Legal Studies Working Paper Series Political Theology With a Difference (original) (raw)
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Political Theology With a Difference
2012
This paper proposes for consideration a version of political theology that differs from standard accounts of the content of political theology, particularly with regard to political theology's relationship to liberalism. The account of political theology proposed here is "political theology with a difference" both in the sense that it differs from the standard account of political theology (inasmuch as rejects the view that liberalism and political theology are mutually antagonistic) and in the further sense that it is based upon a philosophical doctrine that not only accepts, but valorizes human differences. That doctrine, which stands at the core of the alternative political theology presented here, is the doctrine of accommodation. For centuries, this principle was enshrined in Christian and Jewish theology as the "doctrine of divine accommodation." That theological doctrine derived in turn from the principle of accommodation that was codified in the ancient Aristotelian tradition of classical rhetoric. This article provides an overview of the evolution of the medieval doctrine of divine accommodation, showing how it gave birth to modern secularist thought, in particular secularist political thought. It demonstrates that the secularist political theory that evolved out of the principle of divine accommodation was an emergency theory of politics (hence a political theology, in the narrow sense of the term.) But it shows how the tradition of secularist political theory that derived from the principle of accommodation was also a proto-liberal political theory, out of which modern liberalism originated. On this basis, the paper argues, contra the standard view that political theology and liberalism are mutually antagonistic, that (this) emergency political theology and liberal political theory are actually one and the same thing.
From Eternity to Here: Divine Accommodation and the Lost Language of Law
SSRN Electronic Journal
This paper asserts that the discourse of religious accommodation has stopped making sense, and that the reason it has stopped making sense is because our terminology (including such terms as "religion," "accommodation," and "secularism") is inherited from tradition of political theological discourse that has been forgotten: the theology of divine accommodation. The paper reconstructs the content of that tradition of political theology in broad strokes, arguing that the birthplace of secularism and the birthplace of liberalism both lie here and that, once we recognize that, a number of doctrinal and conceptual puzzles can be solved, including how to define religion, whether to characterize secular humanism as a religion, and whether to accept the broad (virtually boundless) conception of a right to religious accommodation now being promoted by religious conservatives. The answers proposed are that (a) religion, from the standpoint of this tradition of political theology, refers to beliefs about the content and source of the moral law, and is not contingent on continued belief in a deity; (b) secular humanism is a religion in this sense, and is indeed the religion promoted by accommodationist political theology; (c) the broad conception of a right to religious accommodation must be rejected for the same reasons that the "religion" of secular humanism must be accepted. The paper further argues, as a matter of political theory/history of political thought, that locating the origins of liberalism and secularism in the tradition of divine accommodation reveals conservative political theology and liberal political theory to be one and the same. Finally, it underscores the centrality of law to the humanist tradition and the centrality of humanism to law.
Carl Schmitt once defined himself as a theologian of jurisprudence. This chapter argues that his concept of political theology must be understood within the context of jurisprudence and not as a thesis concerning the use of religion within politics. In its earlier configuration, Schmitt's political theology is a multifaceted response to two juridical critiques of sovereignty: those of Hans Kelsen; and those of Otto von Gierke and the English pluralist school. In this early phase, Schmitt's political theology is centered on the juridical conception of representation and on the state as fictional personality, primarily as it is found in Thomas Hobbes. Through his extensive engagement with Hobbes's interpretation of the Trinity or persons of God, Schmitt shows howjurisprudence aids in the understanding of theology rather than the other way around. Schmitt's later work is a defense against Erik Peterson's critique of political theology, itself based on a juridical interpretation of Christology.
The mighty and the almighty: an essay in political theology
Choice Reviews Online, 2013
For a century or more, political theology has been in decline. Recent years, however, have seen increasing interest not only in how church and state should be related, but in the relation between divine authority and political authority, and in what religion has to say about the limits of state authority and the grounds of political obedience. In this book, Nicholas Wolterstorff addresses this whole complex of issues. He takes account of traditional answers to these questions, but on every point stakes out new positions. Wolterstorff offers a fresh theological defense of liberal democracy, argues that the traditional doctrine of "two rules" should be rejected, and offers a fresh exegesis of Romans 13, the canonical biblical passage for the tradition of Christian political theology. This book provides useful discussion for scholars and students of political theology, law and religion, philosophy of religion, and social ethics.
2015
In this essay, I examine Michel Foucault's political contrast between the theological domains of the pastoral and the mystical, in order to note his focus on how necessity and providence are founding and legitimizing concepts of the State. Through this process I develop an analysis of how Foucault, in his critique of the historical uses of theology as a tool of pastoral power, actually points toward another form of political theology than Carl Schmitt's. My contention is that we begin to see another "type" of political theology appear in the writings of Giorgio Agamben, who follows Christian traditions much more closely than Foucault. The re-formulation of political theology within Agamben's work, I argue, has tremendous significance for the field as a whole and is much in need of further elaboration, a task toward which this essay only points.
International Colloquium, 13-14 December 2024 Universitat Pompeu Fabra. Barcelona Organizing Committee: María Morrás (UPF), Beatriu Marcos (UPF) and Michael Peters (UPF) 'Intersections between Political Philosophy and Theology: Communities, Ideas, Discourses, and Vivere Civile' focuses on the transference of political philosophy and theology in texts from the 15th and 16th centuries. The combination of scholastic thought, Christian Aristotelianism, and classical republicanism entailed a civic translatability, making it possible to imagine and project communities and political scenarios at the dawn of Modernity. These issues were pivotal to the development of ideas and the shape that the Renaissance would take in the transition from the Late Middle Ages to the Early Modern period. Especially interesting was the intersection of ideas between theological, political, and juridical texts. Taken as a corpus, they offer a valuable source to examine how political theory and religious doctrine mutually influence each other—morally, epistemologically, and methodologically. Variegated perspectives, backgrounds, and traditions were exchanged to transform and reform the body politic. Whether reflections on the past, considerations of the present, or aspirations for the future, texts played a critical role in forming intellectual, affective, and political communities in a dialogue that traversed space and time. The aim of this workshop is to overcome univocal readings of texts while promoting a wider interpretation of them. Doctrinal texts are not only religious, but also a valuable source of political and juridical theory. A diverse and interdisciplinary approach will prove more fruitful, which would allow broadening their interpretation to the field of the history of ideas. Specifically, we invite scholars to revisit texts from the perspective of this exchange of concepts between political philosophy and theology, and the interplay between both areas. Addressing the texts under the hypothesis that they were conceived as a space for connection and dialogue about knowledge, as generators of political models and agendas, and capable to stand as forms of resistance in their socio-political environment.
"Political Theology between Reason and Will: Law, Decision, and the Self"
Journal of Law, Religion and State, 2018
Contemporary practitioners of political theology make use of Carl Schmitt's account of sovereignty to criticize liberal political theory. But whereas Schmitt focused on " states of exception, " the new decisionism holds that decision-making is a quotidian feature of jurisprudence: the interpretation of law depends upon judicial decisions that serve to impose meaning on otherwise semantically indeterminate norms. Ironically, it is possible to detect in the contemporary decisionist critique of liberal theory, with its focus on law's meaning, a liberalizing tendency: by insisting on the ubiquity of decision-making, the exception is made to seem unexceptional. In this way, Schmitt is tamed, and sovereignty is diffused into the mundane world of administrative governance. I want to resist this normalizing account on philosophical grounds: if one is to appreciate the exceptional character of the decision, it is important to retain some background of regularity with which it can be contrasted.