Paul Kahn's task, he says, is to describe and interpret, rather than demystify, America’s political theology. That political theology, he…
Is sovereignty necessarily theological?
Book blog
Scholars from varying disciplines engage in critical discussions of recent books. Additionally, scholars introduce their books with an original essay or, occasionally, an original essay reviews an important new book, connecting it to other threads of conversation in the academy and beyond.
You can read our very first book forum, on Charles Taylor’s A Secular Age and the continued discussion around Varieties of Secularism in a Secular Age here.
Paul Kahn’s mis-prognosis of America’s social imaginary
As I argued in my previous post, there are indications that Paul Kahn subscribes to Carl Schmitt’s belief in the…
Political theology and political existentialism
“At stake in our political life,” Paul Kahn observes, “has been not our capacity to be reasonable, but our capacity…
Democracy under exception
I agree with Kahn (and with Schmitt) about the fact that political theory should leave room for decision and exception.…
American religion in the era of Fosdick’s revenge
Is bland beautiful? Almost never, most of us would say. But when it comes to religion in a diverse society,…
A historian’s reaction to American Grace
David Campbell's and Robert Putnam's American Grace left me historically puzzled on my first reading, and my second didn't clear things up.…
For a new migration of Abraham
At a moment when some of the theoretical gestures being inspired by old, new, or futuristic political theologies have become…
Not for the squeamish
Paul Kahn has written a remarkable meditation on Carl Schmitt’s Political Theology. A truly adequate response would undoubtedly require a…
Taking theology seriously
What we need is a bird’s eye view, and that requires taking theology seriously, and considering a longer view of…
Don’t tread on me
Paul Kahn, in his rereading of Carl Schmitt by way of the American context, seeks to “depersonalize the sovereign.” As…