Resisting the tendency to separate the study of religion and politics, editor Jacob Neusner pulls together a collection of ten essays in which various authors explain and explore the relationship between the world's major religions and political power. As William Scott Green writes in the introduction, "Because religion is so comprehensive, it is fundamentally about power; it therefore cannot avoid politics."
Beginning with the classical sources and texts of Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Confucianism and Hinduism, God's Rule begins to explore the complex nature of how each religion shapes political power, and how religion shapes itself in relation to that power. The corresponding attention to differing theories of politics and views towards non-believers are important not only to studies in comparative religion, but to foreign policy, history and governance as well. From early Christianity's relationship to the Roman Empire to Hinduism's relationship to Gandhi and the caste system, God's Rule provides a basis of understanding from which undergraduates, seminarians and others can begin asking questions of relationships "both unavoidable and systematically uneasy."
Table of Contents
Introduction: Religion and Politics—A Volatile Mix
William Scott Green
1. Judaism
Jacob Neusner
2. Primitive and Early Christianity
Bruce Chilton
3. Catholic Christianity
Charles E. Curran
4. Orthodox Christianity
Petros Vassiliadis
5. Reformation Christianity
Martin E. Marty
6. Classical Islam
John L. Esposito and Natana J. De Long-Bas
7. Modern Islam
John L. Esposito and Natana J. De Long-Bas
8. Hinduism
Brian K. Smith
9. Confucianism
Mark A. Csikszentmihalyi
10. Buddhism
Todd Lewis
Conclusion
Todd Lewis
Reviews
"This book will be valuable for those at more advanced levels studying religious theories of political order."—Choice
About the Author
Jacob Neusner is Senior Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Theology at Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. He is the author of several books on Judaism, including Judaism's Theological Voice: The Melody of the Talmud, A History of Jews in Babylonia and numerous analytical translations of Jewish texts.
