Blackwell Companion to Political Theology, The

Theology Today, Oct 2004 by Kuntz, Daniel J

The Blackwell Companion to Political Theology. Edited by Peter Scott and William T. Cavanaugh. Malden, MA, Blackwell, 2004. 566 pp. $124.95.

The editors of this Companion have pulled together a comprehensive survey of the many-dimensioned relationship between religion and politics. Essays are organized under the headings "Traditional Resources of Scripture, Traditions, Liturgy," "Political Theologies: Survey," "Constructive Political Theology," "Structures and Movements," and "Perspectives." Among the contributors are Walter Brueggemann on the political implications of the Exodus story, Stanley Haucrwas on the political ethics of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and M. Shawn Copeland on black political theologies in the United States, South Africa, the Caribbean, and Britain. The book draws on western Christian traditions, Eastern Orthodox thought, and on other "religions of the Book," Judaism and Islam. Barth, Moltmann, Reinhold Niebuhr, and feminist theologians are represented; every article offers rich insights. An excellent resource for both teaching and research, this anthology is recommended for every theology library.

Daniel J. Kuntz, Brescia University, Owensboro, KY