- Sacralism
Sacralism is a merger of church and state wherein the two are indistinguishable, i.e. state
religion where the state is the religion.Christian sacralism is, according to Verduin, [Verduin, Leonard "The anatomy of a hybrid : a study in church-state relationships", Grand Rapids, Mich. : Eerdmans, (1976) ISBN 0-8028-1615-0] the hybrid product that resulted from the colossal change known as the
Constantinian shift that began early in the fourth century AD, when Christianity was granted official tolerance in theRoman Empire by theEmperor Constantine , and was completed by theEmperor Theodosius 's declaration in392 outlawing paganism and making Christianity the official religion of the Empire.A
Latin saying that has often been used to describe the principle of sacralism is "cuius regio, eius religio", or "who has region, decides religion." The idea was that the ruler of each individual area would decide the religion of those under his control based upon his own faith.References
ee also
*
Theocracy
*Separation of church and state
*TheAnabaptists — whose history illustrates a continued rejection of sacralism.
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