Authority, Legitimacy and Sovereignty: Religion and Politics in the Roman Empire before Constantine
This essay traces Christian thinking about sacred and secular authority during the early centuries of the Roman Empire. Christian martyrdom, interpreted by apologists such as Tertullian, established a place for Christianity in Roman society and gave it authority against imperial power. From this con...
| Published in: | Studies in Christian ethics |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Sage
[2016]
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| In: |
Studies in Christian ethics
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| RelBib Classification: | BJ Islam CG Christianity and Politics KAB Church history 30-500; early Christianity SA Church law; state-church law |
| Further subjects: | B
APOLOGISTS (Christians)
B Sovereignty B Rome B Authority B SOCIALISM & Christianity B Bishops B Legitimacy B History B Social Conditions B Apologists B Martyrdom |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This essay traces Christian thinking about sacred and secular authority during the early centuries of the Roman Empire. Christian martyrdom, interpreted by apologists such as Tertullian, established a place for Christianity in Roman society and gave it authority against imperial power. From this confrontation there emerged a differentiation of religious and civil authority that provided a starting point for later constitutional ideas of separate and balanced powers and distinctions between state and civil society. A comparative perspective reminds us, however, that at their beginnings, Islam and Christianity faced quite different questions about religious and political authority. |
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| ISSN: | 0953-9468 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Studies in Christian ethics
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1177/0953946815623133 |