IK'YHE AS SYMBOL OF POWER FOR CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIANITY

Abstract

Historically, the integral mingling of politics and religion did not start with ancient Israel. Incidentally, ancient Israelite religion, culture, and politics were adaptations of Ancient Near Eastern influences, where kings were regarded as the representatives of gods. Although pragmatic analysis reveals that power is the common goal of politics and religion but power in religion has been passively perceived as a result of comfort in religion. Hence, the inviolable concord between religion and politics in the early monarchical Israelite is a unique reference for establishing a discussion on politics and religion as an entity. In Ancient Israel, the Hebrew term הֵיכָל (Heykal), lk'yhe translated as sanctuary, is designated for both the Temple of YHWH and the king’s Palace. This implies religion as a political entity and vice versa among the Ancient Israelites. This paper attempts a compendium of these interplays to instil the paradigm of religion as a paragon of power which controls even the activities of our contemporary society. The paper also gives modern Christian churches useful advice on how to deal with political
power structures.