Matthew’s careful quotation of Isaiah 60 urges us to perceive that the birth of the poor, brown boy in a back corner of the Roman empire was the dawning of God’s glory upon humanity. Let us, then, celebrate—not with fear and self-preservation, but with confident investment in human flourishing.
It seems like an important task of political theology is to critically reflect on moments of political crisis by pulling back the veil on its latent theological content.
The question for us, and for the field of political theology, is how do we wish to live in the end?
Joseph knows that this situation with Mary is not about legalities, or honor or shame or what other people may think or say; it is about God bringing Christ to the world. All that matters is God’s call. Joseph honors Mary, and their marriage, this family, as the opportunity God has created to bring hope, salvation to all the world.
I cannot say that I hope for more discussions of political theology in 20 years. But I do hope for the endurance of conversation, indeed, for the preservation of the art and wisdom of conversation.
The greatest potential implication of Isaiah 11:1–10 lies in the way it disrupts our expectations of justice, equality, and peace by framing of our narratives of the perfect society and unsullied nature. Rather than Utopia, the passage offers us a vision of a perfectly imperfect world order in absolute harmony.
The Political Theology Network invites applications from early-career scholars for its 2020-2021 Emerging Scholars in Political Theology program.
Our only hope is that the God who will raise us, the God whose justice is glorified, will eventually make all things right. Our trust in our just God should be evident in our words and our works as we live out the proclamation of the gospel.
The Prophet Jeremiah announced a gift that refers not only to the repopulating of the land after the exile, but also speaks about the renewal of hearts, a covenantal gift rooted in God that would renew the people of God at all levels of society.
Four authors sound off on Ophir and Rosen-Zvi’s latest book, Goy: Israel’s Multiple Others and the Birth of the Gentile.
Jeremiah’s letter is a bold admonishment to remember that we are all, together, members of the political community. Wherever we find ourselves, we must not forget that there is such a thing as the common good.
Join us for a lecture and conversation with leading ecofeminist theologian and feminist philosopher of religion Dr. Catherine Keller.