Description
Angelic Politics
Book Summary
This work presents the first critical and annotated edition of the five dialogues that make up the Angelic Politics by Antonio Enríquez Gómez, originally printed in Rouen in 1647. The reader will find a fundamental political treatise of the 17th century that aspires to build a science of government based on the Holy Scriptures. Against what the author calls the dominant "satanic politics," an alternative model is proposed that guarantees freedom of conscience, fosters virtue and justice, and prioritizes personal merit over lineage. It is a key work for understanding the political and religious thought of Baroque Spain.
What is it about?
The Angelic Politics is a set of five dialogues that constitute an authentic political summa. In them, Antonio Enríquez Gómez develops an ambitious design for a science of government. The author contrasts two political models: satanic politics, which he identifies with the corrupt and oppressive power practices of his time, and angelic politics, an ideal of government inspired directly by the Holy Scriptures. Through this confrontation, the work explores how a just State should be structured to guarantee freedom of conscience, promote civic virtue, administer justice with mercy, and value merit above blood or social origin.
Main themes
- Political philosophy of the Spanish Golden Age.
- Critique of raison d'état and the corruption of power.
- Biblical foundation of government and authority.
- Defense of freedom of conscience as a fundamental right.
- Personal merit versus inherited nobility as the basis for social justice.
Who is it recommended for?
This book is aimed at researchers, students, and readers interested in the history of political thought, Golden Age philosophy, studies on dialogue literature, and Judeo-converso thought in early modern Spain. It will also be of great value to specialists in the work of Antonio Enríquez Gómez and in the 17th-century "Christian politics" current.
What this book offers
- Access to the first critical and annotated edition of a text fundamental to the history of political ideas in Spain.
- An alternative and critical vision of power, based on biblical and social justice principles, which questions the structures of its time.
- A rigorous analysis that allows for an understanding of the tensions between religion, politics, and individual liberty in the Hispanic Baroque.
- An indispensable tool for delving into the thought of a key author of the Judeo-converso exile.
Technical specifications
- Author: Enríquez Gómez, Antonio
- Publisher: University of Huelva
- Language: Spanish
- Subject: Bibles, biblical studies, and exegesis
- Collection: Bibliotheca Montaniana
- Binding: Paperback
- Number of pages: 294
- Weight: 727 g
Editorial review
This critical edition of Angelic Politics represents a first-rate academic contribution to the study of 17th-century political thought. Enríquez Gómez's work, with its proposal for a government founded on Scripture and the defense of freedom of conscience, offers a singular perspective often marginalized by traditional historiography. Its value lies both in the quality of the recovered text and in the pertinence of its reflections on justice, merit, and power, which remain of great interest to the specialized reader.