"Give ear, O Israel: the LORD our God is one LORD."
(Deuteronomy 6:4)
Several theorists elaborated arguments in defense of monarchical absolutism, during the history of mankind, trying to explain the great concentration of power in the hands of the king, to the detriment of society. Among others, Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) and Jacques Bossuet (1627-1704). Thomas Hobbes (philosopher), author of the book “Leviathan”, argued in defense of the supremacy of the state, defended the hardening and strength of the government: The total power of the king and blind obedience of the subjects. According to Thomas Hobbes, the "state of nature" is the "War of all against all". The state was compared to a “mighty monster”, associated with the biblical figure of the dragon. According to Thomas Hobbes, the state was created to end society's disorder and insecurity.
Jacques Bossuet's theory (1627-1704) brought another argument in defense of absolutism. The philosopher defended the divine origin of the power conferred on the king, so he did not need to justify his attitudes, as he was above all. It was the height of absolutism whose motto was summed up in Jacques Bossuet's phrase: "A king, a faith, a law".
Comparing the society of the time with the functioning of the human body, an “open” system, the king was the head (brain) of the system and the subjects, members of the body. However, with absolute power in the hands of the king, the conception that the interests of the State and the interests of the people complement each other was abandoned. With that, the power of royalty began to be hard fought by society, mainly by groups of merchants and rural landowners. It was evident a neurological dysfunction between the government's thinking and the people's needs, the impact of the head of the absolute system on the body (subjects). The clinical diagnosis: "Entropy of monarchical absolutism" (the system's tendency to wear out, disintegrate and loosen standards, in favor of openness). So the solution was to import energy from the environment, from emerging social classes, especially from the bourgeoisie, to compensate for the entropic tendencies of monarchical absolutism. The remedy: "Homeostasis of the monarchy" (seeking to adapt the system to achieve internal balance, in the face of changes in the environment). The dose of the medication: "The parliament (1 (one) pill of 6 (six) in 6 (six) hours ". A process of transformation began, and the system evolved into a parliamentary monarchy, according to more flexible standards, aiming to meet the needs of the people. In some countries the monarchy has evolved into other forms representative of society. The absolute power of the king was limited, while attending to the political, economic and social interests of royalty. The way found to compensate for the loss of monarchy.
Having made this analogy of monarchical absolutism with the human body, an open system that exchanges energy with the environment, we proceed to analyze the possible causes of the entropy of absolutist systems. To begin with, I apologize to the philosophers, who are committed to going deeper into human questions. However, our commitment is to the arguments of the Holy Bible: The book of the beginning, Genesis:
"In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth.”
(Genesis 1:1)
God existed before the beginning of all things (Eternity of God), exclusive attribute of Divinity. God is the Creator of the universe, and everything in it. It has no beginning, no end, God is unique. Parentheses are opened to explain that the dragon, "mighty monster", which inspired Thomas Hobbes' "Leviathan" (1588-1679), is included in God's creation. Therefore, it is also under the domain of God. Man was created to dominate other beings, not to be dominated, as suggested by the philosopher Thomas Hobbes. These arguments are sufficient to explain the entropic tendency of absolutist systems: Man is the maximum creation of God.
“And God made great sea-beasts, and every sort of living and moving thing with which the waters were full, and every sort of winged bird: and God saw that it was good. ”
(Genesis. 1:21)
“And God said, Let us make man in our image, like us: and let him have rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every living thing
which goes flat on the earth.”
(Genesis 1: 26)
The "end of the law is Christ" (Romans 10:4). Therefore, it is not blind obedience to the king, but obedience according to the teachings of Jesus Christ: "King of kings", "Lord of lords", "Doctor of doctors", and so on. Jacques Bossuet's phrase: “A king, a faith, a law” doesn't make any sense. Is the tipping point on the downward curve of monarchical absolutism. (Dt 6.4)
"Give ear, O Israel: the LORD our God is one LORD."
(Deuteronomy 6:4)
"LORD" is one of the names of God, in the Old Testament, it means Self-Existing God who reveals himself. God has always existed and accepted to reveal himself to man as God the Redeemer (Jesus Christ) – (God's Plan for Salvation in Jesus Christ).
An explanation of the preference for the use of the expression follows: “exclusive attributes of divinity”, instead of the expression normally used in theology books: “incommunicable attributes of divinity”. The term “incommunicable” could suggest some remnant of religiosity (belief in a distant God who is not related to man).
In conclusion, Jesus Christ is the argument of Eternity, Omnipotence, Omnipresence, Immutability ...
We are the righteousness of God, in Christ.
Manoel Lúcio da Silva Neto is master in Production Engineering (Media and Knowledge), and author of the book Cristologia ao seu Alcance, 2010.