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Rendering unto Caesar : Receptions of the Bible as a source for secularism

Strømmen, Hannah M. LU (2025) In Critical Research on Religion 13(3). p.301-316
Abstract

In this article, I identify a key trend for demarcating the “secular” as a Western, Christian achievement. I analyze how the New Testament story often known as “Render unto Caesar” is referenced as a source for the secular West, particularly in writings by European and American conservative thinkers in the 1990s and early 2000s. My argument is that these references to “Render unto Caesar” constitute a reception of the Bible that reinforces what the classicist Clare Foster has described as recognition capital. The reference functions as an almost emptied signifier, relying on little to no knowledge of, or familiarity with, the Bible. Anyone who can claim Jesus’s words about rendering to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s as... (More)

In this article, I identify a key trend for demarcating the “secular” as a Western, Christian achievement. I analyze how the New Testament story often known as “Render unto Caesar” is referenced as a source for the secular West, particularly in writings by European and American conservative thinkers in the 1990s and early 2000s. My argument is that these references to “Render unto Caesar” constitute a reception of the Bible that reinforces what the classicist Clare Foster has described as recognition capital. The reference functions as an almost emptied signifier, relying on little to no knowledge of, or familiarity with, the Bible. Anyone who can claim Jesus’s words about rendering to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s as part of their tradition can celebrate their secular modern accomplishments, while anyone who cannot, are left outside as lacking a scriptural foundation for the secular.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Bible, conservatism, European right, Islam and the West, Render unto Caesar, secularization, US right
in
Critical Research on Religion
volume
13
issue
3
pages
16 pages
external identifiers
  • scopus:105019226448
ISSN
2050-3032
DOI
10.1177/20503032251381320
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2025. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).
id
265a5e04-57a3-4d6f-aacc-ea92ca7e5492
date added to LUP
2026-01-19 15:04:46
date last changed
2026-01-19 15:05:19
@article{265a5e04-57a3-4d6f-aacc-ea92ca7e5492,
  abstract     = {{<p>In this article, I identify a key trend for demarcating the “secular” as a Western, Christian achievement. I analyze how the New Testament story often known as “Render unto Caesar” is referenced as a source for the secular West, particularly in writings by European and American conservative thinkers in the 1990s and early 2000s. My argument is that these references to “Render unto Caesar” constitute a reception of the Bible that reinforces what the classicist Clare Foster has described as recognition capital. The reference functions as an almost emptied signifier, relying on little to no knowledge of, or familiarity with, the Bible. Anyone who can claim Jesus’s words about rendering to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s as part of their tradition can celebrate their secular modern accomplishments, while anyone who cannot, are left outside as lacking a scriptural foundation for the secular.</p>}},
  author       = {{Strømmen, Hannah M.}},
  issn         = {{2050-3032}},
  keywords     = {{Bible; conservatism; European right; Islam and the West; Render unto Caesar; secularization; US right}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{301--316}},
  series       = {{Critical Research on Religion}},
  title        = {{Rendering unto Caesar : Receptions of the Bible as a source for secularism}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/20503032251381320}},
  doi          = {{10.1177/20503032251381320}},
  volume       = {{13}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}