This is just a really good introduction to the ”theological” part of the field of Political Theology – i.e. it does not cover philosophers like Zizek, Agamben and others who engage with theology from a political perspective. But it gives a really good overview of the field, deal with the most important thinkers and issues and an extremely clear way. So I really recommend it to anyone who wants an introduction or an overview of the field.
Of course, books like this nor only present the field, but define it. This means that the discussion of what is included and what is excluded becomes really important. I am sure that there are people who find the book biased, but it might be the case that it is biased in the direction I feel at home in so, maybe I’m not the one to comment. Theologians like Hauerwas, Yoder, Milbank, Cavanaugh, O’Donovan all fill up my bookshelf, and the are well presented here. I’d think that some would find that the current generation of liberation theologians should get more attention for example, but then they don’t in the current discussion, so I am not sure that a book like this would be the right place to attempt to correct that.
The good thing about reading a book like this is that you might find answers to really basic question that one should know the answers to but would not embaress yourself by asking. The certainly happened to me, but, no, I won’t tell on what.
