than the government. That is, to minimize the power of the government and form a governance model of large society and small government, which is also the ideal society in the eyes of many people. In the secular society, human nature is evil, greedy, and degenerate at any time, and competition must exist at all times. Social welfare is distributed by charities of different sects, which is absolutely more reliable than the implementation by a single monopoly government. We will discuss that the government is also composed of greedy and degenerate individuals, which is also greedy and degenerate; if not restricted, it will devour the whole society.

So far, we know that the two-headed snake theory of the political system of the Christian world, their separation of politics and religion is to perform the separation of spirit and material, religion and politics based on the same belief and the same God. They take charge of their affairs in different fields and can not mix with each other. They should be treated differently because they were two things of different nature. In the hundreds of years of medieval European history, the Church and the secular government were entangled and fought endlessly, and both wanted to expand their jurisdiction. The two sides argued and did not give in about the jurisdiction based on the Bible. Finally, some affairs the Church and priests couldn’t involve were defined according to the Bible, so there was a clear division of their jurisdiction. The main contents are as follows.

1. Bible clearly stipulates that churches and priests are spiritual and specialize in matters of the spiritual field. Therefore, they shall not have weapons or be in charge of the army. Therefore, protecting churches and priests from paganism is the most important function of the secular king and the purpose of secular government in medieval Christian society.

2. The Church is also not involved in the police, an institution for protecting personal and property security because it involves force and violence. Therefore, the police are also entirely under the jurisdiction of the secular king.

3. Bible clearly stipulates that priests shall not kill, so the death penalty and some felonies must be tried by the civil court of the secular king.

4. Because the Bible does not encourage the pursuit of material wealth and material pleasure, economic affairs such as developing trade and establishing towns are generally under the jurisdiction of secular kings. Similarly, general financial cases must also be tried by civil courts. ①

Except for the above acts explicitly prohibited in the Bible, the Christian Church covered almost all other functions of society. It included pastoral care such as baptism, wedding, confession, and burial, charities such as orphanages, nursing homes, poor care centers, important departments such as education and hospitals, and some misdemeanor courts, including road and bridge maintenance. The role of secular Kings was to protect the Church, protect every Christian’s personal and property safety, and manage economic affairs. They were in charge of the army, police, prisons, tax officials, civil courts, etc. In the Christian society, no matter how compared with the secular government, the Church is transcendent, moral, selfless, and spiritual. If the Church bore the social responsibility, it would get more guarantees and better quality. Therefore, Except for the functions clearly stipulated in the Bible, the Church should assume social responsibility as much as possible.

From the historical experience, the Church must not have an army, which is the bottom line and must not be touched. Because faith involves the issue of eternal life and eternity, neither party will yield an inch. If the Church has an army, it will inevitably bring killing and blood. However, the premise is the secular king must protect the Church from harm. When the secular king cannot ensure this, Christians can only be lambs to be slaughtered. Millions of Christians in Armenia were slaughtered by pagans like a lamb because they could not get the protection of any secular king. At that time, millions of Christians could not organize an army to save themselves because the Church was not allowed to have an army in the Bible. The power of this commandment that remained in the subconscious was mighty, and people naturally acted according to it, so God could only cry alone in heaven. The separation of Church and State is unique to Christianity; the non-Christian world, such as Islamic countries, does not have the concept of separation of Church and State. Their State is the Church, and the Church is the State. It is easy to form an army belonging to the Church itself. Therefore, if Christianity does not dominate this country or the State cannot protect Christians, Christians can only face the fate of being slaughtered arbitrarily by paganism. The Bible clearly says, “Caesar’s belongs to Caesar, and God’s belongs to God.” the Church cannot have an army; it is the Bible’s instruction, which is Christians’ greatness and sadness. Although there had been martial popes in history, there had been the Papal States, and the Church had its own army, these actions have never been respected. On the contrary, they were considered to be a serious violation of the teachings of the Bible and seriously weakened the spiritual authority of the Pope. All secular kings united against the Pope. The period when the Pope had an army was also the period when the papal authority was the weakest.

In Christian society in the middle ages, due to the monopoly of Christianity, there was a division of power between the Church and the secular monarchy; they each held spiritual and material swords. Because both sides believed their power came from God, they unified to promote the Christian faith and had the same ideas on the compulsion of religion. The suppression of atheists and heresy is also tacit. The medieval Church had its own church court. Because the Church itself had no executive agencies such as the army and the police, only the secular king could execute the judgment of the church court and impose material, physical and spiritual punishment on all kinds of violations of church law. The secular king also used the spiritual sword held by the Church to strengthen his authority. For example, he reinforces his authority through the coronation and anointing ceremony of the Pope or bishop. He was naturally happy to help the church court execute the judgment. The two sides are interdependent and interdependent; they are independent and inseparable. At the same time, both sides support and promote each other. When one party decays and degenerates or commits misconduct, the other party has the right to accuse and correct. The Church used its spiritual power to condemn and criticize the improper behavior of the secular monarchy and asked them to correct it. Similarly, the secular king also used his own advantages in controlling the violent institutions such as the army, police, and prison to exert influence on the improper behavior of the Church. They competed fiercely for the jurisdiction, and both wanted to limit the other side to the minimum. The secular king would never let the Church touch the vital violent institutions such as the army, the police, and the prison, while the Church also limited the secular Kingship to those important but limited areas and assumed a large number of the rest of social responsibilities, such as education, charity Hospital, etc. Therefore, the two snakes monster was a very appropriate metaphor. While biting and fighting each other, the two snakes had to support and promote each other because they belonged to the same body, for the same faith, for the same God, and for the same goal – the stability and harmony of Christian society. The two sides entangled each other and moved forward together, but they went more smoothly and steadily than in any other society. This was the great role of Christianity’s real and original separation of politics and religion. This separation of politics and religion makes the Christian world avoid the autocratic corruption of secular regimes and the backward ignorance of the unity of politics and religion and push forward human civilization step by step until today.

As we discussed above, the Puritans inherited the genuine and original separation of Church and State in the process of building God’s city on the hill and even made them a more integral whole. Although the Church and the civil government had their own clear jurisdiction, pastors and other holy orders must not hold civil positions. However, it does not mean that the Church could not interfere in civil affairs. Because if you want to become a shareholder and free person in the colony, you must become a member of the Church and a saint by obtaining the Church’s approval. The Church controls the certification of electing civil officials and becoming civil officials. At the same time, the Church also did a lot of coordination and lubrication work for the prosperity and stability of the civil government. Therefore, the colonial government could tide over the difficulties again and again. As we mentioned in the previous chapter, during the formation of the veto power of the Massachusetts colonial Senate, the pastors did a lot of detailed work on the town representatives so that they finally agreed that the Senate had the veto power. In the autonomy of Sudbury Town, church members and pastors had also done a lot of work on the town residents, hoping that they could obey and implement the tax plan of the state government as much as possible in order to maintain the authority of the state government and the stability of the colony. Finally, the town residents listened to their opinions.

Moreover, in many events we did not discuss, the Church also played an important role in the colony’s stability. They acted concerted efforts with government, shoulder to shoulder, of one mind, which made brotherly love the lubricant for various forces in the political arena. As a result, various forces could make each other halfway and compromises, reached a consensus, and finally built the mountain city successfully. Moreover, I can definitely say that there wouldn’t be Massachusetts which could frighten the British later without their lubrication and coordination .and later Lincoln, due to the loss of the lubrication and coordination role of the Church, the contradiction between the north and the South intensified. Finally, the dispute could only be settled by war. The Church made great contributions to the sustainable development of the colony, while the civil government also played a critical role in the unity and stability of the Church. Due to the particularity of Congregationalism, the congregational Church did not recognize any superior organization. If there were no command role of the civil government, the Church would be scattered and collapse at the first encounter. At the critical moment when Hutchinson’s fideism made the colonial Church fall apart, Winthrop, as governor, intervened in church affairs as chief executive of God and expelled Mrs. Hutchinson and other fideism heresies that the colonial Church could continue to exist. Therefore, in the eyes of Puritans, the relationship between the Church and the State is in complete harmony, and it is impossible to separate the relationship. Williams opposes this close political and religious relationship and wants to separate the two completely. This is the thing Winthrop must determine, “which can be tolerated,but which can not be tolerated”.

Note: ① burns “Cambridge History of medieval political thought”, Xinzhi Sanlian bookstore, trans,Cheng Zhimin p346-426, Cong Riyun “between God and Caesar”, zuoan Culture Co., Ltd., p193-282