Christ and the Common Life: Political Theology and the Case for Democracy. By Luke Bretherton
Luke Bretherton writes with rigour and clarity. Yet in his most ambitious and extensive work to date he deliberately eschews a neat and linear argument. It is a set of essays which, across their various topic areas and ‘angles of vision’, present a ‘composite picture’ (which Bretherton likens to a ‘...
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| Format: | Electronic Review |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
2023
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| In: |
The journal of theological studies
Year: 2023, Volume: 74, Issue: 1, Pages: 448-449 |
| Further subjects: | B
Book review
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| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | Luke Bretherton writes with rigour and clarity. Yet in his most ambitious and extensive work to date he deliberately eschews a neat and linear argument. It is a set of essays which, across their various topic areas and ‘angles of vision’, present a ‘composite picture’ (which Bretherton likens to a ‘Cubist portrait’) of contemporary western social, political, and economic contexts and the outlines of a faithful Christian response (p. 12).Bretherton offers a compelling case for a ‘consociational’ politics. Much political theorizing and practice is animated by the (often unstated) assumption that the central question is how governments should and should not act. At worst, this approach presupposes ‘top-down, transcendent, monistic conception of sovereignty’. But even when it is moderated by a commitment to federalism and the division of powers, it reduces citizen participation in politics to occasional trips to the polling station. By contrast, a consociational vision recognizes ‘social and political plurality’, with power distributed across ‘numerous forms of covenantal association’ (p. 168). |
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| ISSN: | 1477-4607 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The journal of theological studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1093/jts/flac160 |