Catholic Dictionary

Find accurate definitions of over 5,000 Catholic terms and phrases (including abbreviations). Based on Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

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THEOCRACY

A form of government in which God, acting usually through his priestly or prophetic representatives, is the ruler. Every civil and social act becomes religious. The Jewish nation after its return from exile was a theocracy. Until modern times Moslem nations were essentially theocratic. John Calvin sought to introduce a theocracy at Geneva in 1552. (Etym. Greek theokratia; theo, God + -cracy, strength, rule.)