El Mesías ante la ley: Imperium y sacerdotium enla teología política de Campanella The Messiah and the law: imperium and sacerdotium in Campanella’s political theory

Resumen

El artículo explora aspectos jurídicos y religiosos de la teología política de Campanella, a partir de su reconocimiento del doble carácter del Mesías, como legislador y como redentor, que lleva al monje calabrés a sentar las bases del poder soberano y su división entre Imperium y Sacerdotium.

Abstract

This article intends to explore some juridical and religious aspects of Tommaso Campanella’s political theology. Starting from the recognition of the double character of the Messiah as legislator and redeemer, the Calabrian monk lays the foundations of the sovereign power that is consequently divided into imperium and sacerdotium. The analysis is focused on some archetypical aspects of Campanella’s conception of sovereign power: the relationship between auctoritas and potestas, the doctrine of the lex animata and the consideration of the biblical figure of Melchisedech as a theocratic emblem of the Pope-King. Besides, the messianic and eschatological aspects of Campanella’s political thought are specially taken into account through the study of his doctrine of the fatal number and the coming of the Antichrist. The author postulates the existence of a fundamental philosophical relationship between the Campanellian theory of imperial power and the theologico-political doctrine of the katechon that finds a continuation in the contemporary works of the jurist Carl Schmitt and the theologian Erik Peterson.