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The real danger in mixing or divorcing church and state is not to the Christian Left, Middle, or Right. The danger is to the church. Our cultures need communities that know no national boundaries, that do not depend on their legislatures being of one brand, and that are open to serving a neighbor's need. To be a member of the church is to recognize that there is more to our world than our culture or the state. God calls the church to be distinct from our culture, but to influence it in its own unique way, to be a visible, third influence in our world.

Darrell Bock is professor of New Testament at Dallas Theological Seminary. He is author of Breaking the DaVinci Code (Nelson, 2004).

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September 2005, Vol. 49, No. 9