Political theology: Possibility of comparison of the usage of death in theology and politics

• Published in: Filozofija i društvo (Zbornik radova) Vol. 25; no. 1; pp. 208 - 218
• Main Author: Kuljic, Todor
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, Belgrade 2014
• Subjects: guilt; justice; political theology; salvation; sin
• ISSN: 0353-5738; 2334-8577
• DOI: 10.2298/FID1401208K

This paper considers the epistemological value of the concept of political
theology in thanatopolitics. The concept can be useful if one wants to
interpret political usage of death. In addition to blurred boundaries between
politics and theology, there is a more general and deeper socially
integrative affinity between the two. In addition, there have been various
politicizations of salvation in the past and in the present. Every political
theology accentuates obedience as an immanent condition of salvation,
although interpretation of death in political theology has a different
function than in secular ideologies. In the centre of politically theological
ideas one can find crosscutting of the divisions between public friend and
public enemy from political world with similar divisions from religious
world. Finally, beside the theological influence on politics, this paper
considers some analogies between theology and the secular judiciary.