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cause that makes men less strong now, which I believe is the difference
between our religion and the ancient. For our religion, having shown the
truth and the true way, makes us esteem less the honor of the world,
whereas the Gentiles [pagans], esteeming it very much and having placed
the highest good in it, were more ferocious in their actions (D II 2.2)
Machiavelli is thus not indifferent to his times’ Christian mores. He is a radical critic of
them and their effect on political life.
Instead of the sword, the Church is, in Machiavelli’s view, an empire built on the
word. It is not delimited to the area in Rome west of the Tiber; it is a powerful state
across the globe because of the mass appeal of the ideas and values that it maintains and
promotes: if ‘the meek shall inherit the earth,’ then many meek men around the world
will flock to the sayer of these words. In other terms, its ideological structure helps
support it and find allies outside of its walls. This is something that Machiavelli found
both abhorrent and admirable. His paradoxical attitude towards the Church is based on
the fact that he found it to be blameworthy in terms of the lack of Italian unification and
on the fact that his dictum that only armed prophets succeed seems to be undermined by
the power and extent of the Church.
Christianity is a kingdom of values that closely follows imperial logic. There is
one single being—like an emperor— that stands supreme, and that is God. This being is
not arbitrary, yet his commandments must be obeyed faithfully, otherwise punishment
ensues. Moreover, no other god is allowed to co-exist with the Christian God, for there is
but one true Creator and proselytism is an important part of the Gospel. The Christian
God is in an antagonistic position vis-à-vis other religions’ deities, and this permits of no
dissension.
Convention