With moral chaos abounding in the world today, many evangelicals wonder if the nation would be better if the church were in charge. Like the good ole days of Christendom, maybe we should return to a sword-and-shield world where state and church combine efforts.
It might serve Christians today, therefore, to be at least somewhat aware of the history of how the church has used state violence for its purposes, particularly as conversations about theonomy, magisterial Protestantism, and Christian nationalism have grown in urgency of late. To this end, Charles the Great, or Charlemagne, is one crucial figure to consider. So is his legacy of military conquest performed in the name of Christ.
Known as the grandfather of modern Europe, Charlemagne codified the partnership between the emperor and the papacy, making the papacy Christian Europe’s most powerful authority. A key feature of their partnership was Charlemagne’s use of state coercion to convert pagans to Christianity.
CHRISTIAN VIOLENCE BEFORE CHARLEMAGNE
Christians had employed violence before Charlemagne. Once Constantine became the emperor of Rome, rogue groups of Christians began to sack pagan temples. However, these events were sporadic and independently orchestrated, and they never received the official endorsement of the church.
Augustine
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