Abstract
This paper will examine the relationship between religion and democracy in the traditions of the Old Testament. Historically, scholars have argued that „democratic” thinking appeared after 800 B.C.E., in the Greek colonies of Asia Minor and also within the semi-independent cities of the Greek league. Scholars have argued that the fragmented geographical environment of ancient Greece seems to have shaped the independent mindset of its inhabitants. It has been shown that the geographical separation from mother Greece and the economic prosperity that merchants brought to the colonies influenced the attitude of their inhabitants toward philosophy and politics. Our study will focus mainly on the religion, culture and history of the Hebrew nation, as it is depicted in the Old Testament, or the Hebrew Bible. Our purpose is to show that the unique religious vision of the ancient Hebrews had a significant impact upon the development of the „democratic” consciousness of what later became the civilization of the Western world. To achieve this goal we will trace and analyze the role that biblical religion played as a catalyst in the movement for improving the rights of the disposed and the socially marginal classes of ancient Israel. We will argue that biblical religion shaped the attitude of the worshippers toward authority (political or ecclesial) in such a way that tyranny – though present at all stages of history– was always sanctioned. In the later part of the study we’ll show how this ideology impacted the thinking of Christian authors who had a crucial role in shaping the foundations of Democratic thinking.
Published Version
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