Book Reviews: Migrations of the Holy: God, State, and the Political Meaning of the Church

Cavanaugh's latest contribution, Migrations of the Holy, is a summation of the central focus in his writings over the past decade or so: the relationship between religion and politics or, more precisely, the dynamics between Christianity and the modern nation-state system. [...]this book is act...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Politics and religion 2012, Vol.5 (3), p.703-706
Main Author: MacLeod, Michael R
Format: Review
Language:English
Subjects:
Christianity
Christians
Giddens, Anthony
God
Leadership
Money
Nation states
Pessimism
Power
Religion & politics
Telephone companies
Theology
Tilly, Charles (1929-2008)
Transnationalism
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Cavanaugh's latest contribution, Migrations of the Holy, is a summation of the central focus in his writings over the past decade or so: the relationship between religion and politics or, more precisely, the dynamics between Christianity and the modern nation-state system. [...]this book is actually a collection of previously published articles and essays, supplemented by a helpful introduction but, sadly (and fairly detrimentally to the cohesiveness of the key argument), no concluding chapter. [...]the modern state is more like a “telephone company,'” a “large bureaucratic provider of goods and services” (42.) that not only does not provide value for the money but asks us to sacrifice to false gods, “to be ready to kill and die on its behalf” (54). [...]Cavanaugh argues that much of the church itself (including the leadership of his Catholic Church) has bought into the belief that the nation-state can be influenced to be “good” (or at least “better”).
ISSN:1755-0483
1755-0491
DOI:10.1017/S175504831200051X