TY - GEN

T1 - Kristus, Kirke og Kejser i Eusebs og Athanasius’ politiske teologi

AU - Knudsen, Annette Hjort

PY - 2021

Y1 - 2021

N2 - : The Constantinian turn of the fourth century changed the circumstances of the Christian church. Instead of persecution, the Christian movement was embraced by the emperor and provided with considerable privileges. As the Christian movement had previously defined itself in opposition to the Roman power, this opposition was apparently suspended by the emperors change of heart. The church, therefore, found itself in an urgent theological dilemma: how should the church relate to the power that was offered by the emperor and how could this relationship be justified in theological terms? Can power be used to proactively promote the Christian cause in the world? Or is it rather a threat to the core of Christianity that must, therefore, be rejected?Two bishops, Eusebius of Caesarea (265 – 339) and Athanasius of Alexandria (ca. 298 – 373), provided two theologically distinct, yet very different answers to these questions. This article explores their answers and the very different political settings from which their answers arrived – one being counselor to the emperor, the other an exiled bishop. This seems to have contributed to the development of two opposed yet also partly complementary views on the ideal relationship between Christ, the church, and the emperor.

AB - : The Constantinian turn of the fourth century changed the circumstances of the Christian church. Instead of persecution, the Christian movement was embraced by the emperor and provided with considerable privileges. As the Christian movement had previously defined itself in opposition to the Roman power, this opposition was apparently suspended by the emperors change of heart. The church, therefore, found itself in an urgent theological dilemma: how should the church relate to the power that was offered by the emperor and how could this relationship be justified in theological terms? Can power be used to proactively promote the Christian cause in the world? Or is it rather a threat to the core of Christianity that must, therefore, be rejected?Two bishops, Eusebius of Caesarea (265 – 339) and Athanasius of Alexandria (ca. 298 – 373), provided two theologically distinct, yet very different answers to these questions. This article explores their answers and the very different political settings from which their answers arrived – one being counselor to the emperor, the other an exiled bishop. This seems to have contributed to the development of two opposed yet also partly complementary views on the ideal relationship between Christ, the church, and the emperor.

M3 - Konferencebidrag i proceedings

VL - Patristik 22

SP - 6

EP - 25

BT - I Konstantins skygge

ER -