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The Prostitution of the Church 14:45 Jackson: One of the most provocative critiques we’ve looked at is this idea from Mark Charles that the Church basically "prostituted" itself to the Empire. It’s a heavy metaphor, but it really gets to the heart of the "lack of mercy" we’re discussing. If Jesus’s Kingdom is "not of this world," then Augustine’s attempt to make "Christian Empire" work is a fundamental betrayal, isn't it?
15:07 Lena: That’s the argument, and it’s a powerful one. Charles points out that every time Jesus was tempted to collude with power—whether it was the crowds trying to make him king by force or Peter trying to stop him from being crucified—Jesus reacted with a sharp rebuke. He even told John the Baptist, who was expecting a Messiah who would overthrow oppressors with power, "Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me." Jesus was saying, "I’m not the kind of savior you’re looking for. I’m here to lay down my life, not seize an Empire."
15:37 Jackson: But Augustine takes the opposite path. He accepts the reality of "Christian Empire" and asks, "How can a king serve the Lord?" His answer is that the king serves God by "enforcing with suitable rigor" the laws that punish what is unrighteous. It sounds noble on paper—like, "Let's use our power for good"—but it completely ignores the "Good Father" model of the New Testament. In the New Testament, the "good" is achieved through sacrifice and service, not through "religious severity."
16:04 Lena: Exactly. And this "collusion" changed the very language the Church used. By the 13th century, Church writings started referring to people as "sub-human" or "infidels." This is a direct consequence of the "Just War" and "Correction" logic. If the state is the "sword of God," then the people on the other side of that sword have to be dehumanized so that the "Christian soldier" can kill them without sinning. We move from "love your enemies" to "hunt them, identify them, and kill them," as we see in that modern quote from the congressman in the sources.
16:33 Jackson: That quote is such a visceral example of the "fruit of Christendom." He calls people "heathen animals" and says to "kill them all" for the sake of "all that is good and righteous." That is the end point of the road Augustine started us on. It’s the belief that our "Christian nation" or "Christendom" is so synonymous with God’s will that any violence we commit is "holy." It’s the "Get behind me, Satan" moment that the Church never had with Constantine.
17:02 Lena: And it’s not just about war; it’s about how we treat anyone who is "different." Look at the history of "anti-Catholicism" in the sources. It’s a mirror image of the same logic. When Protestants had the power, they used the same "state-enforcement" tactics against Catholics. They passed Penal Laws, confiscated land, and banned Catholics from education or voting. They justified it by saying Catholics were "disloyal" or "superstitious." It’s the same "suitable rigor" applied to a different group.
17:32 Jackson: It really is a "cycle of paranoiac agitation," as John Higham called it. Whether it’s the Gordon Riots in London or the Nativist riots in Philadelphia, the "bad fruit" is always the same: mob violence, the burning of churches, and the "dehumanizing legacy" of seeing the "other" as a threat to the "Christian order." Augustine thought he was protecting the "truth," but he actually created a weapon that has been used by every side to justify "lack of mercy."
18:01 Lena: That’s why the "Good Father" of scripture is so important as a contrast. The Father in the parable of the Prodigal Son doesn't send the older brother to "coerce" the younger one back with "fear of punishment." He doesn't confiscate the younger son’s property or label him a "heathen animal." He waits. He allows for the son’s free will, even when it leads to a "wasteful life." Augustine’s "parental smacking" logic completely misses the "long-suffering" and "mercy" that defines God’s fatherhood in the New Testament.
18:30 Jackson: It makes me think about the "Doctrine of Discovery" again. That idea that Christian explorers could just "invade, capture, and vanquish" any non-Christians they found. That is the ultimate "lack of justice." It’s the theft of land and the enslavement of people in the name of Christ. And it all goes back to that 4th-century decision to stop being a "persecuted church" and start being a "persecuting empire."
18:54 Lena: It’s a "prostitution" because the Church traded its prophetic purity for earthly power. Instead of "washing the feet" of the world, it wanted to "rule the world." And once you want to rule, you have to use the tools of rulers: force, fear, and "suitable rigor." Augustine’s genius was in finding a way to make those tools look like "ministry," but the fruit they produced—the blood-drenched altars and the burned-down villages—tells a different story.