مسیحی ریاست (انگریزی: Christian state) ایک ایسا ملک ہے جو مسیحیت کی کسی ایک شکل کو اپنے سرکاری مذہب کے طور پر تسلیم کرتا ہے اور اکثر اس کا اپنا ریاستی کلیسیا ہوتا ہے، [1] جو ملک کا غالب مسیحی فرقہ ہوتا ہے جسے حکومت کی حمایت حاصل ہوتی ہے۔ [2]
تاریخی طور پر آرمینیا [3]، حبشہ (ایتھوپیا) [4]، جارجیا [5] اور ان کے علاوہ رومی سلطنت اور بازنطینی سلطنت بھی خود کو مسیحی ریاست [6][7] قرار دے چکی ہیں۔
آج کئی قومیں باضابطہ طور پر خود کو مسیحی ریاست کے طور شناخت کرواتی ہیں یا ان کا اپنا ریاستی کلیسیا ہے، ان میں ارجنٹائن،[8] کوسٹاریکا،[9] ڈنمارک،[10] انگلستان،[11] جزائر فارو،[12] یونان،[13] گرین لینڈ،[14] آئس لینڈ،[15] لیختینستائن،[16] مالٹا،[17] موناکو،[18] سامووا،[19] ٹونگا،[20] تووالو،[21] ویٹیکن سٹی،[22] اور زیمبیا [23] شامل ہیں۔
۔۔۔it is only as an established institution that the Church can fully preserve and promote Christian tradition to the nation. One cannot have a Christian state without a state Church.
Under the established church approach, the government will assist the state church and likewise the church will assist the government. Religious education is mandated by law to be taught in all schools, public or private.
But while Persia fiercely repelled Christianity from its frontier, upon that frontier arose a Christian state. Armenia was the first country which embraced Christianity as the religion of the King, the nobles, and the people.
In the 4th century, King Ezana converted to Christianity and declared Aksum a Christian state—the first Christian state in the history of the world.
Kartli became a Christian state under King Mirian in 337.
In the Edict of Thessalonica (380) he expressed the imperial "desire" that all Roman citizens should become Christians, the emperor adjudging all other madmen and ordering them to be designated as heretics,۔.۔condemned as such.۔.to suffer divine punishment, and, therewith, the vengeance of that power, which we, by celestial authority, have assumed. There was thus created the "Christian State."
In contrast, the emperor Justinian (527-565) refashioned the eastern part of the Roman Empire into a strong and dynamic Byzantine Empire, which claimed Bosnia-Hercegovina, among other provinces. The Byzantine Empire became the world's predominant Christian state, based on Roman law, Greek culture, and the Greek language.
Thus the Constitution of Costa Rica, which is considered a model of stable democracy in Latin America, states in Article 75: The Roman Catholic and Apostolic Religion is the religion of the State, which contributes to its maintenance, without preventing the free exercise in the Republic of other forms of worship that are not opposed to universal morality or good customs.
Denmark has declared the Evangelical Lutheran church to be that national church (par. 4 of the Constitution)، which corresponds the fact that 91.5% of the population are registered members of this church. This declaration implies that the Danish State does not take a neutral stand in religious matters. Nevertheless, freedom of religion has been incorporated in the Constitution. Nielsen (1992, 77) gives a short description of the position of the minority religious communities in comparison to that of the State Church: The Lutheran established church is a department of the state. Church affairs are government by a central government ministry, and clergy are government employees. The registration of births, deaths and marriages falls under this ministry of church affairs, and normally speaking the local Lutheran pastor is also the official registrar. The other small religious communities, viz. Roman Catholics, Methodists, Baptists and Jews, have the constitutional status of 'recognised communities of faith'۔ … Contrary to the minority religious communities, the Lutheran Church is fully financed by the Danish State.
The features of the state affect the essence of the state, but the key term is that of historical identity, hence this chapter concentrates on historical identity as the essence of the state, though at times some of the other features will also be referred to. For instance, ancient Greece has now become an Orthodox Christian state. Ancient Persia (Iran) has now become a Muslim state, and the ancient Buddhist states of the Silk Route have also become Islamic states.
Liechtenstein's constitution designates the Catholic Church as the state Church and guarantees religious freedom. Article 38 provides protection for the property rights of all religious institutions and states that "the administration of church property in the parishes shall be regulated by a specific law; the agreement of church authorities shall be sought before the law is enacted." Article 16 states that religious instruction in public schools "shall be given by church authorities."
As King George I of Tonga, Tupou created the "modern" Christian state with the Cross dominating its flag, and with the rigorous constitutional clause regulating observation of the Sabbath.
The Constitution of Tuvalu in a similar vein constitutes Tuvalu as "an independent State based on Christian principles.۔.and Tuvaluan custom and tradition"; and also the Constitution of Vanuatu proclaims in its Preamble: "[we] HEREBY proclaim the establishment of the united and free Republic of Vanuatu founded on traditional Melanesian values, faith in God, and Christian principles.۔."
The Roman Catholic State of Vatican City is, of course, the best contemporary example of a Christian state. The State of Vatican City, originally established by the Lateran Pacts of 1929, approximates most faithfully the ideal-typical conception of theocratic Roman Catholic state. The Pope is ex officio simultaneously leader of the Roman Catholic Church as well as Head of State and Head of the Government of the State of the Vatican City; he also possesses (de jure) absolute authority over the legislative, executive and judicial branches. Practically all acts and policies of the Vatican City revolve around the interests of the Holy See and, apart from the members of the Pontifical Swiss Guard, virtually all inhabitants of the Vatican City are members of the clergy.