theocrat
God's chosen ruler
A theocrat is a ruler who governs in the name of God or a deity, or someone who advocates for religious authority over civil government.
The term often carries critical connotations, suggesting dangerous fusion of political and religious power: The ayatollahs ruled as theocrats.
Critics called him a theocrat who wanted to impose biblical law on everyone.
Shia jurisprudence master
- caliphIslamic head of state
- pontiffSupreme Catholic leader
- patriarchMale head of family
- imamMuslim religious guide
pope · mullah · hierarch · high priest · supreme leader · archbishop · primate · divine right
Unchallengeable official beliefs
- orthodoxyAdherence to accepted beliefs
- doctrineEstablished body of teachings
- fundamentalismStrict adherence to core tenets
- sectarianRigidly devoted to faction
zealotry · piety · fanaticism · religious law · scriptural · theistic · devout · clericalism
Sole wielder of power
- despotRuler with absolute power
- tyrantCruel, absolute ruler
- dictatorRuler with total control
- sovereignSupreme in power
potentate · pharaoh · emperor · sultan · czar · shah · divine king · god-king
Islamic successor-led government
- shariaMuslim canonical jurisprudence
- canon lawReligious institutional regulations
- fatwaIslamic legal pronouncement
- encyclicalFormal papal circular letter
ayatollah
Shia jurisprudence master
imam · pope · mullah · hierarch · high priest · supreme leader · archbishop · primate · divine right · religious authority
dogma
Unchallengeable official beliefs
- orthodoxyAdherence to accepted beliefs
- doctrineEstablished body of teachings
- fundamentalismStrict adherence to core tenets
sectarian · zealotry · piety · fanaticism · religious law · scriptural · theistic · devout · clericalism · ecclesiasticism
autocrat
Sole wielder of power
sovereign · potentate · pharaoh · emperor · sultan · czar · shah · divine king · god-king · priest-king
caliphate
Islamic successor-led government
- God-Kingsgod-king, pharaoh, divine emperor, divine ruler, living god
- sacred rulersgod-king, divine king, divine emperor, priest-king, pharaoh
- theocracyhierocracy, caliphate, Vatican City, Holy See, Iran
- Priest-Kingsgod-king, pharaoh, divine emperor, priest-king, pontifex maximus
- political ideologiesconservatism, conservative, anarchism, liberalism, liberal
- autocratsautocrat, despot, dictator, tyrant, strongman
theocratsecularist
Advocate for nonreligious governance
democrat · elected official · republican · constitutionalist · technocrat
theocratsecularist
Advocate for nonreligious governance
separationist · Atatürk · secular humanist · anticlerical · freethinker