Theologians on Modern Politics – Book Launch Event

Nyirkos Tamás | Jancsó András | Darabos Ádám

What approach should Christians take to modern politics? What are their obligations in contemporary public life? Which Christian values should be endorsed in a modern democracy, and which political instruments are permitted while doing so? Several Christian philosophers, theologians, and politicians have sought to provide answers to these crucial questions in the past. Theologians on Modern Politics, a recent volume edited by Ádám Darabos and András Jancsó, published by the Batthyány Lajos Foundation and the Danube Institute, wishes to renew interest in a few of those brilliant minds. Initially, the volume’s editors—as the researchers of the Danube Institute—introduced the political ideas of twelve prominent theologians in a series of articles in the columns of the Hungarian Conservative Online. As young scholars who deal with the intersection of politics and religion, they were convinced that these theologians contribute to our understanding of politics and are underrepresented in the public sphere both internationally and in Hungary. András Jancsó dealt with the European Catholic tradition, including Pope Leo XIII, Pope Pius XII, Erik Peterson, Joseph Ratzinger, Johann Baptist Metz and Ernst-Wolfgang Böckenförde, while Ádám Darabos examined mainly American Protestant theologians like Walter Rauschenbusch, Reinhold Niebuhr, Helmut Richard Niebuhr, John Coleman Bennett and Abraham Kuyper. The whole manuscript – in cooperation with Hanna Zoé Kecskeméti and Nóra Lengyel – was completed by adding six influential figures from the Hungarian Catholic tradition (Sándor Giesswein, Ottokár Prohászka, Béla Bangha, Antal Schütz, Margit Slachta and Pál Kecskés) showing that Hungary is not only a destination but also a source of excellent ideas.