Classical and Medieval Christian Babies Politic
Professor Jesse Chupp
GOVT490
Helms School of Government
February 3, 2025
The concept of the Body Politic is an analogy often used to describe the functioning of a
healthy society. It likens different levels of society to the various functions of the human body
and may provide insight into the well-being or dysfunction of a community. One view, the
Classical one, holds that a healthy political body is one which provides broad political
citizenship, a narrow or restricted citizenship representing a diseased or unhealthiness of Body
Politic ("The Classical Body Politic"). This would be considered mainly the view of the Ancient
Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle. In contrast, a Medieval Christian version of Body Politic
is somewhat different from the Classical interpretation. This analogy, while building on its
Jewish predecessor, was most notably forwarded by thinkers such as St. Augustine and St.
Thomas Aquinas. For instance, St. Augustine refers to a healthy Body Politic in his City of God
as the "city of man," which he says is a poor imitation of the perfect, heavenly City of God—a
reality that can only be realized after death ("The Medieval Christian Body Politic"). This paper
intends to explore and discuss the analogies of the Body Politic developed by Classical and
Medieval Christians, about their views on understanding society and citizenship and the nature of
political health.
The Classical concept of the Body Politic is first discussed by Plato in The Republic. He
states that the Greek Polis is more than just a collection of people bound by blood or custom
("Lecture notes: Module 2: Week 2," 1). In Plato's analogy, the head of the body is the ruler or
governing authority whence all commands flow throughout the society (Ryan 2012, 122). These
orders are carried out by soldiers, the arms of the Polis, who implement the ruler's will. The
working class-the "common people"-comprises the body's belly, legs, and feet, in Plato's view,
being laborers necessary for the society to function. The heart of the Polis would be the
philosophers and councilmen, its intellectual and guiding center of governance.
This is further expounded by Aristotle, especially in the description of the heart of the
Body Politic. According to Aristotle, the heart consists of the auxiliaries that include the soldiers,
who must be brave and nobly protective of society (Ryan, 2012, 34). In the case of Plato, the
auxiliaries were arms of society, outwardly protecting it in some physically acute manner. As in
Plato's theory, for the Classical Body Politic to remain healthy, broad political citizenship should
be available for all parts of the body -for each segment of society to take interest in how the state
is working.
The Medieval Christian Body Politic analogy evolved from the Jewish political
philosophies which spread throughout the Roman Empire and into Medieval Europe after the
death of Jesus Christ ("Lecture Notes: Module 3: Week 3," 2). The king is to be considered the
head of the body while the noblemen are the arms and peasants, the feet according to John of
Salisbury ("Watch: The Medieval Christian Body Politic"). This would have given it the same
structure as the Classical Body Politic, wherein the commands are given by the king, flowing
through the body, carried out by the nobles-peasants furnishing the labor and sustenance for the
society. However, John of Salisbury gives an important divergence with his analogy-the soul of
the body would come from the priests, instead of the philosophers for the Classical Model
("Watch: The Medieval Christian Body Politic"). That would mean in a Medieval Christian
framework, priests-a spiritual guidance role-became the soul of the body where once it fell to the
lot of the philosopher. This shift reflects the significant influence that the Church had over
society, which John of Salisbury acknowledged and integrated into his framework. St.
Augustine's conception of the health of the Body Politic is informed by his dichotomy between
two cities: the City of Man and the City of God. He defended that the City of Man was
irredeemably sick and could only be healthy once destroyed to be replaced by the perfect eternal
City of God ("Lecture Notes: Module 3: Week 3," 8). St. Thomas Aquinas later nuanced this
theory in his Summa Theologian, indicating that the City of Man could, in fact be healthy if the
Church were allowed to carry out its divine mandate, such as preaching the gospel and
administering the sacraments (11).
The comparison between Classical and Medieval Christian Body Politics apparently
highlights a salient difference that is represented regarding how the "heart" and "soul" of the
society are perceived. In the Classical Body Politic, in Plato's view, the philosophers represent
the heart, while the auxiliaries represent it for Aristotle; while in the Medieval Christian Body
Politic, priests are identified with the heart. The comparison between Classical and Medieval
Christian Body Politics apparently underlines a salient difference represented in the way of
perception of the "heart" and "soul" of the society. While in the Classical Body Politic, the
philosophers represent the heart for Plato, and the auxiliaries- for Aristotle, in the Medieval
Christian Body Politic priests are identified with the heart.
Reference:
Holy Bible; Holman Christian Standard Version (2009). Holman Bible Publishers.
“Lecture Notes: Module 2: Week 2” (n.d.). GOVT 490: Political Theory. Liberty University.
Retrieved February 6, 2023, from
https://canvas.liberty.edu/courses/417581/files/90837360.
“Lecture Notes: Module 3: Week 3” (n.d.). GOVT 490: Political Theory. Liberty University.
Retrieved February 6, 2023, from,
https://canvas.liberty.edu/courses/417581/files/90837336?module_item_id=45201596
Ryan, A. (2012). On Politics: A History of Political Thought: From Herodotus to the Present.
Liveright Publishing Corporation.
“Watch: The Classical Body Politic” (n.d.). GOVT 490: Political Theory. Liberty University.
Retrieved February 6, 2023, from https://canvas.liberty.edu/courses/417581/pages/watch-
the-classical-body-politic?module_item_id=45201554.
“Watch: The Medieval Christian Body Politic” (n.d.) GOVT 490: Political Theory. Liberty
University. Retrieved February 6, 2023, from
https://canvas.liberty.edu/courses/417581/pages/watch-the-medieval-christian-body-
politic?module_item_id=45201599.
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