THEO-POLITICAL EDUCATION: CHALLENGES FOR TODAY'S UNDERGRADUATE INSTITUTIONS

What are the challenges of teaching political theology in the modern university? This article argues that many of the teaching struggles, often most acute when teaching undergraduates, reflect the current state of the theological disciplines in secular and quasi-secular institutions. Compared to descriptions of the liberal arts made by Martha Nussbaum and Stanley Fish-contemporary theorists who in different ways both appear to reject the instrumentalization of knowledge in accounting for the distinctiveness of the humanities-the account offered here follows Augustine's theological rationale for allowing all of the arts to have intrinsic worth. The way that this theological "use-without-instrumentality" no longer characterizes the liberal arts is part of the broader theo-political reality in which today's political theologians teach. In light of this, the article describes the author's particular teaching situation and strategies for approaching political theology in the classroom.