Christian republic
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A Christian republic is a government that is both Christian and republican. As of the 21st century, the only countries in the world with a republican form of government and with Christianity as the established religion are Costa Rica,[a] Finland,[b] Greece,[c] Armenia,[d] Samoa,[e] Iceland,[f] and Malta.[g] Some other republics, such as Argentina,[1] Georgia,[h] Peru,[i] Guatemala,[j] Panama,[k] El Salvador,[l] and Paraguay,[m] give some credit or preference to Christianity, but without establishing it as the religion of the state. Others, such as Hungary,[n] and Zambia,[o] describe themselves as Christian countries.
Concept
In
Rousseau's thesis is that the two are incompatible because they make different demands upon the virtuous man. Christianity, according to Rousseau, demands submission (variously termed "servitude" or "slavery" by scholars of his work) to imposed authority and resignation, and requires focus upon the unworldly; whereas republicanism demands participation rather than submission, and requires focus upon the worldly. Rousseau's position on Christianity is not universally held. Indeed, it was refuted by, amongst others, his friend Antoine-Jacques Roustan in a reply to the Social Contract.[3][5][6][7]
Rousseau's thesis has a basis in the prior writings of Niccolò Machiavelli,[5][8][9][10] whom Rousseau called a "bon citoyen et honnête homme" and who alongside Montesquieu was one of Rousseau's sources for republican philosophy.[11] In his Discoursi Machiavelli observes that Christianity in practice has not met the ideals of its foundation, and that the resultant corruption leads, when mixed with secular political ideals, to something that is neither good religion nor good politics.[10][12][11] Further, he argues, whilst Christianity does not preclude love for one's country, it does require citizens to endure damage to republican government, stating that the best civic virtue in regards to a republic is to show no mercy to the republic's enemies and to put to death or to enslave the inhabitants of an opposing city that has been defeated.[12]
Calvinist republics
Calvin's Geneva
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/82/Tachtigjarige_oorlog_1577-1578.svg/300px-Tachtigjarige_oorlog_1577-1578.svg.png)
While the classical writers had been the primary ideological source for the republics of Italy, in Northern Europe, the
Netherlands
Calvinism played an important role in the republican revolts in England and the Netherlands. Like the city-states of Italy and the Hanseatic League, both were important trading centres, with a large merchant class prospering from the trade with the New World. Large parts of the population of both areas also embraced Calvinism. During the
Earlier during the Dutch Revolt, many autonomous cities in the Southern Netherlands also came under the control of radical Calvinists, especially in the years 1577–1578, and formed so-called Calvinist republics. Due to its extreme theocratic tendencies, the most notable was the Calvinist Republic of Ghent (1577–1584), but Antwerp and Brussels have also been characterised by historians as Calvinist republics between 1577 and 1585. One by one, these cities were reconquered by the Spanish Army of Flanders commanded by Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma. In the north, Amsterdam experienced the Alteratie, a bloodless coup in which Calvinists took control of the city, but mostly in order to end its economic isolation and resume trade; no Calvinist regime was established here.
English Commonwealth
In 1641 the
See also
- Christian state
- Christian democracy
- Christian egalitarianism
- Christianity
- Christian libertarianism
- Christianity and politics
- Civil religion
- Islamic republic
- Islamic state
- Jewish state
- Secular republic
- State religion
Notes
- ^ "Costa Rica Constitution in English – Constitutional Law – Costa Rica Legal Topics". costaricalaw.com. Archived from the original on 6 September 2015.
- ISBN 9781452266565.
Finland (5.2 million) constitutes a unique case, as it has two national churches, the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church and the Orthodox Church.
- Jesus Christ as its head, is inseparably united in doctrine with the Great Church of Christ in Constantinopleand with every other Church of Christ of the same doctrine, observing unwaveringly, as they do, the holy apostolic and syn- odal canons and sacred traditions. It is autocephalous and is administered by the Holy Synod of serving Bishops and the Permanent Holy Synod originating thereof and assembled as specified by the Statutory Charter of the Church in compliance with the provisions of the Patriarchal Tome of June 29, 1850 and the Synodal Act of September 4, 1928.
- ^ "Article 18 of the Constitution of Armenia".
The Republic of Armenia shall recognise the exclusive mission of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church, as a national church, in the spiritual life of the Armenian people, in the development of their national culture and preservation of their national identity.
- ^ Wyeth, Grant (16 June 2017). "Samoa Officially Becomes a Christian State". The Diplomat. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
- ^ "Constitution of the Republic of Iceland: Article 62". Government of Iceland.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church shall be the State Church in Iceland and, as such, it shall be supported and protected by the State.
- ^ "Constitution of Malta". Leġiżlazzjoni Malta. L-Uffiċju tal-Avukat tal-Istat (State Attorney's Office, Malta). Retrieved 8 November 2020. - While Article 40 states: "all persons in Malta shall have full freedom of conscience and enjoy the free exercise of their respective mode of religious worship.", Article 2 states: "(1) The religion of Malta is the Roman Catholic Apostolic Religion. (2) The authorities of the Roman Catholic Apostolic Church have the duty and the right to teach which principles are right and which are wrong. (3) Religious teaching of the Roman Catholic Apostolic Faith shall be provided in all State schools as part of compulsory education."
- Orthodox Church of Georgiain the history of Georgia and its independence from the State.
- ^ "Constitution of the Republic of Peru" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-07-24. Retrieved 2020-05-25.
Within an independent and autonomous system, the State recognizes the Catholic Church as an important element in the historical, cultural, and moral formation of Peru and lends it its cooperation. The State respects other denominations and may establish forms of collaboration with them.
- ^ "Guatemala's Constitution of 1985 with Amendments through 1993" (PDF). Constitution Project.
The juridical personality of the Catholic Church is recognized. The other churches, cults, entities, and associations of religious character will obtain the recognition of their juridical personality in accordance with the rules of their institution[,] and the Government may not deny it[,] aside from reasons of public order. The State will extend to the Catholic Church, without any cost, [the] titles of ownership of the real assets which it holds peacefully for its own purposes, as long as they have formed part of the patrimony of the Catholic Church in the past. The property assigned to third parties or those
- ^ "Panama's Constitution of 1972 with Amendments through 2004" (PDF). constituteproject.org.
All religions may be professed and all forms of worship practiced freely, without any other limitation than respect for Christian morality and public order. It is recognized that the Catholic religion is practiced by the majority of Panamanians.
- ^ "El Salvador's Constitution of 1983 with Amendments through 2014" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-02-08. Retrieved 2020-05-25.
The juridical personality of the Catholic Church is recognized. The other churches may obtain recognition of their personality in conformity with the law.
- ^ "Constitution of the Republic of Paraguay".
The role played by the Catholic Church in the historical and cultural formation of the Republic is hereby recognized.
- ^ "Hungary's Constitution of 2011" (PDF).
We are proud that our king Saint Stephen built the Hungarian State on solid ground and made our country a part of Christian Europe one thousand years ago.
- ^ "Constitution of Zambia" (PDF).
DECLARE the Republic a Christian nation while upholding the right of every person to enjoy that person's freedom of conscience or religion
References
Citations
- ^ http://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Argentina_1994.pdf?lang=en%7Ctitle=Argentina's Constitution of 1853, Reinstated in 1983, with Amendments through 1994|work=constituteproject.org
- ^ Beiner 2010, p. 3.
- ^ a b Beiner 2010, p. 13.
- ^ Walsh 1997, p. 168.
- ^ a b c Cristi 2001, p. 19–20.
- ^ Rosenblatt 1997, p. 264.
- ^ Bellah 1992, p. 166.
- ^ Kries 1997, p. 268.
- ^ Viroli & Hanson 2003, p. 175.
- ^ a b Beiner 2010, p. 35.
- ^ a b Viroli 1990, p. 171–172.
- ^ a b Pocock 2003, p. 214.
- ^ Finer, Samuel. The History of Government from the Earliest Times. Oxford University Press, 1999. pg. 1020.
- ^ "Republicanism." Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment pg. 435
- ^ "Introduction." Republicanism: a Shared European Heritage. By Martin van Gelderen and Quentin Skinner. Cambridge University Press, 2002 pg. 1
Sources
- Beiner, Ronald S. (2010). Civil Religion: A Dialogue in the History of Political Philosophy. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-73843-9.
- ISBN 978-0-226-04199-5.
- Cristi, Marcela (2001). From civil to political religion: the intersection of culture, religion and politics. Wilfrid Laurier University Press. ISBN 978-0-88920-368-6.
- Kries, Douglas (1997). "Rousseau and the Problem of Religious Toleration". In Kries, Douglas (ed.). Piety and humanity: essays on religion and early modern political philosophy. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-0-8476-8619-3.
- ISBN 978-0-691-11472-9.
- Rosenblatt, Helena (1997). "The Social Contract". Rousseau and Geneva: from the first discourse to the social contract, 1749–1762. Ideas in context. Vol. 46. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-57004-6.
- Viroli, Maurizio (1990). "The concept of ordre and the language of classical republicanism in Jean-Jacques Rousseau". In Pagden, Anthony (ed.). The Languages of Political Theory in Early-Modern Europe. Ideas in Context. Vol. 4. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-38666-1.
- Viroli, Maurizio; Hanson, Derek (2003). Jean-Jacques Rousseau and the "Well-Ordered Society". Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-53138-2.
- ISBN 978-0-8262-1082-1.