Taking leave of Abraham

Abraham's intention to sacrifice his son on God's command symbolizes the violent potential of authoritarian religion. The contemporary resurgence of radically ´conservative´ and ´fundamentalist´ religion raises the question whether this kind of God-relation is compatible with a commiment to liberal democracy.

In this timely and original book Troels Nørager provides an answer by integrating insights from philosophy of religion and political philosophy.

In Part One Nørgager surveys the interpretive history of Genesis 22, focusing in particular on Kierkegaard's ingenious attempt to save Abraham and his unquestioning faith. In Part Two, drawing on eminent thinkers like Rawls and Habermas, Nørager argues that while religion can be accorded an important role in the public square, each religion and each believer must learn to appreciate that in a pluralist society ´the political´ (government, legal system, and public administration) is neutral towards religion and ultimately guided by ´secular´ reason.