Divinations: Theopolitics in an Age of Terror

by Daniel M. Bell Jr.

As modernity gives way to postmodernity, we are witnessing the emergence of a post-political age. Concepts and realities that anchored modern politics--like nation-states, community, freedom, and law--find themselves under duress from a pluriform terror. Simultaneously, we are witnessing a turn to religion by continental philosophers who seek resources for re-visioning a politics of resistance to this terror. This work engages postmodern philosophers such as Agamben, Badiou, Derrida, Deleuze, Hardt, Negri, and Zizek, seeking to divine both the promise and peril of this pagan plundering of Christianity on the way to articulating a Christian theopolitical vision that holds out the hope of resisting the terror that looms over us. "Writing with remarkable clarity, Bell develops a critical account of democracy by engaging Derrida, Deleuze, Zizek, Badiou, and Agamben. This is no small accomplishment. At least as important is Bell's constructive theological proposal for helping Christians regain hope for the future." --Stanley Hauerwas, Gilbert T. Rowe Professor Emeritus of Divinity and Law, Duke University Daniel M. Bell Jr. is Professor Theology and Ethics at Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary. He is author of Liberation Theology After the End of History (2001), Just War as Christian Discipleship (2009), and Economy of Christianity and Capitalism in a Postmodern World (2012).

212 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 3, 2017

About the author

Daniel M. Bell Jr. (PhD, Duke University) is professor of theological ethics at Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in Columbia, South Carolina. He is an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church and the author of Just War as Christian Discipleship and Liberation Theology after the End of History.