Voegelin's 'Israel and Revelation': A Theological or a Political Book?

Abstract

This paper wonders whether Voegelin’s first volume of Order and History, Israel and Revelation, is really a theological book, or rather a political one? The question arises due to the fact that the two main motives in the Old Testament are the birth, the Alliance or Covenant between two parties, and God’s kingship. It arises also due to Voegelin’s treatment of Moses as a political leader.

We will first be concerned with the Genesis of Order and History, then explain how Order and History was conceived as a remedy to disorder, and then concentrate on Israel and Revelation, about which Voegelin stated: It will be a 'must' in the theological seminars because (though that may sound almost unbelievable) no book on the political ideas of Israel has ever been written at all.

Keywords: Eric Voegelin, politics, theology, Israel, revelation, philosophy, social research