Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T16:16:35.889Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Catholicity Without Leviathan: Stanley Hauerwas's Perspective on the Church as an Alternative Political Community

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 July 2018

Ionut Untea
Ionut Untea*
Affiliation:
School of Humanities, Southeast University
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Ionut Untea, Department of Philosophy and Science, School of Humanities, Southeast University, Room 507, Wenke Building A, Jiulonghu Campus, Nanjing, 211189, Jiangsu Province, China. E-mail: [email protected] and [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The article brings into focus a series of political arguments of Stanley Hauerwas's “theological politics” and argues that these arguments are in stark contrast with the theoretical perspective of a political rule by a god-like Leviathan, an image inherited in modern and contemporary political culture from the early modern English philosopher Thomas Hobbes. The first section focuses on Hauerwas's arguments regarding the political potential of the term “Catholicity” to represent an alternative to the coercive politics reinforced by the post-Enlightenment nation state. The second section proposes a reflection on the way the Church's Catholicity may be expressed politically without falling into the temptation of involving the Leviathan to sort out the issues generated by its diversity. The concluding section illustrates how Hauerwas uses his approach of a universal unity of Christians “without Leviathan” in his exhortation addressed to American Christians to say “no” to Donald Trump's version of communal unity that is rather based on “total allegiance” to the United States and on “repressive politics”.

Type
Article
Information
Politics and Religion , Volume 12 , Issue 1 , March 2019 , pp. 1 - 31
Copyright
Copyright © Religion and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Berkman, John. 2001. “An Introduction to The Hauerwas Reader.” In The Hauerwas Reader, eds. Berkman, John and Cartwright, Michael. Durham and London: Duke University Press, 3–16.Google Scholar
Cavanaugh, William T. 1999. “The City: Beyond Secular Parodies.” In Radical Orthodoxy: A New Theology, eds. Milbank, John, Pickstock, Catherine and Ward, Graham. London and New York: Routledge, 182–200.Google Scholar
Cavanaugh, William T. 2004. “Church.” In The Blackwell Companion to Political Theology, eds. Scott, Peter and Cavanaugh, William T.. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 393–406.Google Scholar
Cavanaugh, William T. 2009. The Myth of Religious Violence: Secular Ideology and the Roots of Modern Conflict. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Diaz, Daniella. 2016. “Trump: ‘I'm smart’ for not paying taxes.” CNN Politics, September 27. https://edition.cnn.com/2016/09/26/politics/donald-trump-federal-income-taxes-smart-debate/index.html (Accessed on June 8, 2018).Google Scholar
Elshtain, Jean Bethke. 2001. “Christian Contrarian.” TIME, Sept. 17.Google Scholar
Gregory, Eric. 2008. Politics and the Order of Love: An Augustinian Ethic of Democratic Citizenship. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Hartropp, Joseph. 2017. “‘Trump wants you to be in his reality show’: US theologian Stanley Hauerwas challenges the Church.” Christian Today, June 23. https://www.christiantoday.com/article/trump-wants-you-to-be-in-his-reality-show-us-theologian-stanley-hauerwas-challenges-the-church/110162.htm (Accessed on September 13, 2017).Google Scholar
Hauerwas, Stanley. 1981. A Community of Character: Toward a Constructive Christian Social Ethic. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press.Google Scholar
Hauerwas, Stanley. 1994. Dispatches from the Front: Theological Engagements with the Secular. Durham and London: Duke University Press.Google Scholar
Hauerwas, Stanley. 1997a. Wilderness Wanderings: Probing Twentieth-Century Theology and Philosophy. Boulder: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Hauerwas, Stanley. 1997b. In Good Company: The Church as Polis. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press.Google Scholar
Hauerwas, Stanley. 2001a. “Why the ‘Sectarian Temptation’ is a Misrepresentation: A Response to James Gustafson (1988).” In The Hauerwas Reader, eds. Berkman, John and Cartwright, Michael. Durham and London: Duke University Press, 90–110.Google Scholar
Hauerwas, Stanley. 2001b. “On Being a Church Capable of Addressing a World at War: A Pacifist Response to the United Methodist Bishops’ Pastoral In Defense of Creation (1988).” In The Hauerwas Reader, eds. Berkman, John and Cartwright, Michael. Durham and London: Duke University Press, 426–458.Google Scholar
Hauerwas, Stanley. 2001c. With the Grain of the Universe: The Church's Witness and Natural Theology. Grand Rapids: Brazos.Google Scholar
Hauerwas, Stanley. 2001d. “Should War Be Eliminated? A Thought Experiment (1984).” In The Hauerwas Reader, eds. Berkman, John and Cartwright, Michael. Durham and London: Duke University Press, 392–425.Google Scholar
Hauerwas, Stanley. 2010. “Go with God: An Open Letter to Young Christians on Their Way to College.” First Things; A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life, No. 207 (Nov) https://www.firstthings.com/article/2010/10/go-with-god (Accessed on January 14, 2018).Google Scholar
Hauerwas, Stanley. 2011a. “The place of the Church: Locality and Catholicity.” ABC Religion and Ethics, March 10. http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2011/03/10/3159823.htm (Accessed on: September 14, 2017).Google Scholar
Hauerwas, Stanley. 2011b. War and the American Difference: Theological Reflections on Violence and National Identity. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic.Google Scholar
Hauerwas, Stanley. 2012a. “Hauerwas on ‘Hauerwas And The Law’: Trying To Have Something To Say.” Law and Contemporary Problems 75: 233–251.Google Scholar
Hauerwas, Stanley. 2012b. “A Dialogue Between a Theologian and a Lawyer.” Law and Contemporary Problems 75(4): 221–231.Google Scholar
Hauerwas, Stanley. 2013. Approaching the End: Eschatological Reflections on Church, Politics, and Life. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans.Google Scholar
Hauerwas, Stanley. 2016a. Sanctify Them in the Truth: Holiness Exemplified. London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark.Google Scholar
Hauerwas, Stanley. 2016b. “Elected: A Sermon for the Day of the U.S. Presidential Election.” ABC Religion and Ethics, November 8. www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2016/11/08/4571091.htm (Accessed on: May 5, 2018).Google Scholar
Hauerwas, Stanley. 2017. “Christians, Don't Be Fooled: Trump Has Deep Religious Convictions.” The Washington Post, January 27. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2017/01/27/christians-dont-be-fooled-trump-has-deep-religious-convictions/?utm_term=.8510e699ad6b (Accessed on January 18, 2018).Google Scholar
Hauerwas, Stanley and Coles, Romand. 2008. Christianity, Democracy, and the Radical Ordinary: Conversations Between a Radical Democrat and a Christian. Cambridge: The Lutterworth Press.Google Scholar
Hauerwas, Stanley and Powell, Jeff. 1995. “Creation as Apocalyptic: A Homage to William Stringfellow.” In Radical Christian and Exemplary Lawyer: Honoring William Stringfellow, eds. McThenia, Andrew W. Jr. Eugene: Wipf and Stock, 31–40.Google Scholar
Hauerwas, Stanley and Tran, Jonathan. 2017. “A Sanctuary Politics: Being the Church in the Time of Trump.” ABC Religion and Ethics. March 31. http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2017/03/30/4645538.htm (Accessed on: September 6, 2017).Google Scholar
Hauerwas, Stanley and Willimon, William H. 1989. Resident Aliens: Life in the Christian Colony. Nashville: Abingdon Press.Google Scholar
Healy, Nicholas M. 2014. Hauerwas: A (Very) Critical Introduction. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans.Google Scholar
Hobbes, Thomas. 1996. In Leviathan, Revised Student Edition, ed. Tuck, Richard. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Inazu, John D. 2012. “Stanley Hauerwas and the Law: Is There Anything to Say?” Law and Contemporary Problems 75(4): i–xiii.Google Scholar
Kaye, Bruce N. 2009. Conflict and the Practice of the Christian Faith: The Anglican Experiment. Eugene: Cascade Books.Google Scholar
Kenny, Caroline. 2018. “Trump: ‘I Have the Absolute Right to Pardon Myself’.” CNN Politics, June 4. https://edition.cnn.com/2018/06/04/politics/donald-trump-pardon-tweet/index.html (Accessed on: June 8, 2018).Google Scholar
Lilla, Mark. 2007. The Stillborn God: Religion, Politics, and the Modern West. New York: Knopf.Google Scholar
Long, D. Stephen. 2009. Speaking of God: Theology, Language, and Truth. Grand Rapids, MI and Cambridge: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Macedo, Stephen. 2012. “Hauerwas, Liberalism, and Public Reason: Terms of Engagement?” Law and Contemporary Problems 75(4): 161–180.Google Scholar
MacIntyre, Alasdair. 2016. Ethics in the Conflicts of Modernity: An Essay on Desire, Practical Reasoning, and Narrative. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Mathewes, Charles T. 2000. “An Appreciation of Hauerwas: One Hand Clapping.” Anglican Theological Review 82(2): 343–360.Google Scholar
Mathewes, Charles T. 2007. A Theology of Public Life. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
McFarlan Miller, Emily and Shimron, Yonat. 2018. “The ‘Splainer’: Why is Jeff Sessions quoting Romans 13 and why is it so often invoked?” Religion News Service June 15. https://religionnews.com/2018/06/15/the-splainer-why-is-jeff-sessions-quoting-romans-13-and-why-is-it-so-often-invoked/ (Accessed on: June 20, 2018).Google Scholar
Milbank, John. 2006. Theology and Social Theory: Beyond Secular Reason. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.Google Scholar
Niebuhr, Reinhold. 1967. Love and Justice: Selections from the Shorter Writings of Reinhold Niebuhr. New York: Meridian Books.Google Scholar
Northcott, Michael S. 2012. “Reading Hauerwas in the Cornbelt: The Demise of The American Dream and the Return of Liturgical Politics.” Journal of Religious Ethics 40: 262–280.Google Scholar
O'Donovan, Oliver. 1996. The Desire of the Nations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Rasmusson, Arne. 1995. The Church as Polis: From Political Theology to Theological Politics as Exemplified by Jürgen Moltmann and Stanley Hauerwas. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press.Google Scholar
Stout, Jeffrey. 2004. Democracy and Tradition. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Trump, Donald. 2017. “Inauguration Speech.” The Washington Post, January 20. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/01/20/donald-trumps-full-inauguration-speech-transcript-annotated/?utm_term=.826ef7278597 (Accessed on: January 27, 2017).Google Scholar
Williams, Rowan. 2008. “Presidential Address at Lambeth Conference.” Sunday 20th July. http://rowanwilliams.archbishopofcanterbury.org/articles.php/1353/archbishops-first-presidential-address-at-lambeth-conference (Accessed on: January 18, 2018).Google Scholar
Willimon, William H. and Hauerwas, Stanley. 1996. Lord, Teach Us: The Lord's Prayer & the Christian Life. Nashville: Abingdon Press.Google Scholar
Yoder, John Howard. 1994. The Politics of Jesus; Vicit Agnus Noster. Grand Rapids, MI and Cambridge: William B. Eerdmans.Google Scholar