Kirche und Staat -- Verhältnisbestimmungen in freikirchlicher Perspektive.

The separation of church and state is -- in different shades - a central theme of the free church tradition. The essay first examines its roots in the history of the Reformation and its development in the Anglo-Saxon world. There, an approach to a productive separation of church and state with an affinity for politics and the shaping of society is revealed. The main part of the essay is dedicated to the so called classic free churches in Germany. Three situations of political upheaval (1848, 1918/19, Weimar Republic/"Third Reich") show how, in the face of experiences of repression, questions of legal and social recognition were in the foreground. There was a lot of effort to maintain a supposedly apolitical attitude that did not advance the potential of democratization and a productive separation of church and state. By looking at the basic developments of the early post-war period, the focus is finally directed to present-day perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]