The Reign of God: A Critical Engagement with Oliver O’Donovan’s Theology of Political Authority (T&T Clark Enquiries in Theological Ethics)

## Impact and Reception O'Donovan has had a significant impact on contemporary Western Christian political theology. 1 Nicholas Wolterstorff has described Desire as no less than the twentieth century's "most important contribution to political theology. " 2 In Richard Neuhaus' view, it was that rare book that "interrupts the conversation and sets it off in new directions. " 3 For Philip Lorish and Charles Mathewes, it "recast the field of 'political theology'" and "inaugurated a new era in theological thinking on politics. " 4 Jonathan Chaplin found Desire "the most arresting, challenging and rewarding work of political theology to have appeared in a long time. " 5 David Novak went so far as to credit O'Donovan with having "revived political theology Cover Contents Acknowledgments Introduction Chapter 1 Oliver O’Donovan’s English-Language Reception and Theopolitical Influences Chapter 2 Government-as-Judgment: An Exposition of O’Donovan’s Theology of Political Authority Chapter 3 Does Israel Reveal the Essence of Political Authority? Chapter 4 Romans 13: 1–7 and the Christological “Re-authorization” of Political Authority Chapter 5 Salvation-History, Biblical Theology, and Political Authority Chapter 6 The “Providence Thesis” and Its Theodicy Implications Chapter 7 O’Donovan’s (Conservative) Christian Liberalism Chapter 8 Providence and the Created Order: The Ontological Tension in the Accounts of Political Authority in Resurrection and Desire Chapter 9 The Redemption of Political Authority and Its New Historical Bene Esse as the Work of Divine Providence Conclusion Bibliography Index "The Reign of God constitutes the first detailed and systematic critical engagement with Oliver O'Donovan's political theology. It argues that O'Donovan's theological account of political authority is not tenable on the basis of exegetical and methodological problems. The book goes on to demonstrate a way to refine O'Donovan's theology of political authority by incorporating insights from his earlier work in moral theology. This can provide a cogent basis for thinking that the Christ-event redeems the natural political authority embedded in the created order and inaugurates its new historical bene esse in the form of Christian liberalism."--Quatrième de couverture "The Reign of God constitutes the first detailed and systematic critical engagement with Oliver O'Donovan's political theology. It argues that O'Donovan's theological account of political authority is not tenable on the basis of exegetical and methodological problems. The book goes on to demonstrate a way to refine O'Donovan's theology of political authority by incorporating insights from his earlier work in moral theology. This can provide a cogent basis for thinking that the Christ-event redeems the natural political authority embedded in the created order and inaugurates its new historical bene esse in the form of Christian liberalism"-- Provided by publisher.