From Augustine to Jefferson, the idea of separating church and state has deep religious and secular roots

According to The Conversation, the separation of church and state—challenged by the Trump administration's Religious Liberty Commission as a barrier to religious freedom—draws from both religious and secular philosophical traditions. The concept traces back to Augustine in the fourth century, who argued that spiritual and temporal authority should operate in distinct spheres. Centuries later, Thomas Jefferson brought this principle into American legal thought, famously describing a "wall of separation" between church and state. These weren't secular attacks on religion. Rather, both thinkers sought to clarify how spiritual and civic authority could coexist. The contemporary debate about what this separation means in practice reflects a disagreement that goes back to some of Western civilization's foundational thinkers.

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