FREE ESSAY ON RELIGION, THE STATE AND SOVEREIGNTY

RELIGION, THE STATE AND SOVEREIGNTY

Religion, the State and Sovereignty
The influence of religion on humankind can be traced back to the 
first records of history. Religion has served as a pillar of strength 
to some and binding chains to others. There are vast amounts of 
information and anthropological studies revealing the interaction of 
religion and humankind. However, for the purposes of this paper, the 
time periods of study will be broken up into three sections. Each 
section will give a general description of how religion affected the 
institution of the state and its Sovereignty in a Euro-centric 
perspective. The first period is the early period, which will encompass 
from Christianity and the Roman Empire to the Medieval times (approx. 
311 to 1100 A.D.). The second period will include the Renaissance, the 
Reformation to the Treaty of Westphalia (1101 to 1648 A.D.). The third 
and increment of history will range from 1649 to 1945 A.D. 
The date 311 A.D. marks the issuing of the Edict of Toleration 
for Christians. This date is important because it symbolizes national 
acceptance of Christianity, and planted its roots as a political 
institution. Later the Roman Empire on the verge of internal collapse 
acknowledged the importance of Christianity and used it to hold 
together the remnants of it former self. This adoption of Christianity 
took form and eventually became the Catholic church.
The church became intermingled with politics and became a strong 
entity. The policies delivered from the church had more authority than 
the local rulers and magistrates of the developing feudal system. For 
example, St. Augustine wrote about war and what justified its enactment 
against fellow men. This policy was followed and adhered to for 
hundreds of years after St. Augustine wrote it. 
Another example, is the use of the Bible as a guideline for 
establishing governing systems. Scripture portrayed God as choosing the 
king of the people. The pope, being God's representative was then 
given the authority to crown the king. This crowning process gave the 
pope large influence in the political arena. This ritual continued for 
a number of centuries.
The Crusades, which occurred around 1100 A.D., played a crucial 
role in challenging the church's authority. The pope identifying the 
spread of Islam as evil requested all of Europe embark on a Crusade to 
defeat the infidels. As the battles were fought, great treasures were 
found in the form of books and knowledge. These books were crude 
translations of old Greek texts, containing information which would 
eventually produce the waning of Church authority in the future.
The Renaissance marked the beginning of intellectual re-birth. 
Writers such as Dante, Machiavelli, Guiarccidini, Vitoria, etc., all 
attempting to reform and some even contest church dominance. Dante in 
his imaginative work Inferno writes of hell which he envision is the 
pope's final destination. Machiavelli takes a more direct role 
classifying the actions of a prince to be above morality and ultimately 
above the Church. He continues the affront by classifying a human 
character of virtu as being completely centered around man (humanism). 
The Raison D' Tat is supreme especially in terms of the church 
belligerence.
In the middle of the Renaissance, the Church was dealt a deadly 
blow from which it would never recover. This assault came via Martin 
Luther. His work, 95 Thesis, marked the beginning of the Reformation. 
This movement split the church into Catholic and Protestant sects. It 
marked the beginning of a bloody period which virtually split Europe in 
half. Examples of the conflict raged between Protestants and Catholics 
from the great slaughter of Protestants in Paris 1572 A.D. (7000 dead) 
to the Thirty Years War. With the Church in disarray, freedom was given 
to the state to begin to develop. 
During this period of Renaissance the political identity was 
going through a tremendous transformation. This transformation took 
form in what is called Absolutism. Princes began to tolerate less and 
less manipulation from the church. The political entity in the form of 
monarchy began to wean itself from the Church for its legitimacy and 
looked toward its own power.
Other writers began to rise and discuss issues of sovereignty 
and the state. Thomas Hobbes discusses the state and refers to it as 
Leviathan which is the concurring title of his work. Believing man to 
be evil, Hobbes fashions his description of the state as the mechanism 
to control and harness the capabilities of man. There can be no peace 
as long as there is not absolute surrender to reason. The state's 
interest is supreme, as well as, its authority. These ideas were 
written in direct opposition to the church and its history. Hobbes 
desired a complete refutation of the Church's influence in government.
Hobbes portrays a state as sovereign. The sovereignty of the 
state is in direct relation to its longevity and basic existence. 
State sovereignty must be perpetual and supreme. The authority of this 
described state would over-shadow the authority of the church.
Continuing historically, the development of the thirty years war 
was significant in its unique result. The treaty of Westphelia was the 
agreement which not only settled the war, but gave absolute authority to 
the sovereign of each individual state. This was accomplished by 
granting the sovereign the right to choose which religion he/she desired 
and that in turn transferred down to the people. Thus, once again the 
authority of the church was restricted, however this time by the 
emergence of an institution called the state.
During this period states begin to develop colonies and 
exploration of the new world. The discoveries and travel further 
challenged church authority. An example of this is the well founded 
scientific fact that the earth was flat. After such journeys by 
Columbus and Magellan, the concept of church's monopoly on truth was 
attacked once again.
The third period in history starts with the age of reason. Its 
intellectual basis of the time period is science and natural law. 
Empiricism plays a fundamental role in church legitimacy. Factual 
concrete proof of God and his work is not provided by science. States 
begin to mature politically as colonial powers. The Church or rather 
the concept of religion is still strong but begins a transformation 
during the Enlightenment. From Religion ideas of morality and natural 
law arise. 
Locke addresses the role of the government of a state. He 
portrays the ideas of a social contract between the people and its 
government. He continued by pointing out that the government has a 
commitment with the people it must with hold. Locke's writings also 
contained concepts concerning of natural rights which are inherent to 
human beings. This developed and identified that power now comes from 
the people. These people from which the government is derived and power 
(legitimacy) have rights and will be safe-guarded by the people.
The French and American Revolutions harnessed the ideas which 
the enlightenment wrote and discussed. The French Revolution 
exemplified the early stages of nationalism. Nationalism derives from a 
grouping of people who share common cultural and social experiences. 
*From nationalism the concept of self-determination is derived. 
Phrases like, We the People. . . began to show up in constitutions and 
declarations, which showed consensus among people with like-minded 
purposes.
The inception of positive law was the last and final blow to the 
concept of religion. Positive law is fashioned and codified by man. 
The law has replaced the concept of morality. The framework which laws 
create make the state and its sovereign powers legitimate and legal. 
States no longer operate in terms of what is just but on whether the 
legality for the action or jurisdiction have application.
The evolution of the state and its sovereignty is clear. The 
Church once being a dominant political factor has been reduced to a mere 
whisper of advice. The influence of religion in instituting or in the 
elective process of choosing a representative ruler has been severely 
minimized. Sovereignty and the institution of the State has surpassed 
predestination and Divine Right of Kings.