How does a modern state function?

The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state.

They worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”

The complex notion of the ‘provisional’ character of the State is the reason why the attitude of the first Christians toward the State is not unitary, but rather appears to be contradictory. I emphasize, that it appears to be so. We need only mention Romans 13:1, ‘Let every man be subject to the powers that be ... ,’ alongside Revelation 13: the State as the beast from the abyss.