Pluralism and Monotheism: On Apophatic Intolerance
This paper explores the dangerous yet liberative potentials of so-called monotheistic intolerance, arguing for its importance in pluralistic politics. Drawing upon the work of political theorist Chantal Mouffe, I examine conventional political notions of inclusivity and show how the metaphysics of “...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2025
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| In: |
Modern theology
Year: 2025, Volume: 41, Issue: 1, Pages: 63-82 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Monotheism
/ Christianity
/ Intolerance
/ Violence
/ Apophatic theology
/ Pluralism
/ Politics
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| IxTheo Classification: | AB Philosophy of religion; criticism of religion; atheism AD Sociology of religion; religious policy CA Christianity CH Christianity and Society NAA Systematic theology |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This paper explores the dangerous yet liberative potentials of so-called monotheistic intolerance, arguing for its importance in pluralistic politics. Drawing upon the work of political theorist Chantal Mouffe, I examine conventional political notions of inclusivity and show how the metaphysics of “the One True God” has political analogs not merely in despotic, exclusive absolutism but in agonistic pluralism. The metaphysical correlate of pluralism, I argue, is not merely in polytheism but in “apophatic intolerance”—the refusal to lay claim upon the Absolute, the denial of its representation—a subtle mechanics at the heart of monotheism. And yet, ambivalently coinciding with this emancipatory intolerance is a violence-laden “Mosaic distinction” between true and false religion. The political theology of Egyptologist Jan Assmann helps us interpret such volatile but crucial intolerance for our own democratic and pluralistic context. |
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| ISSN: | 1468-0025 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Modern theology
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1111/moth.12951 |
