Wereldlijk gezag, schepping en verlossing : Edward Schillebeeckx’ politieke theologie

This article traces the development of the Dominican theologian Edward Schillebeeckx’s (1914-2009) political theology in order to demonstrate the theological significance of civil authority as well as the political significance of ecclesial authority. Schillebeeckx’s position on the legitimacy of civil society emerged from the mid-century Catholic debates concerning the relationship between ‘church’ and ‘world’. The authors will first explore how Schillebeeckx was involved with these discussions at the Second Vatican Council, and the relationship to his Thomistic ‘creation faith’. It is Schillebeeckx’s ‘creation faith’ that allows him to affirm political structures while also pointing to the special responsibility possessed by the church in the transformation of society in service of eschatological salvation. Next, the authors investigate how Schillebeeckx envisioned ‘the secular’ in light of the task of the church to mediate salvation in a context of secularization. This leads the political task of the church in society vis-à-vis other political entities. Schillebeeckx sees the church as being invested with a ‘religious critical consciousness’ that acts as a potential check against political ideologies. Finally, the authors examine Schillebeeckx’s later arguments for integrating democratic elements into the church itself. Here, Schillebeeckx draws on historical-theological studies of ecclesial authority to demonstrate that the church has often integrated ‘secular’ structures in the past. In fundamental continuity with his earlier theology of creation, he advocates for the critical integration of democratic ideals in an ‘eschatological’ manner.