Religio licita

Religio licita ("agama yang sah^[1]," juga dapat diartikan "agama yang diizinkan^[2]") adalah istilah yang digunakan dalam Apologeticum oleh Tertulianus^[3] untuk menjelaskan status spesial kaum Yahudi di Kekaisaran Romawi. Istilah ini bukanlah istilah resmi dalam hukum Romawi.^[4]

Meskipun hanya ditemukan pada satu tulisan Bapa Gereja dan tidak ditemukan dalam sumber atau bukti tertulis Era Klasik Romawi lainnya,^[5] istilah ini memunculkan berbagai pertanyaan akan arti yang mungkin dimilikinya. Cendekiawan berpikir bahwa semua agama dalam Kekaisaran Romawi memiliki status legal baik licita maupun illicita, meskipun tidak ada bukti yang dapat mendukung teori ini.^[6] Pandangan yang paling ekstrem berpendapat bahwa setiap agama asing membutuhkan surat izin dari pemerintah Romawi.^[7] Tetapi sudah jadi kebiasaan Romawi untuk mengizinkan bahkan mendukung masyarakat provinsi Roma bahkan komunitas asing untuk mempertahankan agama nenek moyang mereka, kecuali ada tata cara yang dinilai mengganggu atau subversif:^[8] "Sebuah religio yang dianut oleh kelompok-kelompok etnis suku atau suku bangsa tertentu dinilai licita dengan kondisi bahwa ritual ibadah mereka tidak menyinggung orang Romawi atau dewa-dewa mereka.^[9]"

Tertulianus menggunakan istilah ini dalam sebuah paragrafnya yang berargumen bahwa umat Kristen harus diberikan kebebasan yang sama untuk memeluk agama sebagaimana penduduk Romawi lainnya. Paragraf ini merupakan bukti adanya toleransi yang diberikan di bawah sistem agama di Romawi Kuno.^[10]

Referensi

^ Licita adalah bentuk lampau dari licet, "sah, diizinkan."
^ Jörg Rüpke, Religion of the Romans (Polity Press, 2007, pertama diterbitkan dalam Bahasa Jerman 2001), p. 35.
^ Tertulianus, Apologeticum 21.1.
^ Philip Francis Esler, Community and Gospel in Luke–Acts: The Social and Political Motivations of Lucan Theology (Cambridge University Press, 1989, 1996), p. 211, begins his analysis of the religio licita theory "by immediately scotching the idea that Rome had some process for licensing foreign religions. There is no historical support for this whatsoever; … there never was a juridical category of religio licita." See also Rüpke, Religion of the Romans, p. 35; Solomon Grayzel, "The Jews and Roman Law," Jewish Quarterly Review, 59 (1968), pp. 93-117; Ben Witherington III, The Acts of the Apostles: A Socio-rhetorical Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1997), p. 542; John J. O'Keefe, entry on "Religio licita," in A Dictionary of Jewish-Christian Relations (Cambridge University Press, 2005), p. 371.
^ Benjamin H. Isaac, The Invention of Racism in Classical Antiquity (Princeton University Press, 2004, 2006), p. 449; Tessa Rajak, "Was There a Roman Charter for the Jews?" Journal of Roman Studies, 74 (1984), pp. 107-123. As Stephen Wilson, Related Strangers: Jews and Christians, 70–170 C.E. (Augsburg Fortress, 1995, 2005), p. 68, has noted, religio licita "is not a Roman but a Christian concept."
^ Philip A. Harland, Associations, Synagogues, and Congregations: Claiming a Place in Ancient Mediterranean Society (Augsburg Fortress, 2003), p. 222.
^ Esler, Community and Gospel in Luke–Acts, p. 206, taking note of Foakes Jackson and Kirsopp Lake, B.S. Easton, and the early work of H.J. Cadbury as examples of this extreme of interpretation.
^ Isaac, The Invention of Racism in Classical Antiquity, p. 449; Jörg Rüpke, "Roman Religion – Religions of Rome," in A Companion to Roman Religion (Blackwell, 2007), p. 4.
^ W. H. C. Frend, Martyrdom and Persecution in the Early Church: A Study of Conflict from the Maccabees to Donatus (Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1967), p. 106.
^ Cecilia Ames, "Roman Religion in the Vision of Tertullian," in A Companion to Roman Religion, p. 467.

[1] Licita adalah bentuk lampau dari licet, "sah, diizinkan."

[2] Jörg Rüpke, Religion of the Romans (Polity Press, 2007, pertama diterbitkan dalam Bahasa Jerman 2001), p. 35.

[3] Tertulianus, Apologeticum 21.1.

[4] Philip Francis Esler, Community and Gospel in Luke–Acts: The Social and Political Motivations of Lucan Theology (Cambridge University Press, 1989, 1996), p. 211, begins his analysis of the religio licita theory "by immediately scotching the idea that Rome had some process for licensing foreign religions. There is no historical support for this whatsoever; … there never was a juridical category of religio licita." See also Rüpke, Religion of the Romans, p. 35; Solomon Grayzel, "The Jews and Roman Law," Jewish Quarterly Review, 59 (1968), pp. 93-117; Ben Witherington III, The Acts of the Apostles: A Socio-rhetorical Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1997), p. 542; John J. O'Keefe, entry on "Religio licita," in A Dictionary of Jewish-Christian Relations (Cambridge University Press, 2005), p. 371.

[5] Benjamin H. Isaac, The Invention of Racism in Classical Antiquity (Princeton University Press, 2004, 2006), p. 449; Tessa Rajak, "Was There a Roman Charter for the Jews?" Journal of Roman Studies, 74 (1984), pp. 107-123. As Stephen Wilson, Related Strangers: Jews and Christians, 70–170 C.E. (Augsburg Fortress, 1995, 2005), p. 68, has noted, religio licita "is not a Roman but a Christian concept."

[6] Philip A. Harland, Associations, Synagogues, and Congregations: Claiming a Place in Ancient Mediterranean Society (Augsburg Fortress, 2003), p. 222.

[7] Esler, Community and Gospel in Luke–Acts, p. 206, taking note of Foakes Jackson and Kirsopp Lake, B.S. Easton, and the early work of H.J. Cadbury as examples of this extreme of interpretation.

[8] Isaac, The Invention of Racism in Classical Antiquity, p. 449; Jörg Rüpke, "Roman Religion – Religions of Rome," in A Companion to Roman Religion (Blackwell, 2007), p. 4.

[9] W. H. C. Frend, Martyrdom and Persecution in the Early Church: A Study of Conflict from the Maccabees to Donatus (Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1967), p. 106.

[10] Cecilia Ames, "Roman Religion in the Vision of Tertullian," in A Companion to Roman Religion, p. 467.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]