Introduction:

         Christian history has developed two major traditions of reflection upon the Nations State and the quest for political order. The first is the Augustinian tradition, which has had major influence upon such diverse groups as the pro-papal publicists of the 12^th and 13^th and centuries and, a far different, Martin Luther, John calvin, and their modern interpreters like Reinhold Nibuhr.

         The other tradition stretches back to Thomas Aquinas, and behind him to Aristotle and the classical idea of the polis as a res publica. Thomas influenced Roman Catholic thought upon the state from his own day down to the present. Especially is this the case if one interprets Aquinas as moving in the same direction as John of Paris and Marsilius of Padua in seeking to establish a purely natural basis for the state, independent of God’s special revelation in Christ.

         I plan here to analyze some of the principle ideas in each of these two traditions, ideas which are by no means always in agreement, and then apply this to our modern situation and its critical search for a stable world order.