Critiques of Master-Representations: The Political Dimension of the Canon between the Bible and the Qur'an

Abstract

Political theology aims at criticizing structures of power and power‘s claim to selfrepresentation. On the basis of an examination of Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit, this paper supports the idea that religion can be considered as a rupture in the projection of the subject's claim to power. Such a rupture becomes especially apparent in the biblical canon and its core, the name of God, YHWH, and its New Testament equivalent, the Cross. In the final section, the paper presents the idea that the Qur’an can function as a corrective of strong Christian modes of self-representation and therefore has to also be considered as a revelation for Christians.