Agamben, John Chrysostom and Alternative Politics

This article presents an alternative use of The Church and the Kingdom, a homily that Giorgio Agamben addressed to the Bishop of Paris and high-ranked Church officials at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, in 2009. Taking advantage of the biblical and patristic sources of the homily, this article places the speech within the Christian tradition, treating it as if it was a Christian homily. It argues that the Church and the Kingdom lay the foundations for the new political comprising a dialectical tension between the State and the Church. The alternative politics of this new political is further developed by bringing together John Chrysostom, the philosopher Agamben and the theologian Stanley Hauerwas. This coming together leads to a politics of a life as strangers, sojourners and refugees.