Religious freedom is an inalienable human right granted by God in creation (Genesis 2). Religious freedom is an expression of free will. In the Garden of Eden, God granted to the first humans the freedom of choice – the choice to believe, the choice to be obedient, and the choice to rebel. The Apostle Paul affirmed that all humans, Jew and Gentile, have a religious conscience that prompts an intuitive search for God (Romans 2:15; Acts 17:24-28). Because religious freedom is granted by God, this is a freedom that is not derived from the state and should not be suppressed by the state. In fact, government derives it authority from God and exists to promote the flourishing of human civilization. Therefore, the proper role of government should be to protect the free expression of religion throughout its domain (Romans 13:1ff). The temptation for government is to deify itself, thereby suppressing religious freedoms (but that is a topic for a future blog).
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