Author: WANG Zhiyuan, Doctoral Candidate, Department of Philosophy (Zhuhai), Sun Yatsen University.
Abstract:
Arguments about Schmitt’s political theology by contemporary scholars can be seen as an extension of the earlier controversy over political theology between Schmitt and Peterson. Examining the dispute between these two can help clarify their standpoints as well as the essence of contemporary arguments. The fundamental divergence of views between them lies in the theologian Peterson holding onto theology as absolute doctrine, firmly rejecting the substantive analogy between theology and secular politics as well as the theological justification of the latter. Peterson simultaneously asserts that Christian theology puts an end to political theology and contends that theologically justifiable political participation exists only in Christian liturgy of the Triune God. The jurist Schmitt criticizes Peterson for insisting on the absolute and abstract separation of the political and the theology. By discussing the relationship between the two fields of the political and the theological, Schmitt on the one hand implies that Christian theology is also a particular kind of political theology, which is the completion of paganJewish political theology; on the other hand, he deepens the discourse on political theology, demonstrating its special significance for him. Schmitt, while not directly using Christian theology to construct political theory, does relate his political theory to theological concepts in a questionable way.
Keywords:
Political Theology of Sovereign, Divine Monarchy, Trinity, Legal Character, Dogmatic Theology
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