The origins of political theology and the theological argumentation of Peter Skarga

Abstract

Catholic post-Trident theology, despite its significant presence in the intellectual sphere of the XVI-XVII centuries and intense activity to restore the position of the church, is poorly represented in research. In Poland, in this context, where there was a heated debate between Orthodox and Catholics, unfolding, including on the pages of books, the key figure is the Jesuit P. Skarga. Regardless the large amount of attention from researchers, his works remain untranslated, and some aspects of his ideas are unexpressed. The purpose of the study is to find out which theological traditions influenced P.Skarga and which theological arguments for polemic in his writings he uses. As a result of the research, it turned out that P.Skarga in his works synthesizes the ideas of the scholastic, including post-trident, and humanistic traditions, clearly follows the patristic doctrine of heretics, at the same time, speaks sympathetically about pagans, expresses ideas influenced by R. Bellarmino, about ideal form of state, slightly touches on the topic of monarchomachy.