ABSTRACT

This chapter examines the contours and content of public theology as it develops in the American context, and then brought it into conversation with Moltmann's own work on public theology. Yet, without an understanding of the church's role within civil society, no public theology is possible. The concept of civil society can be traced back to Aristotle's discussion in his Politics of the politike koinonia. A few comments need to be made about the questions of pluralism and religious freedom in the context of Hegel's construction of civil society. However, for a proper understanding of the American tradition, it is Alexis de Tocqueville who most clearly articulated the relationship between religious belief and civil society. The 20th century attempts to formulate a view of civil society worked to bring together both the Hegelian systemization of civil society and the Anglo-American emphasis on the freedom of institutions within civil society.