The kingdom of Caesar and the reign of Christ

This article by Protopresbyter Alexis Kniazeff, rector of the Saint Sergius Institute in Paris, constitutes the concluding part of a theological study on the relationship between temporal power and the reign of Christ. Adopting an approach that is simultaneously historical, exegetical, and prospective, the author examines the scriptural and liturgical foundations of the relationship between Caesar and the Church, drawing in particular on the Byzantine office of the Exaltation of the Cross and on the Pauline theology of kenosis. The central idea is that Caesar, by accepting the law of Christ, participates in the Lordship of Christ and receives the charism of wisdom. Faced with contemporary secularization, Kniazeff formulates twelve propositions defining the role of the Church in a pluralist state governed by the rule of law, rejecting all theocracy in favor of a prophetic and iconoclastic cooperation. The theological contribution lies in the distinction between institutional symphony and spiritual collaboration, and in the shift of responsibility toward the Church alone in the post-Constantinian era.