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The STUDIA UNIVERSITATIS BABEŞ-BOLYAI issue article summary
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Abstract: Church and State at St. John Chrysostom. The present paper tries to underline the main aspects of Chrysostom’s thinking regarding the relation between Church and State. The starting point in our analysis is the Edict of Milan, thanks to which the status of the Christian Church was about to be irremediably changed, this new situation bringing a lot of great advantages, but also some disadvantages. Up to the patriarchate of Saint John in Constantinople, there were three major attitudes of the new Christian emperors towards the Church, which we have tried, briefly, to emphasize. Nevertheless, these were attitudes that characterized, and will characterize during the history, rather the Western part of the Empire in its relation with the Christian Church.
As regarding the Eastern part, which was known under the name of “The Byzantine Empire”, the so-called Byzantine symphony was not without thorns, especially in that sphere where the interests of the Emperor and of the Church collided: the external od administrative field of ecclesiastical affairs, with its most important aspect, the appointment to or dismissal from patriarchal office. Even the appointment of Chrysostom was an example of this kind. He will be soon in conflict with the imperial court (but not only with it), especially on moral grounds. This is, in fact, the main criterion according to which Saint John analyses the relation between Church and State: the Christian moral law. The State is now Christian; its citizens must be, first of all, good Christians. The society is, in fact, the Body of Christ; the citizens are members of this body. All members are hierarchically structured, they must be content with their positions and must fulfill their suitable responsibilities, otherwise it will all turn into chaos. What are the responsibilities of the State? How should be a good emperor? What about the Church and its mission? Which one comes in the first place, the Church or the State? All these questions will receive an answer by reading this paper.
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