Church and State Agitation by Editor

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Feb 11, 1897

Church and State Agitation

By Editor

We are glad to see the agitation over the Church and State question, now so frequently discussed; and we are also glad to note that it is not all on one side. The Nashville (Tenn.) Sunday Journal of January 17 has an article on “God and Cæsar” of three columns, which takes true and strong ground. Here is a good paragraph, which shows that God can not set up his kingdom through civil law:—

“It is in the thoughts that God sets up his kingdom; he rules the outward conduct through the mind. If a man hates another he is a murderer, but if civil government should attempt to punish murder that exists only in the mind there would be hanging on every tree. God rules through the very thoughts of men; he demands that they think correctly, for if they think right, they will do right deeds.”

And the same day comes the Sacramento Record-Union of January 23, with a telling article on “The Sunday Law,” showing its true object and animus. Let the matter be agitated. The honest in heart will see the light.