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For example, if you have to deal with issues like church and society, you'll find answers in the doctrine of the two kingdoms. This doctrine has been belittled for so long because it's so badly interpreted by people who haven't studied it carefully. The kingdom of the world, the kingdom of the hidden God, which is still God's kingdom but is under sin, has to serve and protect the spiritual kingdom, the church, the kingdom of the revealed God in Christ. These things bring up a totally different interplay than the rigid separation of church and state that you experience in the United States or even more so in France.

Take, for example, the Terri Schiavo case. Nobody else has tackled this problem from the only position you can actually tackle it from, and that is natural law as the source of all good civil law. We are witnessing what became evident in 1973 with Roe v. Wade. The law that's been written upon everybody's heart suddenly became irrelevant to judges who really veered from the two-kingdoms doctrine, or from the Augustinian view of the relationship between world and church. Now you have this perversion where judges actually ordain something that to Jews and to Christians is inconceivable, namely that you withdraw food from a patient.

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Previous columns by Uwe Siemon-Netto on ChristianityToday.com include:

He Was My Pope, Too | Now that John Paul II is gone, I am even more of an orphan than the Christians in the Roman church. (April 04, 2005)

Iraq's Church Bombers vs. Muhammad | Attacks defy the Prophet's wish for the area's millennia-old Christian community, which is now on the edge of oblivion.

Are Episcopalians Still a Church? | A Lutheran theologian and journalist examines the Robinson confirmation. (Aug. 07, 2003)

The Supreme Court Rejects Natural Law | It's now up to the churches to guard what is "graven on the heart of man." (July 01, 2003)

Spittle and Self-Righteousness | Beware of responding too indignantly to those on the other side of the war debate. (March 28, 2003)

Christian History Corner, a weekly column from the editors and writers of Christian History & Biography, appears every Friday on Christianity Today's website. Previous editions include:

Signs of the Reformation's Success? | Reformation scholar Timothy George discusses Pope John Paul II's historical significance and this 'momentous' era of Catholic-evangelical dialogue. (April 8, 2005)

'Hymn for Easter Day' | Charles Wesley's 'Christ the Lord Is Risen Today' brings alleluia's historical significance to modern audiences. (March 24, 2005)

The Jewishness of the Nicene Creed | It was the Bible, not Greek philosophy, that shaped the theology of the Nicene bishops. (Feb. 25, 2005)

Still Fighting over Nicaea | The Anglican Communion dusts off and debates some of the Council of Nicaea's forgotten canons. (Feb. 18, 2005)

Dostoyevsky's Disregarded Prophecy | The famous Russian author shows us what's to fear in a world without God. (Feb. 11, 2005)

Losing Jesus' Language | The Assyrians, Iraq's main Christian population, struggle to keep their heritage and their ancient language. (Feb. 04, 2005)

Tsunami Catastrophe: 'Let My Heart Be Broken … ' | World Vision has changed much over the years, but the vision and compassion of its founder, Bob Pierce, continues to give it heart and soul. (Jan. 28, 2005)

Football's Pious Pioneer | Amos Alonzo Stagg instilled in football Christian values that remain apparent today. (Jan. 14, 2005)

The Doctrine Doctor | Jaroslav Pelikan has written a history of the Christian tradition on a scale no one else has attempted in the twentieth century. (Dec. 30, 2004)

The Real Twelve Days of Christmas | Celebrating Christ's birth with saints of the faith during the actual Christmas season. (Dec. 23, 2004)

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April (Web-only) 2005, Vol. 49