Religion and Politics: Do They Belong Together?

The answer to this question at the heart of a classic work on political philosophyNEWS PROVIDED BY
Carmel Communications
Nov. 11, 2020

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 11, 2020 /Christian Newswire/ — The clash between religion and politics has been a way of life for centuries yet the history of such political thought has nearly been erased in modern times, leading to a lack of foundational knowledge of perennial issues affecting Americans today. In a republished version of a 1984 classic, THE POLITICS OF HEAVEN AND HELL: CHRISTIAN THEMES FROM CLASSICAL, MEDIEVAL, AND MODERN POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY, questions of how religion and politics are intertwined and the reasons why this matters so deeply for humanity are explored and linked together not only in more modern eras but throughout the Old Testament and times of Aristotle and Plato.

THE POLITICS OF HEAVEN AND HELL is written by the late James V. Schall, S.J., a professor of political philosophy from 1977 to 2012 at Georgetown University, where he received his Ph.D. in Political Theory in 1960. Three times he was granted the Award for Faculty Excellence by the senior class at Georgetown’s College of Arts and Sciences. He wrote hundreds of essays and columns, and more than thirty books, including On Islam, The Order of Things, and Another Sort of Learning from Ignatius Press.

Robert Reilly, author of America on Trial, aptly notes in the foreword that man “politicizes everything” as he tries to reconcile the world to himself by his own efforts, which eventually leads to tyranny, perhaps a warning for modern day politics in the 21st century.

Schall wrote in THE POLITICS OF HEAVEN AND HELL that the best defense against tyranny is “the adequate description of the highest things, of what is beyond politics.” Both reason and revelation are needed for this work, and they are eloquently and ably set forth in the book.

“Schall’s book reminds us of the balanced riches of classical and medieval sources of Christian political thought,” said Jay W. Richards, Ph.D., research assistant professor, Busch School of Business, Catholic University of America. “Anyone interested in the survival of the West in the twenty-first century should read this book.”

For more information, to request a review copy or to schedule an interview with Robert Reilly, who wrote the foreword to the book, please contact Kevin Wandra (404-788-1276 or KWandra@CarmelCommunications.com) of Carmel Communications.
 
SOURCE Carmel Communications

CONTACT: Kevin Wandra, 404-788-1276, KWandra@CarmelCommunications.com