Year: 1949
Type: article
Abstract: A MONG the twenty authorities cited by Bellarmine in the Contro- versies as supporting the "middle position common to Catholic theologians" on the power of the Church in temporal affairs is found the name of John of Paris. 1 The citation is justified in what concerns the substance of the so-called indirect power, that is, the right of the Church to intervene, as N. J ung has recently put it, "whenever a temporal affair raises a moral issue and engages the spiritual order." 1 However, J ohn of Paris diITers considerably from Bellarmine in his explanation of the indirect power.And if it be true to say with Moulart that "the Holy See today, while emphatically maintaining the indirect power, has abandoned the explanations of Bellarmine,"J it would be interesting to know whether the contemporary action of the Church is being guided by ideas found in the tradition of which J ohn of Paris was a qualified spokesman; and if so, what light this fact may throw on the contemporary state of Catholic teaching on Church-state relationships.The work of John of Paris, De potestate regia et papali,' has commanded the attention of leading historians of political theory.In his • F. X. Arnold, Die Staatsle/rre des Kardi11als Bellarmill (Munich, 1934), p. 310.• R. W. and A. J. Carlyle, Ilislory of MtdiffiU Political Theory i,i tlte We.st, V (2nd ed., Edinburgh and London, 1938), 437.7 C.H. Mc!lwain, Tire Growth of Political Tltouglttill tlte West (New York, 1932) , p. 263.• J. Bowle, Western Politkal Thought (London
Source: Theological Studies
Author: John Courtney Murray
Language: English
Subfield: Religious studies
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2323933690