This is a revised edition of John Milbanks masterpiece, which sketches the outline of a specifically theological social theory.TheTimes Higher Education Supplement wrote of the first edition that it was a tour de force of systematic theology. It would be churlish not to acknowledge its provocation and brilliance.Featured inThe Church Times 100 Best Christian Books"Brings this classic work up-to-date by reviewing the development of modern social thought.Features a substantial new introduction by Milbank, clarifying the theoretical basis for his work.Challenges the notion that sociological critiques of theology are scientific.Outlines a specifically theological social theory, and in doing so, engages with a wide range of thinkers from Plato to Deleuze.Written by one of the worlds most influential contemporary theologians and the author of numerous books.

John Milbank is Professor of Religion, Politics and Ethics at the University of Nottingham and one of the most influential contemporary theologians. He is also the author ofThe Word Made Strange: Theology, Language, Culture (Blackwell, 1996).

Acknowledgements for the First Edition.

Preface to the Second Edition.

Introduction.

Part I: Theology and Liberalism:.

1. Political Theology and the New Science of Politics.

2. Political Economy as Theodicy and Agonistics.

Part II: Theology and Positivism:.

3. Sociology I: From Malebranche to Durkheim.

4. Sociology II: From Kant to Weber.

5. Policing the Sublime: A Critique of the Sociology of Religion.

Part III: Theology and Dialectics:.

6. For and Against Hegel.

7. For and Against Marx.

8. Founding the Supernatural: Political and Liberation Theology in the Context of Modern Catholic Thought.

Part IV: Theology and Difference:.

9. Science, Reality and Power.

10. Ontological Violence or, The Post-Modern Problematic.

11. Difference of Virtue, Virtue of Difference.

12. The Other City: Theology as a Social Science.

Index of Names.