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author: Valerii Sekisov


Urgency of the research. Social and political processes that are taking place in Ukraine have made the problem of the church-state relations, as well as church-civil society relations to be a matter of high urgency. Today the first and foremost task of theology is to reconcile faith with social reality. Social transformations have led to revision of traditional approaches and interpretations of church-state-society relations and outlined new challenges that go beyond established views and encourage defining public position and active participation in modern processes. The same applies to individual religious communities, where discussions on the "Christian attitude to power" continue. Important aspects of such discussions are the reference to biblical texts, as well as the discovery of the achievements of theological thought in the field of political theology.

Target setting. The twentieth century was heavily marked with deep crisis and terrible wars that appeared to be a real test for all humanity. The church therefore faced new challenges that required new answers. The interwar period became a dramatic background for the formation of a new theological movement of Protestantism, which later became known as dialectical theology or crisis theology. Formation and struggle of new visions and trajectories on the European continent were largely linked to Germany and the German Church, and one of the most important challenges was the search for a new theological vision in relation of meaning, role and functions of church and state.

Actual scientific researches and issues analysis. Today, the problem of the relations between church and state is studied by a wide range of experts.
Our study is based on the works of K. Bart and S. Hauerwas, as well as some texts of both Ukrainian and foreign researchers. Among them are M. Cherenkov, James King, Richard Bell and others.

The research objective. The purpose of this study is to review the theological concepts of K. Barth and S. Hauerwas regarding state and church, their comparison and search for possible implications.

The statement of basic materials. The paper provides analysis of the teachings of K. Barth and S. Hauerwas on the relations between church and state. Unlike the Reformers, Swiss theologian proves the possibility of a positive connection between church and state and points out some ways of its realization. According to K. Barth, both church and state, belong to the Christological sphere, which legitimizes the latter for the church community, as well as calls for mutual service. According to S. Hauerwas, the criterion of power is the legitimization of violence, while the special feature of the church is the ability to make peace. In addition, Hauerwas demonstrates the danger of uncritical acceptance of dominant narratives on the example of liberalism. Thus, on the one hand, the paper demonstrates, the differences in the views of K. Barth and S. Hauerwas, and on the other hand, reflects on common grounds of both theologians, making this research highly relevant today.

Conclusions. A comparison of certain aspects of the political theology of K. Barth and S. Hauerwas helps us to outline the possible advantages and disadvantages of these approaches more clearly. Thus, there are only a few touches on the theological understanding of the state in Hauerwas's theology, which makes it impossible to criticize it, while Barth's political ideal of the Christian community is depicted too abstractly and may be applied too broadly. At the same time, the comparison of the two, makes it possible to single out common themes. Both Barth and Hauerwas emphased the central role of the Christological and ecclesiological concept in political theology in general, as well as an understanding of the exclusive role of the church in shaping of political space. According to the famous words of the American theologian: “The church does not have a social ethic; the church is a social ethic.” Thus, the church serves as a challenge to civil society and vice versa. Finally, despite Barth's criticism of apoliticism, Hauerwas believes that uncritical biased position of the church can make it a hostage, when Christians react rather than respond to pressing challenges. In this case, the church only follows ideological trends, instead of building its own policy based on Scripture and shaped through the practices of the Christian community.

Keywords: K. Barth, S. Hauerwas, the church, the state, political theology, liberalism.


References:
1. Bell, R 1974. ‘Kierkegaard and Wittgenstein: two strategies for understanding theology’, Iliff Review, 31, № 3, pp. 21-34.

2. Hauerwas, S 1994. ‘Dispatches from the front’, Duke University Press.

3. Yoder, J H 1989. ‘Body Politics: Five Practices of the Christian Community Before the Watching World’, Nashvill: Discipleship Resources.

4. King, J 2014. ‘Theologizing the state: what Hauerwas could have learned from Yoder’, International Journal of Public Theology, 8 № 3, pр. 313-329

5. Forell, WG 1962. Realized faith, the Ethics of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. In: M. E. Marty, ed. 1962. The place of Bonhoeffer. New York: Association Press. Ch. 8.

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7. Bart, K 2005. Poslanie k Rimlyanam (Epistle to the Romans), per. s nem. A. Petrova, Moskva : BBI im. Sv. Andreya, 580 s.

8. Kalvin, Zh 1999. Nastavleniya v hristianskoj vere (Instructions in the Christian faith), Moskva : Izdatelstvo Rossijskogo gumanitarnogo universiteta, T. 3, 640 s..

9. Cherenkov, M 2015. ‘Socialna teologiya yak theologia prima nashogo chasu (Social theology as theologia prima of our time)’, Religiya v Ukrayini. Dostupno: <https://www.religion.in.ua/zmi/ukrainian_zmi/29961-socialna-teologiya-yak-theologia-prima-nashogo-chasu.html> [20 Traven 2021].