Episode 50: Separating Church and State, God and Politics with Cody Cook

Colleen is talking faith and politics today!  Whether or not faith plays a role in your politics, it is impossible to escape the role the Christian faith has played in politics in recent years.  And if you've never contemplated to what degrees church and state are and should be separated, it's worth considering.  The guest is Cody Cook.  Cody is a theology graduate student living in Cincinnati, Ohio. He is the author of three books and the host of the podcast Cantus Firmus which explores theological questions as they relate to the wider culture.  Cody and Colleen discuss what the Bible says about the role the Church plays within the state, the lenses each side tends to view the world through, and how we can be political but not partisan with our faith.    Connect with Cody!  You can find him and info about his podcast on his website and check out his books!   Year of Action steps: If you are a person of faith, regardless of your political leanings consider this week the ways in which your politics may only be of benefit a specific group of people rather than the whole, particularly if those people are people who agree with and think like you?  How might your politics expand to benefit people who are different from you?  How can we hold more loosely to our partisan politics in the name of speaking truth to power?    If you are not a person of faith and you want to understand more how faith influences politics on both sides of the aisle, consider listening to The Pantsuit Politics ladies.  Both are Christian women whose faith informs their politics even though they ascribe to different parties.  They give a good picture of how faith can influence politics in the best ways. Also mentioned in this episode: Focus on the Family article about Biblical Citizenship ERLC article Four reasons Christians Should Care about Politics Christian Century article Do Politics Belong in Church? Autobiography of Malcolm X