Christianity and politics

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The relationship between Christianity and politics is a historically complex subject and a frequent source of disagreement throughout the history of Christianity, as well as in modern politics between the Christian right and Christian left. There have been a wide variety of ways in which thinkers have conceived of the relationship between Christianity and politics, with many arguing that Christianity directly supports a particular political ideology or philosophy. Along these lines, various thinkers have argued for Christian communism, Christian socialism, Christian nationalism, Christian anarchism, Christian libertarianism, Christian democracy, the divine right of kings, or tsarist autocracy. Others believe that Christians should have little interest or participation in politics or government, or none at all.

History

Antiquity

Early Christianity was most prominent in the

Early Christians were described by Celsus as those who refused military service and would not accept public office, nor assume any responsibility for the governing of cities.^[6] Origen confirms this description and adds that Christians do more for the good of the empire by forming an "army of piety" that prays for the well-being of the emperor and the safety of the empire.^[7] It has been argued that Christianity made a significant positive contribution to the development of modern democracy.^[8][9][10]

Middle Ages

Christianity dominated European politics in the Middle Ages. During the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Pope effectively served as the political leader of the region.^[11] The Byzantine Empire continued to be the center of the church in the East. In 800, Charlemagne was crowned by Pope Leo III as the Emperor of the Romans, establishing a precedent of interdependence of the church with the Carolingian Empire, and eventually, the Holy Roman Empire.

The church also maintained strong influence over the other kingdoms of Europe. Secular rulers would support missionary efforts in order to enlarge their realms. Bishops and abbots were not only church leaders, but often also large land-owning princes and thus vassals of secular feudal lords. The line dividing church and state interests was not always clear.^[12] The church also ruled its own territory directly in the form of the Papal States.^{[citation needed]}

The most notable instances of the church exercising influence over the kingdoms were the

The Reformation caused a political backlash in the Holy Roman Empire. In response, the Diet of Worms was assembled, and promotion of Lutheranism was made illegal.^[13] The English Reformation was deeply influenced by English politics. When the church refused to grant an annulment to the marriage of Henry VIII, he formed the Anglican tradition through the Church of England under the political rule of the crown.^{[citation needed]}

Scripture

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Politics is addressed directly or indirectly in several parts of the Bible. Romans 13:1 and 1 Peter 2:13-14 say that all should follow the authority of government, as government authority is instituted by the authority of God.

The Catholic Church is deeply intertwined with the history of European politics. It developed alongside the status of Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire and persisted through the Middle Ages as one of the most powerful political forces in Europe. In 2015, Pope Francis stated that Catholics have a duty to participate in politics to improve the world.^[16] The Catholic Church does not officially take political stances and encourages followers to come to their own political decisions, but it also states that these decisions must be made in accordance with natural law.^[17]

The Catholic Church in the United States has sought to discipline Catholic politicians that take pro-choice stances on abortion, most notably President Joe Biden.^[18] Conservative, moderate, and liberal Catholics all have a major presence in the United States.^[19]

Catholicism and war

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Catholics historically have had a wide variety of positions on issues of war and peace. The historical peace churches are now the chief exponents of Christian pacifism, but this was an issue that first came to light during the Roman Empire.

Soldiers in the Roman military who converted to Roman Catholicism were among the first who had to face these issues. Catholics in the Roman military had to confront a number of issues, that go beyond the obvious one about whether war could be reconciled with the Christian religion.

The conversion of Constantine I transformed the relationship of the Christian churches with the Roman military even as it transformed the relationship of the churches with the Roman state. A strongly contrary idea, sometimes called "

Anglicanism was developed when King Henry VIII established the Church of England as the state church of the Kingdom of England.^[citation needed] The Church of England is still closely involved in British politics and disputes sometimes take place over its role.^[20] The Hawaiian Kingdom also had an Anglican church as its official state church, the Church of Hawaii in the late 19th century.^{[citation needed]}

Separation of church and state is a prominent idea in liberalism, so direct influence of Christianity in liberal politics is typically limited.^{[citation needed]}

Conservatism

The first

Not only does the action of Governments not deter men from crimes; on the contrary, it increases crime by always disturbing and lowering the moral standard of society. Nor can this be otherwise, since always and everywhere a Government, by its very nature, must put in the place of the highest, eternal, religious law (not written in books but in the hearts of men, and binding on every one) its own unjust, man-made laws, the object of which is neither justice nor the common good of all but various considerations of home and foreign expediency.

— Leo Tolstoy, The Meaning of the Russian Revolution

More than any other Bible source, the

No call to arms is contained within the Christian apocalypse. Instead, the calamities that doom the oppressive regime represented by these allegorical figures are expected from divine intervention alone. Nevertheless, if the books are properly read in this way, they seem to evidence deep hostility to the Roman government, no doubt a reaction to the persecution of Christians by the Roman state.^{[citation needed]}

Libertarianism

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An emerging tradition of political thought, Christian libertarians maintain that state intervention to promote piety or generosity can be unethical and counterproductive. Coercion by threat of violence robs otherwise moral acts of their virtue, inspires resentment and disrespect even for just laws on the part of the coerced, and has a spiritually deleterious effect upon the coercers. As John Chrysostom, late 4th-century Church Father and Archbishop of Constantinople, writes in his work On the Priesthood (Book II, Section 3),

For Christians above all men are not permitted forcibly to correct the failings of those who sin. Secular judges indeed, when they have captured malefactors under the law, show their authority to be great, and prevent them even against their will from following their own devices: but in our case the wrong-doer must be made better, not by force, but by persuasion. For neither has authority of this kind for the restraint of sinners been given us by law, nor, if it had been given, should we have any field for the exercise of our power, inasmuch as God rewards those who abstain from evil by their own choice, not of necessity. Consequently much skill is required that our patients may be induced to submit willingly to the treatment prescribed by the physicians, and not only this, but that they may be grateful also for the cure. For if any one when he is bound becomes restive (which it is in his power to be), he makes the mischief worse; and if he should pay no heed to the words which cut like steel, he inflicts another wound by means of this contempt, and the intention to heal only becomes the occasion of a worse disorder. For it is not possible for any one to cure a man by compulsion against his will.

While Christian libertarians disagree over whether and to what extent agents of the state possess the

According to Christian libertarianism, to seize the life, liberty, or legitimately acquired property of an individual by coercion, even for that person's well-being or for the benefit of others, constitutes a violation of his or her human dignity as an image-bearer of God. Thus, most forms of taxation and all laws that prevent or distort free and nonviolent exchange are unacceptable. The classical doctrine of original or ancestral sin furthermore suggests to Christian libertarians that political (and for some left-libertarians, economic) power ought to be democratically distributed and decentralized to guard against government oppression and the natural human tendency to corruption. In opposition to centralized political authority, Christian libertarians frequently cite the eighth chapter of the Biblical book of 1 Samuel (1 Kings LXX), in which God tells the prophet Samuel that the children of Israel have rejected Him by demanding a king to reign over them, and He describes the many ways such a king will oppress the people.

While one of the Church's societal roles may be to promote righteousness in service and humble obedience to God, equal liberty is the highest or only political value. The state's raison d'être is to prevent rights violations, to quarantine or punish justly, and ideally to restore offenders so they can again peaceably dwell and participate in civil society.

Fascism

After the onset of fascism in the 1920s and 1930s, several fascist movements adopted Christian ideas. Notable Christian fascist movements include the Fatherland Front in Austria and the Rexist Party in Belgium.^{[citation needed]}

See also

References

Further reading

• Mill, John Stuart. On Liberty: A Translation into Modern English. ISR Publications, 2013. "Editorial foreword: Christianity and liberty". [1]
• John Howard Yoder, The Politics of Jesus (1972)
• "Politics", entry in The Oxford Companion to Christian Thought, Adrian Hastings, Alistair Mason, and Hugh Pyper, editors. (Oxford, 2000)
  ISBN 0-19-860024-0
• McKendry R. Langley, The Politics of Political Spirituality: Episodes from the Public Career of Abraham Kuyper, 1879-1918 (Jordan Station, Ont.: Paideia Press, 1984)
  ISBN 0-88815-070-9
• Myles, Robert J. (2019). Class Struggle in the New Testament. Lanham: Fortress Academic.
  ISBN 978-1-9787-0209-7
  .
• Obery M. Hendricks Jr., The Politics of Jesus: Rediscovering the True Revolutionary Nature of Jesus' Teachings and How They Have Been Corrupted (2006)
• C. C. Pecknold, Christianity and Politics: A Brief Guide to the History (Cascade, 2010)

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to Christianity and politics.

• A Modern Christian Political Organization
• The Christian and the Authorities
• Radio Interview with Dr. Stephen Bede Scharper: A Political Theology of the Environment, University of Toronto, 3 October 2008.