Do religious leaders believe in the separateness of God’s heavenly kingdom? No! The booklet Church and Powers counters the Bible’s plain position on this matter by saying that “these relations [between Church and State] have been based on a narrow-minded reading of the Scriptures that separate the two realms.”

“Serious doubts” and lack of faith in the gospel’s “relevance” are driving many clergymen to look for “meaning” elsewhere. Without faith in the “gospel” or “good news” of God’s Kingdom for the blessing of mankind, they believe that reform has to come by human political means. As Richard J. Mouw, writing in The Christian Century magazine, put it:

“God has chosen to call apart a people as his instrument for bringing in his Kingdom . . . the redemption of the world is, among other things, a political redemption. . . . The political sphere is not merely an area in which a Christian can be a witness; it is one in which we are called to proclaim the liberating power of the gospel.”​—December 27, 1972.