Topic

Augustine and Aquinas view on religion and government

Instructions

Discuss the views on Augustine and Aquinas on religion and government.

Answer preview

From most of the studies on concepts related to medieval political theory, Augustine and Aquinas provide different explanations regarding subjection and governmental authority. According to Augustine, he describes administrative jurisdiction as being coercive. In the comments, he thought that coercion was the restraining factor on human beings. Otherwise, human beings would act on their lust and the yearning for power would make the society not suitable to live (Weithman, 1992). In contrast, Aquinas thoughts obtained from Aristotle’s teachings seem to be confident towards political theory. His teachings which were drawn from Aristotle explanations on view of the world indicate that world and Christianity are compatible (Swartz, 2010).

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