Books by Ulrich Schmiedel
Populism is a buzzword. This compilation explores the significance of religion for the controvers... more Populism is a buzzword. This compilation explores the significance of religion for the controversies stirred up by populist politics in European and American contexts in order to understand what lies behind the buzz. Engaging Jewish, Christian, and Islamic political thought and theology, contributions by more than twenty established and emerging scholars explore right-wing and left-wing protests, offering critical interpretations and creative interventions for a polarized public square. Both methodologically and thematically, the compilation moves beyond essentialist definitions of religion, encouraging a comparative approach to political theology today.
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Spätestens seit den Anschlägen vom 11. September 2001 steht Religion unter Generalverdacht. In de... more Spätestens seit den Anschlägen vom 11. September 2001 steht Religion unter Generalverdacht. In der vorliegenden Studie untersucht Ulrich Schmiedel, wie in der englischsprachigen politischen Theologie auf die Terroranschläge reagiert wurde. Die auf den deutschen Staatsrechtler Carl Schmitt zurückgehende Freund-Feind-Unterscheidung erweist sich dabei als Kernkonzept in der Kontroverse um liberale und postliberale Religionstheorien, die Verfechter und Verächter des globalen Krieges gegen den Terror ausfochten. Unter Bezug auf Dorothee Sölles politische Theologie verwickelt Schmiedel beide in ein Gespräch mit muslimischen Rechts- und Religionsgelehrten. Daraus entwickelt er die Konturen einer koalitionären und komparativen politischen Theologie für pluralistische Gegenwartsgesellschaften.
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The far right is on the rise across Europe, pushing a battle scenario in which Islam clashes with... more The far right is on the rise across Europe, pushing a battle scenario in which Islam clashes with Christianity as much as Christianity clashes with Islam. From the margins to the mainstream, far-right protesters and far-right politicians call for the defence of Europe's Christian culture. The far right claims Christianity. "The Claim to Christianity" investigates contemporary far-right claims to Christianity. Ulrich Schmiedel and Hannah Strømmen examine the theologies that emerge in the far right across Europe, concentrating on Norway, Germany and Great Britain. They explore how churches in these three countries have been complicit, complacent or critical of the far right, sometimes intentionally and sometimes unintentionally. Ultimately, Schmiedel and Strømmen encourage a creative and collaborative theological response. To counter the far right, Christianity needs to be practiced in an open and open-ended way which calls Christians into contact with Muslims.
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Mit dem Namen »Liberale Theologie« verbindet sich der Aufbruch protestantischer Strömungen im 19.... more Mit dem Namen »Liberale Theologie« verbindet sich der Aufbruch protestantischer Strömungen im 19. Jahrhundert, die sich um eine Vermittlung zwischen der Moderne und dem Christentum bemühten. Offensichtlich ist an dem Programm liberaler Theologie etwas von bleibender Anziehungskraft für alle, die das Christentum mit einer zwar nicht unkritischen, aber letztlich doch positiven Bewertung der Moderne in Einklang bringen möchten. Dieser Band vereint Beiträge der internationalen Tagung »Liberale Theologie heute – Liberal Theology Today«, die vom 18. bis 21. Juli 2018 an der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München stattfand. Der Schwerpunkt liegt auf der internationalen Perspektive. Galt die liberale Theologie im 19. Jahrhundert als ein vorrangig deutsches Phänomen, so ist sie schnell zu einem internationalen Faktor geworden und bis heute geblieben. Die Beiträge renommierter Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler bieten eine Bestandsaufnahme der liberalen Theologie, um gegenwärtige Herausforderungen auszuloten. In welchen Kontexten bezieht man sich wie auf das Programm liberaler Theologie, welche Ideen kommen darin zum Vorschein und was lässt sich daraus an Zukunftsmöglichkeiten des Christentums ableiten?
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This book explores the roles of religion in the current refugee crisis of Europe. Combining socio... more This book explores the roles of religion in the current refugee crisis of Europe. Combining sociological, philosophical, and theological accounts of this crisis, renowned scholars from across Europe examine how religion has been employed to call either for eliminating or for enforcing the walls around “Fortress Europe.” Religion, they argue, is radically ambiguous, simultaneously causing social conflict and social cohesion in times of turmoil. Charting the constellations, the conflicts, and the consequences of the current refugee crisis, this book thus answers the need for succinct but sustained accounts of the intersections of religion and migration.
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This study confronts the current crisis of churches. In critical and creative conversation with t... more This study confronts the current crisis of churches. In critical and creative conversation with the German theologian Ernst Troeltsch (1865-1923), Ulrich Schmiedel argues that churches need to be “elasticized” in order to engage the “other.” Examining contested concepts of religiosity, community, and identity, Schmiedel explores how the closure of church against the sociological “other” corresponds to the closure of church against the theological “other.” Taking trust as a central category, he advocates for a turn in the interpretation of Christianity—from “propositional possession” to “performative project,” so that the identity of Christianity is “done” rather than “described.” Through explorations of classical and contemporary scholarship in philosophy, sociology, and theology, Schmiedel retrieves Troeltsch’s interdisciplinary thinking for use in relation to the controversies that encircle the construction of community today. The study opens up innovative and instructive approaches to the investigation of the practices of Christianity, past and present. Eventually, church emerges as a “work in movement,” continually constituted through encounters with the sociological and the theological “other.”
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Religious Experience Revisited explores a dilemma which has haunted the study of religion since W... more Religious Experience Revisited explores a dilemma which has haunted the study of religion since William James. Is religion rooted in experiences? Is religion rooted in expressions? How are experiences and expressions related? The contributors to this international and interdisciplinary compilation explore the possibilities and the impossibilities of a hermeneutics of religion. Combining theology and philosophy with biblical, cultural, historical and literary studies, they examine how religious experiences and religious expressions have been entangled in the past and in the present. These entanglements call for interdisciplinary conversations in which those who study experiences and those who study expressions can learn from each other in order to carve out important and instructive spaces for the study of religion.
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This Festschrift in honour of Werner G. Jeanrond, currently Master of St Benet's Hall, University... more This Festschrift in honour of Werner G. Jeanrond, currently Master of St Benet's Hall, University of Oxford, UK, investigates the challenge of alterity for Christianity, exploring and elaborating on this core concern in Jeanrond's hermeneutical theology. Blurring disciplinary boundaries, more than thirty of Jeanrond's colleagues and companions from ten countries track the dynamics of difference driven by the encounter with the self as other, the other as other, and God as the radical other.
Who is my other? What do I encounter when I encounter my other? And what responses and responsibilities does the encounter with my other evoke? Grappling with questions like these, the contributions to this compilation analyse alterity in the Bible, alterity in philosophy, alterity in theology, alterity in interreligious dialogues, and the radical alterity of God. Tying in with Jeanrond's explorations of the many faces and facets of the other, this Festschrift ultimately aims to advocate openness to the other as a necessity for both religion and reflections on religion.
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Articles by Ulrich Schmiedel
Studies on 9/11 could fill a library. In this short introduction, the editor explains the reason ... more Studies on 9/11 could fill a library. In this short introduction, the editor explains the reason for overcoming the hesitation to add more studies to this library by contextualizing and charting the key concerns and the key concepts of the following contributions. These contributions suggest that 9/11 is not necessarily the watershed between a pre-and a post-9/11 order that politicians and pundits continue to write about. Instead, the attacks have served as a catalyst for trends and trajectories in the global governance of religion that continue to have a significant impact today. Returning to 9/11, then, the contributions take stock of these trends and trajectories in order to chart new ways of engaging with religion in the public square.
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Both inside and outside the academy, identifications of Islam as a terrorist threat have gained t... more Both inside and outside the academy, identifications of Islam as a terrorist threat have gained traction during the ongoing War on Terror. William Cavanaugh's conceptualization and critique of what he calls "the myth of religious violence" claims to offer a critique of these identifications. This critique has been influential across a variety of disciplines. In this article, I assess both his more philosophicalcritical and his more theological-constructive accounts of religion to argue that Cavanaugh's myth is, essentially, apologetics. Cavanaugh's apologetics for the church camouflages the differential treatment of religions during the War on Terror. If it has been about a myth at all, then the War on Terror has been about the myth of Muslim violence. Christianity past and present has condoned and contributed to this very myth. What is needed, then, is a conception and a critique of "religion" that, in contrast to Cavanaugh's analysis, can account for the significance of Christianity for the differential treatment of religions in the public square, both descriptively and prescriptively.
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This article assesses the tension between cosmopolitan and communitarian approaches to the ethics... more This article assesses the tension between cosmopolitan and communitarian approaches to the ethics of migration by analysing how the Protestant Church in Germany (EKD) has responded to the current so-called migration crisis in Europe. I argue that the statements of the EKD frame people on the move either as migrants or as Muslims. These frames come with competing ethical consequences. Whereas migrants are presented as passive victims in need of some form of support by Christians, Muslims are presented as active victimisers in need of some form of suppression by Christians. However, when the then chairman of the EKD shook hands with people on the move who were arriving at Munich station in the summer of 2015, the surplus of meaning communicated in this encounter demonstrated that these people cannot be reduced to their respective framing, thus resisting the construction of both the cosmopolitan migrant frame and the communitarian Muslim frame. Accordingly, I advocate for a re-conceptualisation of the theological ethics of migration which takes multi-faith practices, such as these handshakes, as a point of departure.
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This article interrogates the interpretation of Islam in the legacy of theological liberalism. Er... more This article interrogates the interpretation of Islam in the legacy of theological liberalism. Ernst Troeltsch (1865–1923) has been labelled the figurehead of such liberalism. Islam is a recurrent referent in his thought, running through his theological and philosophical writings. Whereas studies such as Tomoko Masuzawa’s immensely influential The Invention of World Religions contend that Troeltsch’s conceptualization of religion smuggles assumptions of the supremacy of Christianity from theological into non-theological research on religion, I argue that Troeltsch’s characterization of Islam clarifies how he both constructs and collapses the supremacy smuggling for which he is criticized. For the current controversies about Islam in the European and the American public square, Troeltsch is instructive because he captures both the problems and the promises of the theological thinking that came to be called “liberal” for the study of religion.
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Taking the recent UN Report about extreme poverty in the UK as a point of departure, this article... more Taking the recent UN Report about extreme poverty in the UK as a point of departure, this article analyses and assesses William Cavanaugh’s political ecclesiology. Drawing on the interpretation of Martin Luther’s concept of creation in Scandinavian Creation Theology, I argue that creation destabilises the distinction Cavanaugh draws between what he considers to be church and what he considers not to be church. I account for creation as a web of vulnerability in which all creatures are vulnerable to both creature and creator. In contrast to Cavanaugh’s strong and stable church, I advocate for what I call “coalitional church”: a church that can enter into coalitions with Christians and non-Christians in order to call for conditions under which vulnerable life is liveable. The public and political task of churches is not necessarily to fight the state, but to hold the state accountable to its citizens, whether they are Christian or non-Christian.
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As of 1 June 2018, the symbol of the cross has to be shown in all state offices of Bavaria in Ger... more As of 1 June 2018, the symbol of the cross has to be shown in all state offices of Bavaria in Germany. In order to chart the churches' reaction, I return to a conversation that Robert N. Bellah and Martin E. Marty had during the 1960s and the 1970s. Drawing on the core concepts of this conversation, I analyze and assess today's cross controversy as a case of what I call the 'populist predicament'. I argue that Marty's programme of public theology provides a path out of the populist predicament because it combines the celebration and the critique of identity. Ultimately, I advocate for a pluralist position of public theology in the post-migrant context.
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Many ecclesiologists assume that pluralisation is a problem for churches. By drawing on Dietrich ... more Many ecclesiologists assume that pluralisation is a problem for churches. By drawing on Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s reception of Ernst Troeltsch, however, the author argues that pluralisation is instead a promise. Portraits which paint Bonhoeffer as ‘alternative’ to Troeltsch (and Troeltsch as ‘alternative’ to Bonhoeffer) have been proposed persistently. But in the ecclesiological explorations which Bonhoeffer elaborated in the 1920s and in the 1940s, Troeltsch’s impact on Bonhoeffer is neither simply negative nor simply positive – and should not be underestimated. The author aims to demonstrate that Bonhoeffer develops the ecclesiology which Troeltsch demanded in critical and creative discussion with him. Since it suggests that experiences of the other allow for encounters with God as much as encounters with God allow for experiences of the other, this ecclesiology provokes a re-thinking of pluralisation which might be important and instructive for the church in its current pluralised and pluralising contexts.
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Whatever else it takes to drive a taxi, it takes trust. Day after day, the driver has to decide w... more Whatever else it takes to drive a taxi, it takes trust. Day after day, the driver has to decide whether the other is or is not trustworthy. I take the taxi as a test case to analyze and assess Richard Kearney's diacritical hermeneutics of the other. I argue that Kearney functionalizes the concept of transcendence in order to connect the transcendence of the finite other to the transcendence of the infinite other. However, in his central critique of the deconstructionists following Jacques Derrida, Kearney counters his connection. While Kearney's critique of Derrida's account of absolute alterity is correct and compelling, I argue that Derrida's critique of a distinction between the trustworthy other and the non-trustworthy other might be more crucial than Kearney contends. Insisting on openness to the other's otherness, Derrida provokes any hermeneutic of the other to trust in transcendence. The taxi is taken as a test to illustrate the implications which diacritical and deconstructive drivers might have for evaluating the entanglement of ethics and eschatology—inside and outside the taxi.
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Since the arrival, or the attempted arrival, of millions of refugees in Europe, the performances ... more Since the arrival, or the attempted arrival, of millions of refugees in Europe, the performances of the Center for Political Beauty – a Berlin-based collective of artists and activists – have had a huge impact on public and political debates about Germany’s migration policies. In this paper, I analyze the performance “The Dead Are Coming” in which the artists buried refugees who drowned in their attempt to enter the European Union. Drawing on Judith Butler’s political philosophy of performativity, I assess “The Dead Are Coming” as a “doing” rather than a “describing” of dignity. I argue that the integration of God into the practices of mourning enables both the activists and the audience to resist the differential distribution of dignity in Europe’s migration policy. Ultimately, I advocate a re-thinking of political theology in which art learns from theology and theology learns from art in order to promote dignity under de-dignifying conditions.
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Churches are in crisis. The turn to praxis in ecclesiology appears to attend to the current crisi... more Churches are in crisis. The turn to praxis in ecclesiology appears to attend to the current crisis; yet, the appearance might be deceptive. Since post-liberal ecclesiologies – such as John Milbank’s – consider neither quantitative-empirical nor qualitative-empirical accounts of concrete churches, the turn might be assessed as a turn to talk about praxis instead of a turn to praxis. Confronting Milbank’s concept of praxis with the ecclesiology of Ernst Troeltsch (1865–1923), I argue that Troeltsch allows for accounts of concrete churches since he conceptualises the identity of Christianity not as a proposition but as a project. Hence, praxis is the criterion for the evaluation of concepts of identity. Both churches and reflections on churches are to be ‘elasticised’ in order to attend to the current crisis.
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For theologians such as Karl Barth the support for Germany’s militaristic ambitions and actions v... more For theologians such as Karl Barth the support for Germany’s militaristic ambitions and actions voiced in the manifesto "An die Kulturwelt", published in 1914, was a consequence of the historicization of theology. Ernst Troeltsch (1865- 1923), whose interdisciplinary thinking revolved around the significance of history for theology, was labeled "the" theologian of historicism. Although he had not signed the manifesto, it continues to throw a smokescreen over Troeltsch’s theology.
Examining a selection of both his war writings and his post-war writings, I argue that Troeltsch conceptualized a political theology which led him to turn from a clash of cultures to a conversation of cultures. Troeltsch’s historicization of the concept of God allowed him to resist cultural relativism as well as cultural absolutism. Culminating in the concept of "Europeanism (Europäismus)", Troeltsch’s political theology is instructive for a variety of intra- and inter-cultural conversations in Europe today. But in order to unlock its potential, the smokescreen which the manifesto has thrown over Troeltsch’s theology needs to be lifted.
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This extensive review explores the hermeneutics of religious and non-religious trust which is cha... more This extensive review explores the hermeneutics of religious and non-religious trust which is characteristic for the ›trilogy on trust‹ edited by Ingolf U. Dalferth and Simon Peng-Keller. I analyze the three compilations which investigate the constitution and communication of trust, trust in God, and trust in one’s life or life-world (basic trust). Finally, I discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the hermeneutics of trust which is developed in the trilogy. In critical conversation with this hermeneutics, I sketch that nonreligious trust has the potential to become religious trust, since both imply a recognition of the otherness of the other. Hence, a hermeneutics of trust has to be conceived and construed within both intra- and inter-religious dialogues.
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Books by Ulrich Schmiedel
Who is my other? What do I encounter when I encounter my other? And what responses and responsibilities does the encounter with my other evoke? Grappling with questions like these, the contributions to this compilation analyse alterity in the Bible, alterity in philosophy, alterity in theology, alterity in interreligious dialogues, and the radical alterity of God. Tying in with Jeanrond's explorations of the many faces and facets of the other, this Festschrift ultimately aims to advocate openness to the other as a necessity for both religion and reflections on religion.
Articles by Ulrich Schmiedel
Examining a selection of both his war writings and his post-war writings, I argue that Troeltsch conceptualized a political theology which led him to turn from a clash of cultures to a conversation of cultures. Troeltsch’s historicization of the concept of God allowed him to resist cultural relativism as well as cultural absolutism. Culminating in the concept of "Europeanism (Europäismus)", Troeltsch’s political theology is instructive for a variety of intra- and inter-cultural conversations in Europe today. But in order to unlock its potential, the smokescreen which the manifesto has thrown over Troeltsch’s theology needs to be lifted.
Who is my other? What do I encounter when I encounter my other? And what responses and responsibilities does the encounter with my other evoke? Grappling with questions like these, the contributions to this compilation analyse alterity in the Bible, alterity in philosophy, alterity in theology, alterity in interreligious dialogues, and the radical alterity of God. Tying in with Jeanrond's explorations of the many faces and facets of the other, this Festschrift ultimately aims to advocate openness to the other as a necessity for both religion and reflections on religion.
Examining a selection of both his war writings and his post-war writings, I argue that Troeltsch conceptualized a political theology which led him to turn from a clash of cultures to a conversation of cultures. Troeltsch’s historicization of the concept of God allowed him to resist cultural relativism as well as cultural absolutism. Culminating in the concept of "Europeanism (Europäismus)", Troeltsch’s political theology is instructive for a variety of intra- and inter-cultural conversations in Europe today. But in order to unlock its potential, the smokescreen which the manifesto has thrown over Troeltsch’s theology needs to be lifted.
This special issue of the journal, Religions, seeks to explore the connections between eschatology and transcendence within contemporary philosophical-theological debates. This issue will inquire into the convergence or interrelation between the concepts of transcendence and eschatology and how they have developed within contemporary, primarily Continental, thought. On the one hand, thinkers within a hermeneutical-phenomenological context have made a theological turn to re-evaluate concepts of transcendence after the critique of metaphysics. On the other, political philosophers have explored how eschatology(-ies) undergird societal structures that situate the self into a larger, historical context. Within the former discussion, concepts such as radical transcendence and immanent transcendence – or even a so-called end to transcendence – have arisen as possible reorientations after onto-theology. Within the latter, the eschatological promise of the impossible becoming possible, or an end to history, have arisen as motivating principles behind the foundational intuitions and concepts in society.