PS4211: What are the practical implications of the doctrine of creation insofar as the idea of order is concerned: Political Theology Essay, NUS, Singapore

1. What are the practical implications of the doctrine of creation insofar as the idea of order is concerned?

2. What role does theology play in explaining a self-adjusting balance of power?

3. Emer de Vattel argues that European states form a republic ‘of which the members— each independent, but all linked together by the ties of common interest—unite for the maintenance of order and liberty.’ How does theology ground this notion of a republic or international constitution?

4. In the aftermath of the Second World War Hans Morgenthau wrote: ‘[t]he state has become indeed a “mortal God,” and for an age that believes no longer in an immortal God, the state becomes the only God there is.’ What does this quotation imply about contemporary international relations?

5. Does the nominalist emphasis on will and artifice lead to nihilism?