A critique of modern Western civilization, including contemporary concerns of consumerism, capitalism, globalization, and poverty, from the perspective of a believing Catholic. Responding to Enlightenment and Postmodernist views of the social and economic realities of our time, Cavanaugh engages with contemporary concerns--consumerism, late capitalism, globalization, poverty--in a way reminiscent of Rowan Williams (Lost Icons), Nicholas Boyle (Who Are We Now?) and Michel de Certeau. Consumption of the Eucharist, he argues, consumes one into the narrative of the pilgrim City of God, whose reach extends beyond the global to embrace all times and places. He develops the theme of the Eucharist as the basis for Christian resistance to the violent disciplines of state, civil society and globalization.

Written by a team of international experts, drawn from various traditions of political theology, this outstanding resource brings together 35 newly-commissioned essays in the field.
Demonstrates that Christian theology is inherently political and shows how theology impacts on present-day political issues.
Considers the interface of theology with political ideologies, including the contribution of theology to feminist, ecological, black and pacifist movements.
Assesses the contribution of the major political theologians and theological movements.
Explores the political aspects of Christian sources such as scripture and liturgy.

About the Contributor(s): Artur Mrowczy ski-Van Allen is director of the Slavic Department at the International Center for the Study of the Christian Orient in Granada, Spain. He is Currently Professor at the Instituto de Filosofia "Edith Stein" and the Instituto de Teologia "Lumen Gentium" (Granada), where he teaches Philosophy of History and Political Philosophy. He is also member of the Scientific Council of the Centro Studi "Vita e Destino, Vasily Grossman" (Turin), and Consultant of Episcopal Commission for Interconfessional Relations of the Episcopal Conference of Spain (Madrid). . He is coeditor of La Idea Rusa: Entre el anticristo y la Iglesia: Una antologia introductoria (2008).

In a 2013 interview, Pope Francis famously likened the church to a field hospital, saying that his vision of the ideal church is one that attends to the overwhelming suffering of the world before concerning itself with smaller matters. In this book William Cavanaugh adopts Pope Francis's metaphor to show how the church can help heal both the spiritual and the material wounds of the world. As he examines the intersection of theology with themes of religious freedom, economic injustice, religious violence, and other pressing topics, Cavanaugh emphasizes that the church cannot condemn the evils of the world from a position of superiority. Rather, he says, its practices of solidarity with humanity must be based on a profound recognition that the church shares in the guilt of human sin. Cavanaugh's Field Hospital provides guideposts for a church that is willing to go outside of itself onto the battlefields of today - both metaphorical and literal - not to inflict wounds but to bind them up and heal them.

The idea that religion has a dangerous tendency to promote violence is part of the conventional wisdom of Western societies, and it underlies many of our institutions and policies, from limits on the public role of religion to efforts to promote liberal democracy in the Middle East. William T. Cavanaugh challenges this conventional wisdom by examining how the twin categories of religion and the secular are constructed. A growing body of scholarly work explores how the category 'religion' has been constructed in the modern West and in colonial contexts according to specific configurations of political power. Cavanaugh draws on this scholarship to examine how timeless and transcultural categories of 'religion and 'the secular' are used in arguments that religion causes violence. He argues three points: 1) There is no transhistorical and transcultural essence of religion. What counts as religious or secular in any given context is a function of political configurations of power; 2) Such a transhistorical and transcultural concept of religion as non-rational and prone to violence is one of the foundational legitimating myths of Western society; 3) This myth can be and is used to legitimate neo-colonial violence against non-Western others, particularly the Muslim world.

An Eerdmans Reader in Contemporary Political Theology gathers some of the most significant and influential writings in political theology from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Given that the locus of Christianity is undeniably shifting to the global South, this volume uniquely integrates key voices from Africa, Asia, and Latin America with central texts from Europe and North America on such major subjects as church and state, gender and race, and Christendom and postcolonialism. Carefully selected, thematically arranged, and expertly introduced, these forty-nine essential readings constitute an ideal primary-source introduction to contemporary political theology -- a profoundly relevant resource for globally engaged citizens, students, and scholars. CONTRIBUTORS: Nicholas Adams Rafael Avila Karl Barth Richard Bauckham Dietrich Bonhoeffer Walter Brueggemann Ernesto Cardenal J. Kameron Carter James H. Cone Dorothy Day Musa W. Dube Jean Bethke Elshtain Eric Gregory Gustavo Guti rrez Stanley Hauerwas George Hunsinger Ada Mar a Isasi-Diaz Emmanuel M. Katongole Rafiq Khoury Kosuke Koyama Brian McDonald Johann Baptist Metzv Virgil Michel N stor O. Miguez John Milbank John Courtney Murray Ched Myers H. Richard Niebuhr Reinhold Niebuhr Arvind P. Nirmal Oliver O'Donovan Catherine Pickstock Kwok Pui-lan A. Maria Arul Raja Walter Rauschenbusch Joerg Rieger Christopher Rowland Rosemary Radford Ruether Alexander Schmemann Carl Schmitt Peter Manley Scott Jon Sobrino Dorothee Solle R. S. Sugirtharajah Elsa Tamez Mark Lewis Taylor Emilie M. Townes Desmond Tutu Bernd Wannenwetsch Graham Ward George Weigel Delores S. Williams Rowan Williams Walter Wink John Howard Yoder Kim Yong-Bock

Whether one thinks that religion continues to fade or has made a comeback in the contemporary world, there is a common notion that religion went away somewhere, at least in the West. But William Cavanaugh argues that religious fervor never left it has only migrated toward a new object of worship. In Migrations of the Holy he examines the disconcerting modern transfer of sacred devotion from the church to the nation-state. In these chapters Cavanaugh cautions readers to be wary of a rigid separation of religion and politics that boxes in the church and sends citizens instead to the state for hope, comfort, and salvation as they navigate the risks and pains of mortal life. When nationality becomes the primary source of identity and belonging, he warns, the state becomes the god and idol of its own religion, the language of nationalism becomes a liturgy, and devotees willingly sacrifice their lives to serve and defend their country. Cavanaugh urges Christians to resist this form of idolatry, to unthink the inevitability of the nation-state and its dreary party politics, to embrace radical forms of political pluralism that privilege local communities and to cling to an incarnational theology that weaves itself seamlessly and tangibly into all aspects of daily life and culture. William Cavanaugh continues to provide leadership and vision in the field of political theology. He addresses essential questions about the religious status of the nation-state, the political character of the church, and how the tradition of Christian political thought might be brought to bear upon contemporary politics. . . . Unfolds a theological response to present political conditions and a political response to our theological condition. Luke Bretherton Kings College London Another vigorous but distinct voice in the burgeoning conversation about the role of religion generally and the church specifically in political life. . . . Worth a careful read. Robert Benne

Should Christians be "for" or "against" the free market? "For" or "against" globalization? How are we to live in a world of scarcity? William Cavanaugh uses Christian resources to incisively address basic economic matters - the free market, consumer culture, globalization, and scarcity - arguing that we should not just accept these as givens but should instead change the terms of the debate.

Among other things, Cavanaugh discusses how God, in the Eucharist, forms us to consume and be consumed rightly. Examining pathologies of desire in contemporary "free market" economies, Being Consumed puts forth a positive and inspiring vision of how the body of Christ can engage in economic alternatives.

At every turn, Cavanaugh illustrates his theological analysis with concrete examples of Christian economic practices.

Tackles thorny questions and tensions at the intersection of Scripture and science What does it mean for the Christian doctrine of the Fall if there was no historical Adam? If humanity emerged from nonhuman primates-as genetic, biological, and archaeological evidence seems to suggest-then what are the implications for a Christian understanding of human origins, including the origin of sin? This book gathers a multidisciplinary, ecumenical team of scholars to address these difficult questions from the perspectives of biology, theology, history, Scripture, philosophy, and politics. After mapping the territory of challenging questions surrounding human origins and the Fall, the contributors delve into biblical sources and traditional theological accounts as resources for understanding, consider broader cultural implications of the Fall, and propose ways of reimagining the conversation so as to move forward faithfully.