Should the Flag be in the Church?
This question is utterly about one theological issue: ecclesiology , i.e., the theology of the function or role of the Church. The Church is full of symbols: the cross, the baptistery , the seasonal colors, etc. Moreover, for most American churches, it also contains another symbol, the American flag. It is not a small issue for churches to decide if the American flag should occupy the same level of symbolic significance as the other symbols in the Church (i.e., be placed alongside them). Though the Church was independent of (suppressed and oppressed by) the State for the first three centuries, from Constantine (4 th cent.) on the Church exercised an enormous amount of influence in civic issues. For centuries the Roman and Orthodox Churches held enormous sway over the various governments across the European landscape. The Roman Catholic Church has changed its position through the years, but has typically held to the separation of the Church and State in modern times. The recent posi...