Messianic political theology and diaspora ethics : essays in exile / P. Travis Kroeker.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kroeker, P. Travis, author.

Series:

Theopolitical visions.

Theopolitical Visions

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Christianity and politics.

Political theology.

Christian ethics.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (268 pages).

Place of Publication:

Eugene, Oregon : Cascade Books, 2017.

Summary:

Political theology as a normative discourse has been controversial not only for secular political philosophers who are especially suspicious of messianic claims but also for Jewish and Christian thinkers who differ widely on its meaning. These essays mount an argument for a "messianic political theology" rooted in an interpretation of biblical (especially Pauline), Augustinian, and radical reformation readings of messianism as a thoroughly political and theological vision that gives rise to what the author calls "diaspora ethics." In conversation also with Platonic, Jewish, and Continental thinkers, Kroeker argues for an exilic practice of political ethics in which the secular is built up theologically "from below" in the form of public service that flows from messianic political worship. Such a "weak messianic power" practiced by the messianic body inhabits an apocalyptic political economy in which the mystery of love and the mystery of evil are agonistically unveiled together in the power of the cross--not as an instrument of domination but in the form of the servant. This is not simply a matter of "pacifism" but of a messianic posture rooted in the renunciation of possessive desire that pertains to all aspects of everyday human life in the household (oikos), the academy, and the polis. --Book cover.

Contents:

Part i: Apocalyptic messianism and political theology. Living "as if not": messianic becoming or the practice of nihilism?

The theological politics of Plato and Isaiah: a debate rejoined

Augustine's messianic political theology: an apocalyptic critique of political Augustinianism

Messianic ethics and diaspora communities: upbuilding the secular theologically from below

part 2: Political theology and the radical reformation. Anabaptists and existential theology

Eschatology and ethics: Luther and the radical reformers

Why O'Donovan's Christendom is not Constantinian and Yoder's voluntariety is not Hobbesian: a debate in theological politics redefined

The war of the lamb: postmodernity and Yoder's eschatological genealogy of morals

Is a messianic political ethic possible? Yoder critically considered

part 3: Messianism and diaspora ethics. Messianic freedom and the secular academy: educating the affections in a technological culture

Gulag ethics: Russian and Mennonite prison memoirs from Siberia / with Bruce Ward

Mennonite and Métis: adjacent histories, adjacent truths? / with Carole Leclair

Rich Mennonites in an age of mammon: is a messianic political economy possible?

On the difference between torture and punishment: theology, liturgy, and human rights

Technology as principality: the elimination of incarnation.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (EBC, viewed February 10, 2018).

ISBN:

9781532642746

1532642741