11. The Impossibility of Theocracy: The Weakness of the Gods

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents v
3. Preface vii
4. Part One. Theocracy in Ancient Political Thought and Practice
5. 1. Theocracy as Temptation: Empire and Mindfulness 5
6. 2. The Confrontation between Classical Political Philosophy and the Gods of the City 10
7. 3. Between Rationalism and Theocracy: Plato, the Mysteries, and F.W.J. Schelling’s Analysis of the Modern State 38
8. 4. The Place of Religion in Politics: On Analogous Gods and the Piety of the Unspoken 59
9. 5. The Aristotelian Roots of Religious Governance Approaches 79
10. PART TWO. Theocracy and Modern State Politics
11. 6. The Non-Theocratic Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) 105
12. 7. Islamism in North Africa: From Cairo to Tunis 126
13. 8. Theocratic Arguments in Judaism 148
14. 9. Saving Miracles: Political Theology and Theocracy in the Schmitt-Benjamin Encounter 167
15. PART THREE. Responding to the Challenges of Theocracy
16. 10. Theocracy’s Challenge 195
17. 11. The Impossibility of Theocracy: The Weakness of the Gods 217
18. 12. Understanding Our Adversaries: Ancient vs. Modern Political Thought 264
19. 13. Religion, Tolerance, and American Theocratic Politics: Lessons for the Contemporary Era 285
20. 14. Shaftesbury’s Characteristics and the Problem of Priestcraft 307
21. Contributors 331
22. Index 335