THE IMPORTANT ROLE OF THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE IN LAST GENERATION THEOLOGY FOR SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS

Abstract

This paper takes a contemporary look at the discussion andanalysis of the concept of separation of church and statefrom a Seventh-day Adventist perspective. The separationof church and state means that the government should notenforce any specific religion on the population, and shouldnot prohibit the population to follow any specific religion.The separation of church and state can clearly be seen inthe First Amendment of the United States Constitution.Philosophers like Locke strongly opposed the combinationof church and state, and during the Dark Ages, where thechurch largely controlled the state, we can see how manypeople were killed by the Roman Catholic Church and itssubsidiaries for following their consciences. History hasshown us that in countries where religion and state hasnot been kept separate, there is persecution of the masses.The Bible, and Seventh-day Adventist Christian authorslike Alonzo Jones and Ellen White, completely reject theidea of the state wanting to enforce religious rules on theirpeople. These authors believed in the central idea of LastGeneration Theology, which is that the last generationof Christians who are alive when Christ returns will livelives completely free from sin. In order to be encouragedPrajñā Vihāra Vol. 23 no. 1 January to June 2022, 109-121© 2000 by Assumption University Press110 Prajñā Vihāra Vol. 23 no. 1 January to June 2022to be completely obedient to God in all areas that Herequires, it is crucial to have the freedom to follow yourconscience without the interference of the civil authority.The combination of church and state therefore seems toplay a major role in the eschatology of Christianity as itrelates to Last Generation Theology