How might political theology deepen our understanding of both politics and the political in an increasingly fragmented world? This paper reframes debates on the nature of politics and the political by revealing how sacralised politics destabilises our understandings of the secular within liberal democracies in Western Europe. A starting point for political theology is to recognise the postsecular condition in order to understand how religion continues to shape politics within secular states. Habermas (2008) describes this condition as the renewed visibility and influence of religion in the public sphere, while De Vries (2006, p. p.3) defines a post secular society as one that acknowledges religion’s declining yet persistent, and often resistant, presence. This shift does not imply a revival of religion’s former authority but a change in how the secular state perceives and responds to it (2006, p. p.3). In this paper I argue that political theology is a valuable lens for understanding politics and the political because it (a) reveals the enduring presence of religion in ostensibly secular orders, (b) discloses the circulation of power within the political realm, and (c) clarifies how foundational concepts such as sovereignty, legitimacy, and representation are constituted and continue to shape the organisation of political life. Therefore, despite secularism’s claim to separate religion from politics, religion continues to shape public life in powerful and, at times, disruptive forms, underscoring the need to rethink the relationship between religion and politics in a postsecular age (Newman, 2018, p. 9).
