Hebrew Prophecy and the Foundations of Political Opposition

Authors

  • Graham Maddox University of New England

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/jasr.v21i1.70

Keywords:

Hebrew Prophets, Political theory

Abstract

Political opposition, as institutionally provided for in the constitutional set-up of a democratic polity, implies pluralism, toleration and the guarantee of limited and contested government. Its modern roots can be traced to the era of puritan resistance to the English Crown in the seventeenth century and its theoretical justification in the Country Ideology of the seventeenth century. In that movement theorists liberally resorted to ancient Roman argument and to the example of the Hebrew prophets. Some modern studies of opposition attribute its origins to the Roman tribunate, which Rousseau inaccurately claimed was established to contain executive power without seeking any for itself. This characterization is better suited to the received tradition about the Hebrew prophets.

Author Biography

  • Graham Maddox, University of New England
    Graham Maddox is professor emeritus of political science at the University of New England, New South Wales. He is a fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia, a life member of Clare Hall, Cambridge, a member of the Center of Theological Inquiry, Princeton, a past president of the Australasian Political Studies Association, a member f the Uniting Justice Reference Committee, and a former dean of the Faculty of Arts, UNE. Among numerous other writings, he is author of Australian Democracy in Theory and Practice (5th edn, Frenchs Forest, Sydney 2005), and Religion Volume 21.1 Contributor Information 121 © Equinox Publishing Ltd 2008 and the Rise of Democracy (London and New York 1996). For more information, see http://www.une.edu.au/pais/staff/wmaddox.php.

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Published

2008-08-20

How to Cite

Maddox, G. (2008). Hebrew Prophecy and the Foundations of Political Opposition. Journal for the Academic Study of Religion, 21(1), 70-92. https://doi.org/10.1558/jasr.v21i1.70