The Experiment of the Coming Kingdom

A Dominican Political Theology after Agamben

Picture on the cover: thanks to Fr. Joseph Bailham OP

From the beginning, Dominicans have chosen, as religious, to want to be at the centre of society. My doctoral thesis at KU Leuven (27.01.2023) examines the political aspects of that choice. This is not about supporting one political party or another but about the relationship between religious life and the laws and governance of a society.

Agamben’s appeal

The trigger for this research was an appeal, in a 2009 lecture, by Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben to the church in Paris to take its messianic mission seriously and not allow itself to be encapsulated by the political system. For Agamben, the word "messianic" means two things. On the one hand, it refers to a political counterforce that can stop the coercive logic of laws and governance. The recent allowance affair in the Netherlands shows the need for such a counterforce. But, on the other hand, for Agamben, the word messianic also points to the coming kingdom and the return of Jesus Messiah. So part of Agamben's appeal to the church is actually a question. Does the church still believe in the relevance of God's coming kingdom for itself and society?

Agamben substantiated his appeal with several books in which he shows a few things. First, echoing the controversial jurist Carl Schmitt, he shows how important political concepts have hidden theological content that still resonates. Second, Agamben shows that by ignoring the theological connection between political ideas about law and governance, the system is slowly but surely derailing and victimising vulnerable citizens rather than protecting them. Third, he looks at whether there are examples in the religious life of Benedictines and Franciscans of handling of laws and rules that could help people out there stop the overheating and derailment of law. The messianic vocation of religious life, then, is to serve as an example of how people are not there for the rules but how rules can contribute to people's well-being.

A Dominican answer

There was no accurate response to Agamben's messianic appeal at Notre Dame in Paris to church dignitaries and religious. The speech was read, translated and discussed academically, but there was silence on the church side.

This uneasy silence from the church about the coming kingdom is not new. Even earlier, during the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), Dominican theologians Marie-Dominique Chenu and Yves Congar had tried to persuade the church to see itself as a messianic people with a special mission in the world. The dogmatic constitution Lumen gentium says as much in so many words (LG 9). But the concept did not catch on. Yet it did not go away either.

In his thesis, I bring to light the political messianic undercurrent in the thinking of Marie-Dominique Chenu, Canadian Dominican Jean-Marie Roger Tillard and Irish-English Dominican Herbert McCabe. I then bring this undercurrent into conversation with Agamben's thought. Each is concerned with the political meaning of religious life that seeks to be at the centre of a secularised society.

Based on the dialogue between the Dominican traditions and Agamben, I arrive at the thesis that religious life in our time is an experiment. Religious life wants to show that God's coming kingdom has already begun. Indeed, the coming kingdom is already so powerfully present that you can try to live in it.

The coming kingdom

I explore where that coming kingdom might then be discernible. Next, he looks at the political significance of the kingdom from the moment a person explores his vocation, receives the habit and takes the vows. He also looks at the exemplary role of the Dominican Rule of Life and Constitutions and how the coming kingdom shines through in the liturgy. Finally, he discusses how the messianic dimension plays a role in Dominican talk about mission, preaching and truth.

If the religious experiment goes well, then the coming kingdom becomes a little more visible in the world. Thus, religious life can become a sign in a society that points out how we have organised everything politically and legally are not beatific.

However, I am also critical of the religious experiment. Recent abuse scandals in the church have shown that communities can keep up the pretence that they are the coming kingdom of God, while behind the scenes, people are being abused physically and spiritually in terrible ways. So it remains important to keep a critical eye on any experiment, even if - like the Dominicans - it has been running for more than 800 years.

My dissertation goes to the heart of the meaning of Dominican life and preaching in our time. With the research, I hope to contribute to academic political theology and the mutual conversation among members of the Dominican family about the future of preaching for the salvation of souls.

Many changes: my Doctoral theses from 2008 (Law) and 2023 (Theology)