Politische Ethik und politische Theologie
In: Themenschwerpunkt: Politische Ethik, S. 19-33
"This essay analyses the change in Political Theology from its beginnings to current conceptions of Public Theology. Political Ethics in a theological context is not confined to an ethical reflection of the role of the church and of church-related action in contemporary society, thus developing an extensive theory of the political and economical on a theological Basis. The term 'Political Theology' appeared for a theological theory of political matters in the 20th century. In distancing himself from Carl Schmitt and Erik Peterson, the Roman Catholic theologian Johann Baptist Metz and subsequently the Protestant theologians Jürgen Moltmann and Dorothee Sölle revived the term alter 1960. Latin American Liberation Theology as a form of Political Theology with a particularly high impact requires special consideration. In recent times, conceptions of Public Theology that deal with the relation of Church, Christian Social Ethics and civil society with one another have surfaced. Unlike older models of Political Theology, Public Theology does not criticise Pluralism in contemporary societies as disastrous, understanding Pluralism as fruit of Christianity instead. The essay supports a model of Pluralist Theology that understands itself as an alternative to ecclesiastical Communitarianism." (author's abstract)