Abstract

GARCIA BAZAN, Francisco. Religion and politics among the first Christians. Scripta Mediaevalia [online]. 2014, vol.7, n.1, pp.29-54. ISSN 1851-8753.

This article consists of an introduction that examines a passage of the Gospel of Mark (12, 13-17) in relation to the payment of taxes, as a proof of the archaics Christian religious and political problems. The issue of religion and politics, which has an inherent complexity, includes also the study of a direct Gnostic document, the Tripartite Treaty (NHC I, 5), because it holds the political additionally philosophical vocabulary used by early Christians. The study of the investigated topic is besides useful given that it allows to analyze, with superior technicality, the political and religious conception of Paul of Tarsus and its possible applications to the emerging Christian political culture. Taking into account this context it is possible to go into detail about the meaning of the term kath' ékhon that appears in the second epistle written by Paul to the Thessalonians (2 Thess. 2, 1-12) and the relationship of this set of political concepts with other similar religious ideas, even though ambivalents, that have been coined by the authors of the immediate following generations, i. e., the Apostolic Fathers. Findings deal the consequences that could be drawn from these old approaches which have remained during Middle Ages, and its potential effectiveness in order to improve the current political Christian conception.

Keywords : Politics; Religion; Eschatology; Gospels; Paul; Gnostics.

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