Church and State

Church and State

Political Theory: Church and State

Introduction to Church and State

Important shifts of emphasis have usually been related to the challenges of concrete historical and social problems. In the Middle Ages, for example, much political writing dealt with the outstanding political issue of the time, the protracted struggle for supremacy between the Roman Catholic church and the Holy Roman Empire. The Italian philosopher St. Thomas Aquinas defended the role of the church in his Summa Theologica (1265-73), while Dante argued in De Monarchia (On Monarchy, c. 1313) for a united Christendom under emperor and pope, each supreme in his appropriate sphere. In The Prince (1532) the Italian statesman Niccolò Machiavelli transcended the traditional church-state debate by realistically evaluating the problems and possibilities of governments seeking to maintain power.” (1)

Church and State

From the book The Clergyman’s Hand-book of Law, about Church and State (1): In most of the Christian countries, the Church and State were united, and many of the judges in the civil courts were clergymen.18

Resources

Notes and References

  1. Charles M. Scanlan, The Clergyman’s Hand-book of Law. The Law of Church and Grave (1909), Benziger Brothers, New York, Cincinnati, Chicago

See Also

  • Religion
  • Church

Resources

Notes and References

Guide to Church and State


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