Clarence Thomas on the harmony of faith and reason
“Christ’s famous admonition to give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God (Mark 12:17) is widely regarded as radicalizing the Jewish conviction that the power of earthy rulers is limited by God’s divine law, a conviction that would become a crucial feature of the Western understanding of government power.” - Acton
I had the opportunity to engage Justice Thomas in private conversation in DC recently. It was my second exchange with him over the years. (I have a dear friend who was one of his clerks.) While he is not a fan of evangelical political activism at all, he is an ardent defender of public expressions of faith — even in the political arena. I was actually in the room with 18 federal judges from various courts at the time and during a testimonial time, I was pleased and encouraged by the way many of them spoke openly and publicly about matters of faith — freely using the name of Jesus (and not by cursing), speaking of God’s wisdom, etc… While there was a wide-array of political persuasions in attendance, even those appointed by the most liberal of Presidents often referenced their faith. It was easy for them to do so due to the strong Christian testimony of the individual they were gathered to honor, but encouraging nonetheless. Justice Thomas spoke to me personally about the right to serve in public office and not set your faith aside in public pronouncements and noted how frequently it had been done at that event. He’s a brilliant thinker and NOTHING like the caricature that the media has assigned ot him over the years.
Discussion