“The Lord Your God is God of Gods and Lord of Lords”: Is Monotheism a Political Problem in the Hebrew Bible?

Erik Peterson's famous monograph on “Monotheism as a Political Problem” argued that some pre-Cappadocian Christian theology was at risk of correlating too closely the universal rule of God and the apparently universal rule of Caesar. Peterson claimed that Cappadocian trinitarian theology and Au...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Haring, James W. (Author)
Format: Electronic/Print Article
Language:English
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Published: Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group [2017]
In: Political theology
Year: 2017, Volume: 18, Issue: 6, Pages: 512-527
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Peterson, Erik 1890-1960 / Old Testament / Monotheism / Political theology
IxTheo Classification:HB Old Testament
NBC Doctrine of God
Further subjects:B Hebrew Bible
B Erik Peterson
B Monotheism
B Carl Schmitt
B Political Theology
Online Access: Volltext (doi)
Description
Summary:Erik Peterson's famous monograph on “Monotheism as a Political Problem” argued that some pre-Cappadocian Christian theology was at risk of correlating too closely the universal rule of God and the apparently universal rule of Caesar. Peterson claimed that Cappadocian trinitarian theology and Augustinian eschatology ruled out such dangerous political-theological analogies for future Christian thought, thereby undermining the type of political theology that engaged Carl Schmitt. Peterson overlooked key resources for his argument, however, by neglecting the development of monotheism in the Hebrew Bible. Israelite religion, in fact, does not exhibit a correlation between monotheism and theological legitimation of political order, but the reverse. “Political theology” in the Hebrew Bible begins to fade precisely as a more transcendent and universal monotheism emerges in the biblical literature of the exilic and post-exilic periods. This implies that Peterson was mistaken to claim monotheism itself as the primary source of the political-theological problem he identifies.
Item Description:Das Heft ist als Doppelheft erschienen: "Volume 18 Numbers 5-6 August-September 2017"
ISSN:1462-317X
Contains:Enthalten in: Political theology
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/1462317X.2016.1263028