Christianity and Democracy

For a Theological Hermeneutics of the Political

Abstract

The reopened debate in contemporary society on the relationship between Christianity and democracy needs to be separated from current political issues and must be able to gain insight from broader and radical considerations. We ought to question, therefore, how the political was thought and lived originally within the Christian traditions. One element of this heritage can be identified in the process of secularization of political power effected by the Jewish world first, and then by the Christians. In the Jewish and Christian tradition, what causes the secularization of political power is the announcement of a different power, God’s sovereignty, and the announcement of his kingdom. This kingdom is not identified with any earthly kingdom, that is, a realm that belongs to the passing time, the saeculum. Jewish and Christian considerations on the political are characterized since the beginning as an intense meditation about the problem of evil. In any case, the political order has in itself a fundamental limit: even when perfect, it can not eliminate human exposure to evil.