Religion, Authority, and the State

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xxiii

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2. International Perspectives

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

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   2. Specters of a New Ecumenism: In Search of a Church “Out of Joint”

      • Dale T. Irvin

      Pages 3-32

   3. Religion and the State: Contexts, Controversies, and Conjectures in Australia, Indonesia, and Egypt

      • Patricia Madigan

      Pages 33-52

3. Africa and Asia

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 53-53

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   2. A Postcolonial Theological Reading of the Philippines: Church-State Relation and a Familia Dei Response

      • Pascal D. Bazzell

      Pages 55-73

   3. Diagnosing the Politics of Christian-Muslim Conflicts in the West African Sub-Region: Going beyond the Western Paradigm

      • Chukwumamkpam Vincent Ifeme

      Pages 75-99

   4. Islamic Extremism in West Africa: A Historical and Theological Analysis of the Crisis of Religious Brigandage in Islam

      • Ikenna Okafor

      Pages 101-120

4. The United States of America

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 121-121

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   2. The Reign of God and Constantine’s Disputed Legacy: Religious Freedom, Sacred Empire, and the American Experience

      • Leo D. Lefebure

      Pages 123-143

   3. The US Bishops’ Campaign for Religious Freedom During the 2012 Presidential Election Year: A Critical Analysis

      • Dennis M. Doyle

      Pages 145-156

5. Europe

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 157-157

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   2. Confessional Belonging and National Identity: A Case Study of Serbia, Croatia, and Germany

      • Vladimir Latinovic

      Pages 159-177

   3. Sobornost’, State Authority, and Christian Society in Slavophile Political Theology

      • Nathaniel Wood

      Pages 179-198

   4. Church and State in England: A Fragile Establishment

      • Mark D. Chapman

      Pages 199-214

   5. Religion and the Rising: Patrick Pearse and Easter 1916

      • Gerard Mannion

      Pages 215-246

6. Back Matter

   Pages 247-250

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In commemoration of Constantine’s grant of freedom of religion to Christians, this wide-ranging volume examines the ambiguous legacy of this emperor in relation to the present world, discussing the perennial challenges of relations between religions and governments. The authors examine the new global ecumenical movement inspired by Pentecostals, the role of religion in the Irish Easter rebellion against the British, and the relation between religious freedom and government in the United States. Other essays debate the relation of Islam to the violence in Nigeria, the place of the family in church-state relations in the Philippines, the role of confessional identity in the political struggles in the Balkans, and the construction of Slavophile identity in nineteenth-century Russian Orthodox political theology. The volume also investigates the contrast between written constitutions and actual practice in the relations between governments and religions in Australia, Indonesia, and Egypt.  The case studies and surveys illuminate both specific contexts and also widespread currents in religion-state relations across the world.  

• Political theology
• Religious freedom
• church-state relations
• religion-government relations
• religion and violence
• Constantine
• children
• Christianity
• Nation
• religion
• social science
• society
• sociology
• religion and society

“In this volume, the authors remember Constantines legacy, and how religious freedom in some places and the lack of it in others have  been affected by that legacy. … This book was a very detailed and interesting read on religion throughout the world. It was informative and detailed.” (Justin Dilliplane, Resolved for Christ, resolvedfc.blogspot.de, January, 2018)

• Georgetown University, Washington, USA

  Leo D. Lefebure

Leo D. Lefebure is Matteo Ricci, S.J., Professor of Theology at Georgetown University, USA. He is the author of True and Holy: Christian Scripture and Other Religions and the co-author of The Path of Wisdom: A Christian Commentary on the Dhamma.   

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