POLITICAL THEOLOGY (RSCE-4157)
(01/30/2023-05/19/2023)
Course Memo
The course explores how Christian theology is political. It will explore a diverse range of approaches to cross-examining, (re)imagining, and (de)constructing the intersection of politics, religion, and theology, present, and past. It is designed to help students think more deeply about the relationship between faith and politics, Christianity, and political arrangements, and assess theological arguments of democracy as a primary means for pursuing a flourishing life. Running through the course are examinations of how different political theologies address questions about the common good, justice, poverty, commonality, difference, and power across continents. Finally, we will look at distinctive approaches to enduring questions in the Christian tradition by twentieth-century scholarship across topics in contemporary political theology across religions, such as reading the Bible politically, the Option for the Poor, the Kingdom of God, State and Church, Church-Based Politics, confronting the powers, gender and race, and the postcolonial challenges.