"[...] the Christian idea of man “made in the image and likeness of God” has created, on a political level, a tension that runs through the entire history of the West. It is, in fact, an ideal which, despite compromising and even murky vicissitudes, between ‘theocratic’ temptations and ‘satanocratic’ rejections of political power, has exerted, throughout history, a sometimes overwhelming pressure on its antithetical worldly element. “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's”: with this, the principle that Káysar is not Kýrios entered history – political power was desacralised, the worldly order relativised, and Caesar's demands subjected to a judgement of legitimacy by an inviolable conscience. On this basis, Origen could justify, against Celsus, the refusal of Christians to associate themselves with the cult of the emperor or to refuse to kill in obedience to his orders."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Laicità. Le sue radici, le sue ragioni, Rubbettino, Soveria Mannelli, 2010, p. 59
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dario_Antiseri
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Dario Antiseri
Dario Antiseri (9 January 1940 – 12 February 2026) was an Italian philosopher and essayist.
19 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Dario Antiseri →
Related Quotes
"You cannot be a philosopher. You cannot be one because you are a believer. A Catholic cannot be a philosopher'. So sa…"
"In science, nothing is certain: neither general assertions nor observational assertions. (p. 7)"
"The acceptability of a scientific theory is relative to the knowledge and technical resources available at a given ti…"
"An open society is [...] open to as many people as possible with different and perhaps conflicting ideas, ideals and …"
"“'Information does not produce imperatives”'. And, therefore, it is not logically possible to move from being to ough…"
"At the beginning of the academic year 1946-1947, Karl R. Popper received an invitation from the Secretary of the Mora…"
"Living is learning. Science evolves in a Darwinian way: through trial and error."
"Popper argues that the worst aspects of Marxism stem from Hegelianism, namely historicism and totalitarianism. Not on…"
"Closely connected with the idea of “rationality”, understood as a critical attitude, Popper developed the theory of t…"
"Popper developed what is today the most rigorous, articulate and devastating critique of Marxism."