1. what was life like for those in the early christian church?
2. how did agrippa affect the early christian church and jesus movement?
3. why did the roman empire see the jesus movement as a threat?
4. what happened to peter in prison? what changes did this have for the early jesus movement?
5. who was paul? why was he important in the early christian church?
6. why was the inclusion of gentiles or non-jews in the early christian church controversial?
7. what happened to paul in ephesus? why?
8. why was the collection brought by paul important?
9. what happened in the year 64 ad? how did this affect the early christian church?
10. why are peter and paul important to christianity?

separation of powers, therefore, refers to the division of government responsibilities into distinct branches to limit any one branch from exercising the core functions of another.   the intent is to prevent the concentration of power and provide for checks and balances.  

the traditional characterizations of the powers of the branches of american government are:

* the legislative branch is responsible for enacting the laws of the state and appropriating the money necessary to operate the government.

* the executive branch is responsible for implementing and administering the public policy enacted and funded by the legislative branch.

* the judicial branch is responsible for interpreting the constitution and laws and applying their interpretations to controversies brought before it.

forty state constitutions specify that government be divided into three branches:   legislative, executive and judicial.   california illustrates this approach; "the powers of state government are legislative, executive, and judicial.   persons charged with the exercise of one power may not exercise either of the others except as permitted by this constitution."

while separation of powers is key to the workings of american government, no democratic system exists with an absolute separation of powers or an absolute lack of separation of powers. governmental powers and responsibilities intentionally overlap; they are too complex and interrelated to be neatly compartmentalized. as a result, there is an inherent measure of competition and conflict

minnesota:   minnesota house research,   separation of powers: when statutes and court rules conflict, 2005