'This new book moves beyond Christianity […] to include contributions from Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism. The latter is of particular importance, given the current global rebalancing through the rise of China and India, and their religions.’
Church Times
'The highlight of the book is certainly its ambitious goal of the future of political theology. It is successful in presenting an alternative way of doing theology - by broad definition and in an ethos of pluralism… [It] masterfully functions as a pool of thought from which one can draw ideas, posit them side-by-side and gain a fresh understanding of political theology and its function in the political reality.'
The Expository Times
'This volume’s attempt to locate a visible presence for political theology in the public realm is provocative, important, and will no doubt garner the careful attention it deserves.'
Religious Studies Review
'This is a good range of essays which goes into certain themes in considerable detail whilst calling into question the existence of political theology itself as having a future at all.’
Recent shifts in the contemporary cultural, political, and religious landscape are engendering intensive attention concerning political theology. New trends and traditional ideas equally colour these movements. Given that a medley of recent books and articles have exhaustively treated both the history and the current resurgence of political theology, we now find ourselves faced with the task of reinventing and redefining the future of political theology. This book presents a rich overview of fresh, contemporary theoretical approaches uniquely prioritizing the prospects of the future of political theology, but also making room for significant interventions from philosophy and political theory.
Including prominent essays on Judaic, Islamic, Buddhist and Christian perspectives, this book balances elements from post-modern theology with more classical as well as anti-post-modern approaches.
Contents
Foreword by Graham Ward Introduction Péter Losonczi, Mika Luoma-aho and Aakash Singh
Part I The Past of Political Theology: Concepts and Challenges 1. The secular sphere in Western theology: a historical reconsideration Matthias Riedl 2. Political theology and its discontents Michael Hoelzl 3. 'How should we live?': nature, metaphysics, and political wisdom Andras Lanczi
Part II Political Theology and the New Theological Trends 4. The interruption of political theology Lieven Boeve 5. Is orthodoxy radical? Catherine Pickstock 6. From first theology to political theology Péter Losonczi 7. Neither cosmopolis nor ghetto: religion and the intimate universal William Desmond
Part III Contexts of Political Theology and Future Prospects 8. Political theories in Europe: a crossroads Kornel Zathureczky 9. The spiral of violence and the non-violent power of Christ: a theological reading of the political philosophy of Istvan Bibo Andras Csepregi 10. Family code and marriage laws in Iran Roja Fazaeli 11. The political theology of Navayana Buddhism Aakash Singh 12. Millenarian development goals: commentary on the political theology of the Millennium Declaration Mika Luoma-aho