Religion, Authority, and the State: From Constantine to the Contemporary World (Pathways for Ecumenical and Interreligious Dialogue)

In commemoration of Constantine’s grant of freedom of religion to Christians, this wide-ranging volume examines the ambiguous legacy of this emperor in relation to the present world, discussing the perennial challenges of relations between religions and governments. The authors examine the new global ecumenical movement inspired by Pentecostals, the role of religion in the Irish Easter rebellion against the British, and the relation between religious freedom and government in the United States. Other essays debate the relation of Islam to the violence in Nigeria, the place of the family in church-state relations in the Philippines, the role of confessional identity in the political struggles in the Balkans, and the construction of Slavophile identity in nineteenth-century Russian Orthodox political theology. The volume also investigates the contrast between written constitutions and actual practice in the relations between governments and religions in Australia, Indonesia, and Egypt. The case studies and surveys illuminate both specific contexts and also widespread currents in religion-state relations across the world. Dedication 6 Foreword 8 Acknowledgments 12 Contents 14 Contributors 16 Introduction 20 Part I: International Perspectives 25 Chapter 1: Specters of a New Ecumenism: In Search of a Church “Out of Joint” 26 The Hauntings 26 Specters of the Ecumenical Movement 28 The New Ecumenism 43 Notes 50 Chapter 2: Religion and the State: Contexts, Controversies, and Conjectures in Australia, Indonesia, and Egypt 56 Introduction 56 Australia 57 Emergence of the Secular State 58 Controversy over State Support of Religious Schools 60 Indonesia 61 Emergence of the Secular State 63 Controversy over Interpretation and Application of Pancasila 64 Egypt 66 Egypt—Controversy over Article II of the Constitution 67 Conclusion 71 Notes 72 Part II: Africa and Asia 76 Chapter 3: A Postcolonial Theological Reading of the Philippines: Church-State Relation and a Familia Dei Response 77 Introduction 77 Theoretical Construct for a Postcolonial Reading 79 Postcolonial Reading of the Church-State Relation 80 A Postcolonial Re-Reading of the Church in Society: A Familia Dei Ecclesiology 85 Summary 89 Notes 90 Chapter 4: Diagnosing the Politics of Christian-Muslim Conflicts in the West African Sub-Region: Going beyond the Western Paradigm 96 Objective 96 Introduction 97 The Situation 97 The Roots of the Conflicts 98 Colonial Influence and Lack of Sense of Nationality 98 Post-Colonial Interest—Economic and Political 103 Failed States, Insufficient Leadership, Political Domination and Dictatorship, Collapsing Government Services, and Corruption 104 Ethnic Tension and Resource Control/Distribution 108 Socio-Cultural-Religious Clash and Conflict 110 Ignorance of History and Inability to Learn from and Heal the Past 112 Effect of the War on Terrorism—The Shift of Islamic Jihadists and Extremists to the More Vulnerable Habitats 113 Concluding Statements 114 Notes 115 Chapter 5: Islamic Extremism in West Africa: A Historical and Theological Analysis of the Crisis of Religious Brigandage in Islam 121 Introduction 121 Causal Relationship of Radicalism and Islamic Fundamentalism: A Historical Analysis 123 Contemporary Jihad: A Continuity or Discontinuity? 125 Cases of Religiously Motivated Violence in Islam 128 Conflicts over the Sharia 129 Conflicts over the Quran 130 Conflicts over the Prophet Muhammad 131 Toward a Viable Solution: The Role of the State 132 Toward a Theological Solution 133 Conclusion 136 Notes 137 Part III: The United States of America 141 Chapter 6: The Reign of God and Constantine’s Disputed Legacy: Religious Freedom, Sacred Empire, and the American Experience 142 Constantine, Sacred Emperor, and Religious Freedom 144 The Sacred Emperor 145 Religious Freedom: Constantine and Lactantius: “So Why Do They Behave with Such Savagery?” 146 The Limitations of Religious Freedom: “What Has the Church to Do with the Emperor?” 149 Augustine: “What Are Great Empires but Great Robbers?” 151 Justinian: “Any Difference Between Priesthood and Empire Is Small” 152 The American Experience: Sacred Empire and Religious Freedom 153 Religious Freedom in “The City on a Hill” 154 The Irony of It All: Reinhold Niebuhr 156 Notes 158 Chapter 7: The US Bishops’ Campaign for Religious Freedom During the 2012 Presidential Election Year: A Critical Analysis 163 Important and Valid Principles 164 Contraception and Catholic Authority 166 Partisan Politics 170 What Kind of Authority? 172 Notes 173 Part IV: Europe 175 Chapter 8: Confessional Belonging and National Identity: A Case Study of Serbia, Croatia, and Germany 176 Historical Overview of the Serbo-Croatian Conflicts 178 Formation of the National Identity in Serbia and Croatia 179 Confessional Belonging and National Identity in Germany 182 Lessons for the Present 184 Notes 189 Chapter 9: Sobornost’, State Authority, and Christian Society in Slavophile Political Theology 195 Slavophile Social Thought 196 The Critique of Western Anthropology 199 The Church as the Social Ideal 203 Sobornost’ and the State 205 Notes 212 Chapter 10: Church and State in England: A Fragile Establishment 215 Establishment in the Church of England 216 Conflicts Between Church and State 218 Women Clergy and Parliament 220 Same-Sex Marriage 223 Conclusion 226 Notes 227 Chapter 11: Religion and the Rising: Patrick Pearse and Easter 1916 231 Part One: Patrick Pearse and the Easter Rising 232 Patrick Pearse—1879–1916 232 The Formation of Pearse’s Vision 234 Faith Without Works Is Dead—Religion and Nationalism Entwined 236 Insurrection at Easter47 238 Part Two: Evaluating Pearse and the Rising 240 The “Righteousness” of the Rising and Its Legacy 241 The Revisionist Debates and Beyond 243 ‘Now and in the Time to Be’: Pearse, Religion, and Violent Rebellion 246 Rebellion, Myth, and Sacrifice—Perspectives from Philosophy and Anthropology 246 Pearse, the Rising, and Political Theology 249 Conclusion: Pearse as “Radical Political Theology”? 251 Notes 252 Index 263 Front Matter....Pages i-xxiii Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Specters of a New Ecumenism: In Search of a Church “Out of Joint”....Pages 3-32 Religion and the State: Contexts, Controversies, and Conjectures in Australia, Indonesia, and Egypt....Pages 33-52 Front Matter....Pages 53-53 A Postcolonial Theological Reading of the Philippines: Church-State Relation and a Familia Dei Response....Pages 55-73 Diagnosing the Politics of Christian-Muslim Conflicts in the West African Sub-Region: Going beyond the Western Paradigm....Pages 75-99 Islamic Extremism in West Africa: A Historical and Theological Analysis of the Crisis of Religious Brigandage in Islam....Pages 101-120 Front Matter....Pages 121-121 The Reign of God and Constantine’s Disputed Legacy: Religious Freedom, Sacred Empire, and the American Experience....Pages 123-143 The US Bishops’ Campaign for Religious Freedom During the 2012 Presidential Election Year: A Critical Analysis....Pages 145-156 Front Matter....Pages 157-157 Confessional Belonging and National Identity: A Case Study of Serbia, Croatia, and Germany....Pages 159-177 Sobornost’, State Authority, and Christian Society in Slavophile Political Theology....Pages 179-198 Church and State in England: A Fragile Establishment....Pages 199-214 Religion and the Rising: Patrick Pearse and Easter 1916....Pages 215-246 Back Matter....Pages 247-250