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Theocracy, according to the dictionary, is the "government of a state by immediate divine guidance or by officials who are regarded as divinely guided." The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' has this definition: :A form of government in which God (or a deity) is recognized as the king or immediate ruler, and his laws are taken as the statute-book of the kingdom, these laws being usually administered by a priestly order as his ministers and agents; hence (loosely) a system of government by a sacerdotal order, claiming a divine commission; also, a state so governed.〔"(Theocracy, n. )" in ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (2015); Retrieved 28 June 2015〕 ==Synopsis== A theocracy is a form in which the deity is considered immediate authority. The word comes from the Greek words θεός (Theos), "God", and κρατία (kratia), "power, strength", and means "rule of God." In some religions, the king was regarded as the son of god. When religions have a "holy book," it is used as a direct message from God. Today, there is also a form of government called it, where clerics have the power. From the perspective of the theocratic government, "God himself is recognized as the head" of the state,〔(Catholic Encyclopedia ) "A form of civil government in which God himself is recognized as the head."〕 hence the term ''theocracy'', from the Koine Greek "rule of God", a term used by Josephus for the kingdoms of Israel and Judah.〔English form the 17th century (''OED''). The Greek term is explicitly coined by Josephus and isn't attested elsewhere in Ancient Greek; Josephus marks it as a nonce coinage by calling it a "strained expression". W. Whiston tr. Josephus, ''Against Apion'' ii. §17 (1814) IV. 340: "He () ordained our government to be what, by a strained expression, may be termed a Theocracy", translating 〕 Taken literally or strictly, ''theocracy'' means rule by God or gods and refers primarily to an internal "rule of the heart", especially in its biblical application. The common, generic use of the term, as defined above in terms of rule by a church or analogous religious leadership, would be more accurately described as an ''ecclesiocracy''.〔Stephen Palmquist, (''Biblical Theocracy: A vision of the biblical foundations for a Christian political philosophy'' ) (Hong Kong: Philopsychy Press, 1993), introduced these more precise uses of the terms in arguing that theocracy (in this pure sense) is the only political system defended in the Bible. While Palmquist defends theocracy in this pure form as a viable (though "non-political") political system, he warns that what normally goes by this name is actually ecclesiocracy, the most dangerous of all political systems.〕 In a pure theocracy, the civil leader is believed to have a personal connection with the civilization's religion or belief. For example, Moses led the Israelites, and Muhammad ruled the early Muslims. Law proclaimed by the ruler is also considered a divine revelation, and hence the law of God. An ecclesiocracy, on the other hand, is a situation where the religious leaders assume a leading role in the state, but do not claim that they are instruments of divine revelation. For example, the prince-bishops of the European Middle Ages, where the bishop was also the temporal ruler. Such a state may use the administrative hierarchy of the religion for its own administration, or it may have two 'arms' — administrators and clergy — but with the state administrative hierarchy subordinate to the religious hierarchy. The papacy in the Papal States occupied a middle ground between theocracy and ecclesiocracy, since the pope did not claim he was a prophet who received revelation from God and translated it into civil law. Religiously endorsed monarchies fall between these two poles, according to the relative strengths of the religious and political organs. Theocracy is distinguished from other, secular forms of government that have a state religion, or are influenced by theological or moral concepts, and monarchies held "By the Grace of God". In the most common usage of the term, some civil rulers are leaders of the dominant religion (e.g., the Byzantine emperor as patron and defender of the official Church); the government proclaims it rules on behalf of God or a higher power, as specified by the local religion, and divine approval of government institutions and laws. These characteristics apply also to a caesaropapist regime. The Byzantine Empire however was not theocratic since the patriarch answered to the emperor, not vice versa; similarly in Tudor England the crown forced the church to break away from Rome so the royal (and, especially later, parliamentary) power could assume full control of the now Anglican hierarchy and confiscate most church property and income. Secular governments can also co-exist with a state religion or delegate some aspects of civil law to religious communities. For example, in Israel marriage is governed by officially recognized religious bodies who each provide marriage services for their respected adherents, yet no form of civil marriage (free of religion, for atheists, for example) exists nor marriage by non-recognized minority religions. India similarly delegates control of marriage and some other civil matters to the religious communities, in large part as a way of accommodating its Muslim minority. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Theocracy」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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