November/December 2006 Issue
 Concrete divisions between Church and State-religion and politics-were all but artificial categories until the last few centuries. Today, these divisions are pivotal to how we structure most of our societies in the West. Categories defining secular governing bodies and spiritual authorities are important-even fundamental-if certain rights are to be preserved, privileges of personal freedoms to be upheld, and the government kept out of interpreting what falls under law and what resides in the realm of belief. We can thank Thomas Jefferson for helping the United States in particular for creating these divisions, but-even today-it's difficult to parse personal belief from politics. As for centuries ago, religion and politics, Church and State were all one-what you believed directly related to your race, country and even class.
In issue 7, Sacred History Magazine takes on the concepts of "Church" and "State," playing out the conflict between ideals and applications, and journeying to the very heart of the historical fuzziness that lies between. We investigate civilizations where belief and political power were indistinguishable, from the Assyrians to the Egyptians. We see how early Christians were perceived by the Roman authorities because of their beliefs that appeared to conflict with the Rome, how they faced persecution because of this, and then proceed to follow the growth of this religion to where even the Roman emperor himself, Constantine embraced Christianity and how this personal decision had very public ramifications. We travel East to Constantinople, learning how the emperor of the Byzantine Empire became a religious authority. We proceed West, learning how the Pope became both the religious and political power over all of Western Europe throughout most of the medieval period.
Eventually, the papacy faced resistance-Sacred History will be there to tell you who were brave enough to oppose the Pope, from Henry VIII to Martin Luther.
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