On Temporal and Spiritual Authority

by Bellarmine, Robert

• ISBN13: 9780865977174
• ISBN10: 0865977178
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-04-24
• Publisher: Liberty Fund

Summary

Robert Bellarmine was one of the most original and influential political theorists of his time. He participated in several of the political debates that agitated early modern Europe, such as the controversy over the Oath of Allegiance in England. Bellarmine presents one of the clearest and most coherent definitions of the nature and aim of temporal authority and its relationship to spiritual authority. The king has jurisdiction over the body, the pope over the conscience. This distinction was crucial for the history of early modern monarchies: the conflict between state and church ceased to be concerned with physical persons and become a contest for the consciences of subjects. The political thought of Bellarmine was at the center of post-Reformation debates on the relationship between state and church; on the nature, aim, and limits of temporal government; and on the relation between religion and natural law. He posed in a novel, controversial manner the relationship between public and private spheres, thus opening up questions central to what we consider 'modernity'. This accessible edition of some of Ballarmine's most important works in fresh translations will be interesting for a wide readership of both scholars of political thought and the educated general public.

Author Biography

Stefania Tutino is Professor of History and Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is the author, most recently, of Empire of Souls: Robert Bellarmine and the Christian Commonwealth (Oxford 2010).

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. ix
Notes on the Translation	p. xxiii
Biographical Notes	p. xxvii
Abbreviations and Frequently Cited Works	p. li
Acknowledgments	p. lii
On Temporal and Spiritual Authority
On Laymen or Secular People	p. 1
On the Temporal Power of the Pope. Against	p. 121
On the Primary Duty of the Supreme Pontiff	p. 407
Index of Works Cited by Bellarmine	p. 421
Bibliography of Works Cited by the Editor	p. 439
Index	p. 445
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