Abstract
This chapter is the second part of a diptych on creation order in relation to new creation. It takes its starting-point in New Testament teaching about the reality of the kingdom of God and new creation in the here and now. Its main concern is to understand the philosophical implications of this teaching. For that reason, it analyses a contemporary discussion in political philosophy which connects a social-political critique with basic themes of Jewish and Christian faith, and as such, is part of “philosophy’s turn to religion.” Much attention is paid to the wider philosophical background of this discussion. Three issues especially come to the fore: (1) The interpretation of transcendence in its connection with the highest good and the impact of the critique of religion in this respect; (2) the continuation of the transcendental urge of Kantian philosophy in Heidegger and his critical followers such as Derrida and Agamben, and its connection with the theme of the particular and the universal (Badiou); (3) the ideas of sovereignty and power (Benjamin). It is argued that the philosophical idea of transcendence leads to an understanding of “messianic hope” and “ultimate redemption” which necessarily differs from New Testament teaching about the kingdom of God because transcendency is interpreted in impersonal terms. Furthermore, an interpretation of justice, sovereignty, and power is suggested by making use of the creational perspective of promise-command and response, the correlation of law-side (universal) and subject-side (particular), and the idea of the good as intrinsic to relations.
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
De Vries (1999) focuses on Derrida , but also discusses Marion and Levinas at some length. Actually, a reaction against this turn to religion in philosophy has started already; e.g., by Quentin Meillassoux, a former student of Badiou .
- 3.
However, the “theoretical” nature of this reflection does not exclude existential enjoyment and depth.
- 4.
This attempt is what I see as the heart of onto-theology.
- 5.
That the critique of religion does not necessarily lead to a limited view of evil can be illustrated by a story about Ernst Bloch. He was an outspoken atheist. However, in a discussion with theologians Bloch protested against their view that the devil was just a “myth.” Evidently, he thought that evil in all its brutality was not taken seriously enough in this way.
- 6.
For Agamben , see Murray (2010), especially chapter one.
- 7.
Of course, as such this position implies also a negative second-person response in relation to these claims.
- 8.
I do not deny that different religious and secular worldviews have elements in common. The choice needs to be made in relation to the basic claims as to which they differ.
- 9.
This is also the background for the Hegelian dialectics between concept and idea as observed within historical development.
- 10.
In the technical terms of Dooyeweerdian philosophy: they have a logical object-function, but their qualifying nature is not logical.
- 11.
We should not make the opposite mistake, of course, of reducing the law-side to the subject-side with the result that ethical rules or political laws are only seen as descriptions of actual practices or subjective human preferences.
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Geertsema, H. (2018). Creation Order in the Light of Redemption (2): Political Philosophy. In: Buijs, G., Mosher, A. (eds) The Future of Creation Order. New Approaches to the Scientific Study of Religion , vol 5. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92147-1_2
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