Eusebius of Caesarea’s Political Theology: An Approach from the Schmittian Paradigm
Abstract
Eusebius of Caesarea’s political theology—the earliest within the Christian tradition—has secured a prominent position in scholarship on Late Antique political thought. Nevertheless, although Eusebius’s position as the paradigmatic political theologian arises from the historiographical debate between Erik Peterson and Carl Schmitt, not even Schmitt himself returned to Eusebius’s oeuvre in order to interpret it through the parameters of political theology as he had conceived it. Drawing on an analysis of the principal works in which Eusebius articulates his position, the De Laudibus Constantini and the Vita Constantini, we argue that his theorization exhibits affinities with the notion of political theology inaugurated by Schmitt. In making this case, we focus on Eusebius’s understanding of Trinitarian doctrine, as well as his treatment of mimesis and eschatology. In light of this analysis, we maintain that the theological–political framework Eusebius constructs is not the product of a self-serving political agenda, but rather an interpretation of the realities of his age informed by his theological convictions.
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