Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.31823/d.29.4.1
A Comparison of Political Theologies of Carl Schmitt and Johann Baptist Metz: Analogy and Counterpoint
Ivica Raguž
orcid.org/0000-0002-0083-0325
; Catholic Faculty of Theology in Đakovo, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Đakovo, Croatia
Mirko Vlk
orcid.org/0000-0003-4659-4652
; Croatian Catholic Mission in Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
Abstract
The article compares the political theologies of Carl Schmitt and Johann Baptist Metz to point out the analogy between these two seemingly different projects, which, despite all the similarities, stand in counterpoint when it comes to the intention of their founders. Their analogy stems from the very structure of political theology as a reflection on the relationship between religion and politics. Thus, both political theologies are structural in nature, developing the metaphysical and hermeneutic framework to analyze their material object. Likewise, they adopt a negative theological anthropology to emphasize the adverse nature of human existence. Finally, Schmitt and Metz rely on the disruptive-critical element of political theology – the fact that the sociopolitical life of the entire community lies in a reciprocal relationship with the religious beliefs of its members – to point out how man’s subjectivity is not limited to history but transcends it.
Keywords
Carl Schmitt; Johann Baptist Metz; political theology; comparison; analogy; counterpoint
Hrčak ID:
269456
URI
Publication date:
28.12.2021.
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