The Pragmatist Question of Sovereignty

In Democracy and Tradition, Jeffrey Stout asks Christian political theologians if they can discern God's activity in modern democratic cultures. In so doing they might acknowledge the sovereignty of God while transcending both resentment of, and absorption into, the secular. As Stout recognizes, the question of sovereignty is relevant not only to Christian, but also Jewish and Islamic thought. However, interreligious comparisons remain undeveloped in his work. In response, the following essay coordinates Stout's pragmatism with developments in comparative theology. It then evaluates both the Jewish messianism of Gershom Scholem alongside Islamic sovereignty (hakimayyah) in the thought of Sayyid Qutb. While their viewpoints differ in considerable respects, they nonetheless provide key test cases for Stout's questions concerning divine sovereignty. In sum, the paper opens new avenues for religious deliberations in democratic traditions.