Abstract
Scientifically there is a fundamental difference between peace according to faith and peace according to the Church, not only because of the distinction that must be made between religion and hierocracy but also because faith is a socio- logically amorphous notion and because the Church is an institution. In these conditions peace cannot be spoken of with out determining the frame of reference, that of faith, of religion or of the Church. It must also be recognized that if conflicts can arise between faith and religion as well as between religion and the Church or between faith and the Church, the Church, because it is an institution, comprises a political dimension. The same is not true of faith. Without conceptual rigor a valid reflection on peace is not possible. Since faith is not political, it is clear that the notion of peace that it proposes is different from that of the Church. Peace, according to faith, concerns private persons or be lievers. Peace, according to the Church, concerns collectivities. One cannot, then, take the Sermon on the Mountain as a base for political peace. Peace, according to the Church, is of another order since it has an institution as a foundation. As a result propositions included in certain papal encyclicals or in the document, Church and Powers, of the Protestant Federation of France contain numerous ambiguities which hardly encourage peace.