Philosophy Dictionary of ArgumentsHome
| |||
|
| |||
| Political theology: Political theology explores the relationship between religious beliefs and political authority. It examines how theological concepts - like sovereignty, law, and justice - influence political theory and institutions. Originating with thinkers like Carl Schmitt, it addresses how religious ideas shape secular power and public life. See also Carl Schmitt, Mark Lilla, Theology._____________Annotation: The above characterizations of concepts are neither definitions nor exhausting presentations of problems related to them. Instead, they are intended to give a short introduction to the contributions below. – Lexicon of Arguments. | |||
| Author | Concept | Summary/Quotes | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Mark Lilla on Political Theology - Dictionary of Arguments
Lilla I 30 Political Theology/Lilla: [in the Hebrew Bilbe] man is called to be faithful and to trust in God; he is not invited to inspect God’s papers. Politics: A similar approach is taken to political life. When the Bible finally turns to politics, it is not to investigate man’s nature as a political animal but to describe the covenant reached between God and Israel, then to enunciate the divine law given to regulate that covenant. Law: Covenant and law are products of speech; there are reasons behind them. But behind the last reason there is only revelation. Whether Israel is ruled by judges, kings, or priests, whether it governs itself or is dispersed among the nations, the sources of its political authority are these covenants and laws. They are the original sources of biblical political theology. >Hebrew Bible, >Bible, >Theism, >Theology, >Politics, >Law. [There are] three pictures of God, man, and world; three families of political theology. 1) In the first, God is seen inhabiting and working in the world. Political theology then consists in trying to understand how to harness the power of the divine surrounding us to protect the nation and make it flourish. 2) In the second, the highest God is imagined as a distant being, far removed from the cares of the created cosmos, where the lower demiurge holds sway. Lilla I 31 Such a picture can inspire thoughts of withdrawing from the world, including the political world; it can also feed speculations about divine knowledge transforming the world apocalyptically, ushering in the age of redemption. 3) In the third picture we see a transcendent God who is above our world but tethered to it. This God abandons the world so we can govern ourselves; we are free in the sense that he does not govern us directly. He does, however, give us a revealed law as a guide, which we can accept or reject. Politics in this picture still concerns the divine-human relation, though that relation has been transformed from one of mere power to one of obedience and moral responsibility. This picture of a transcendent God seems the most natural one to us in the West. Even if we no longer consult the political theologies it inspired, as an image it still has a grip on our thinking. >Theism, >God, >Deism, >Hebrew bible. Political theology/Lilla: (…) political theology has a kind of logic. It responds to a natural tendency of the human mind to seek out the conditions of its experience, whether that experience is with the natural realm or with the political. When a political theology develops, it gives an account of legitimate political authority in terms of a revelation about the divine nexus. By making different assumptions about God’s nature and where he resides, the mind can derive different arguments regarding the good political life. >Theology, >Religion, >Religious belief. Lilla I 49 For while it is true that Jesus said little about political authority or systems of government, his actions and parables touched on all the great problems that politics must address: hunger and thirst, injustice and cruelty, crime and punishment. And although he was a preacher of peace, the Gospels tell us he was also capable of taking action against injustice when it was required. Lilla I 50 The whole Bible, correctly interpreted, promises that one day justice will reign, and it falls to every Christian to hasten that day. >Christianity/Lilla. Lilla I 53 It is an old Christian vice to speak of Christianity as a consummate religion sitting atop world history, looking down at the faiths it has surpassed. But in one sense the claim to exceptionality can be justified: in Christianity, versions of every species of political theology can be found, all at war with one another. This tremendous internal variety was made possible by the doctrines of the Incarnation and the Trinity, which invited Christians to think of their God as simultaneously in the world, absent from the world, and in a steady transcendent relation to the world. In Christian thought all the possibilities of political theology are exposed to view, as are its attendant intellectual difficulties. >Trinity/Lilla. Lilla I 301 Liberal theology began in rational hope, not fevered dreams. Its moderate wish was that the moral truths of biblical faith be intellectually reconciled with, and not just accommodated to, the realities of modern political life. Yet the liberal deity turned out to be a stillborn God, unable to inspire genuine conviction among those seeking ultimate truth. For what did the new Protestantism offer to the soul of one seeking union with his creator? It prescribed a catechism of moral commonplaces and historical optimism about bourgeois life, spiced with deep pessimism about the possibility of altering that life. It preached good citizenship and national pride, economic good sense, and the proper length of a gentleman’s beard._____________Explanation of symbols: Roman numerals indicate the source, arabic numerals indicate the page number. The corresponding books are indicated on the right hand side. ((s)…): Comment by the sender of the contribution. Translations: Dictionary of Arguments The note [Concept/Author], [Author1]Vs[Author2] or [Author]Vs[term] resp. "problem:"/"solution:", "old:"/"new:" and "thesis:" is an addition from the Dictionary of Arguments. If a German edition is specified, the page numbers refer to this edition. |
Lilla I Mark Lilla The Stillborn God. Religion, Politics, and the Modern West New York: Random House. 2007 |
||
> Counter arguments against Lilla
> Counter arguments in relation to Political Theology
