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GOD'S DOMINION
- 377.
- “At the beginning of its history, the people of Israel are unlike other peoples in that they have no king, for they recognize the dominion of Yahweh alone. It is God who intervenes on Israel’s behalf through charismatic individuals.”
- 378.
- “The prototype of the king chosen by Yahweh is David, whose humble origins are a favorite topic of the biblical account.”
- “The failure of kingship on the historical level does not lead to the disappearance of the ideal of a king who, in fidelity to Yahweh, will govern with wisdom and act in justice.”
JESUS AND POLITICAL AUTHORITY
- 379.
- “Jesus refuses the oppressive and despotic power wielded by the rulers of the nations and rejects their pretension in having themselves called benefactors, but he does not directly oppose the authorities of his time.”
- “Jesus, the promised Messiah, fought against and overcame the temptation of a political messianism, characterized by the subjection of the nations.”
THE EARLY CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES
- 380.
- “Submission, not passive but ‘for the sake of conscience,’ to legitimate authority responds to the order established by God.”
- 381.
- “Praying for rules, which Saint Paul recommended even as he was being persecuted, implicitly indicates what political authority ought to guarantee: a calm and tranquil life led with piety and dignity.”
- 382.
- “When human authority goes beyond the limits willed by God, it makes itself a deity and demands absolute submission; it becomes the Beast of the Apocalypse, an image of the power of the imperial persecutor.”
- 383.
- “The Church proclaims that Christ, the conqueror of death, reigns over the universe that he himself has redeemed. His kingdom includes even the present times and will end only when everything is handed over to the Father and human history is brought to completion in the final judgment.”
