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History

20 years, 3 Questions

To commemorate twenty years of the journal Political Theology, we asked a variety of scholars, including those in the Political Theology Network’s editorial collective, to reflect on where the field has been, where it is, and where it is going.

To commemorate twenty years of the journal Political Theology, we asked a variety of scholars, including those in the Political Theology Network’s editorial collective, to reflect on where the field has been, where it is, and where it is going. Specifically, we asked:

  1. Is there a conversation around political theology (as a concept, field, method, or however you understand it) from the past twenty years that continues to fascinate you?
  2. What conversations working with the concept of political theology do you find most fruitful today?
  3. Where do you hope to see discussion of political theology in 20 years?

Some of these responses were published first in the journal. Thanks is due to Bevin Blaber, Vincent Lloyd, Ari Colston, and Nathaniel Grimes who all helped to edit this symposium.

Symposium Essays

The Bible and Politics

The narrow formulation of the concept of Political Theology as the tracing of Protestant theological categories in contemporary political thought presents some challenge for the historically oriented biblical scholar.

Reflection on the Ongoing Catastrophe

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 “New” New: Challenging Political and Public Theology

Rather than understanding political theology as a single school of thought, I seek to define political theology as a more inclusive category by looking at the rich historical resources within each of the Abrahamic religions that help each tradition unpack the complex relationship between the political and theological spheres

Wider and Deeper Analysis

While political theology must possess planetary (global) concerns, it must work locally and collaborate across locales to further understanding, decision, and action to meet those concerns.

Contextual crisis analysis

The question for us, and for the field of political theology, is how do we wish to live in the end?

Political Theology and Political Crisis

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.

Law and Political Obligations

“What do I owe my fellow citizens whose conscience reaches different conclusions than my own?”

Political Theology in the Absence of Authority

How might we think about political theology in the absence of conventional scriptural, interpretive or institutional authorities together with their conceptual worlds?

Political Theology, Public Life, and Economic Structures

We are currently seeing folks pause to reflect both on what has historically counted as “political theology” and the ways in which those evaluate norms and frameworks need to shift moving forward.

Practices and Pluralism

Political theology needs to talk more about the role of religion in liberal democratic spaces such that those spaces are constituted as radically pluralistic.