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Exousia and Potestas

I've been thinking a lot about power and authority, as one does nowadays.   It's the meta-topic in many of the Catholic ecclesial struggles nowadays, of course.  I don't think anyone would dispute that, but it's odd how little it is actually mentioned specifically.    Maybe it's not odd.   Maybe the principles are simply assumed for the most part. 

Today I looked up the Latin for "authority", specifically the Vulgate word used in the Luke 20:2 passage, which has been on my mind.    Here's the passage -- the pronoun refers to Jesus:

One day as he was teaching the people in the temple area and proclaiming the good news, the chief priests and scribes, together with the elders, approached him
2 and said to him, “Tell us, by what authority are you doing these things? Or who is the one who gave you this authority?”

The Latin word used in the Vulgate is "potestas"  

et aiunt dicentes ad illum dic nobis in qua potestate haec facis aut quis est qui dedit tibi hanc potestatem

I looked up the Greek version of the same chapter.   As one does.   Rather than introduce a Greek font into this post, I will isolate the relevant word, transliterated:  exousia.    This word as used in the Bible, I am told by the Internet, implies "authority" specifically that which is delegated by God.   In general usage it can have broader meaning.    I looked for a Catholic lexicon, but couldn't find one; here is Strong's, which is the one I grew up seeing on my Dad's bookshelves.  

This site traces some uses of the word from Plato onwards.  

(I wondered about the etymology of the word, whether it is a compound of "ex" and "ousia" (since I just finished reading Newman, Arians of the Fourth Century, in which ousia means being or substance.  But I can't really find anything not tossed off glibly by Gemini, who apparently wants me to feel like I've learned something).  

What's the takeaway here?  Nothing really at the moment.  I wanted to get this little internet trail traced out.   Right now, the operative thought is that authority as such is given.   It can't properly be seized or manufactured.   This is in distinction from power as such.   Latin and Greek both have several words for different types of power.     I couldn't find specifically Catholic sources for the Greek versions, but here is a relatively business-like non-denom one:

Biblical Words for Power (PDF)

They are:  exousia, dunamis, kratos, energeia, and ischus

Latin words for power or authority

They are:  potestas, auctoritas, potentia, dominatio

As you can quickly see, just by connecting them to the English derivations, connotations abound.    Part of our current Catholic dilemma seems to come by way of ellipsis as mentioned above, plus a kind of conceptual elision or equivocation, where a word can have several different meanings that aren't necessarily clarified.  

This is a starter post and I may edit it if I find errors or confusing parts.   



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