Gods, Kings, and Social Power

Political Ideology in Hinduism and the Biblical Worldview

von George Anthony Paul, Naveen Kumar Vadde

38 Seiten, Taschenbuch

Kurzbeschreibung des Verlags

Gods, Kings, and Social PowerPolitical Ideology in Hinduism and the Biblical WorldviewWhen political power is clothed in sacred language, who is permitted to judge the king?

Hindu political texts offer sober reflections on order, protection, punishment, administration, counsel, and the danger of wicked rulers. Yet they also manufacture the sacred king, elevate daṇḍa-the rod of punishment-and charge political authority with guarding varṇāśrama. If ruler, law, and social hierarchy reinforce one another, where is the institutional brake?

This volume examines legitimacy, divine kingship, unequal penalties, protective rule, caste enforcement, tyranny, and resistance across Dharmaśāstra, epic, and statecraft traditions. It presents the strongest case for kingship as protection against disorder, then asks whether protection remains just when one offense receives different punishment in different bodies.

The issue is not whether ancient India understood government. It did. The issue is whether political authority stands beneath a universal moral law or becomes the armed guardian of a sacred social order.

The biblical worldview neither deifies rulers nor abolishes authority. Kings remain creatures. Law stands above office. Partiality is condemned. The state bears a limited sword under God, and Jesus Christ alone is Lord.

This book is a direct challenge to every theology that turns political power into sacred immunity.

• Reihe: Independently published
• ISBN: 9798188922825
• Sprache: Englisch
• Erscheinungsdatum: 25.07.2026
• Größe: 229 x 152 mm
• Verlag: Independently published