This
paper argues that the ideas of Eric Voegelin, one of the earliest, most
faithful and still most important followers of Max Weber, on the links between
religion and the nation-state in modernity, represent a still untapped resource
for the study of nations and nationalism; potentially the 'missing classic' of
the field. In its first part, by taking up the example of the French Revolution
and its three cardinal values, liberty, equality and fraternity, and by
analyzing the classic works of Benedict Anderson and Ernest Gellner on
nationalism, and their shortcomings, it poses the problem of the reasons why
nationalism has become, in contrast to liberalism and socialism, the black
sheep of the family of modern political ideologies. It then presents
Voegelin¿s contribution, focusing on the concept of intramundane or inner-worldly eschatology. The paper closes by connecting inner-worldly eschatology to the rise of the nation state, in the broader context of activist
enthusiasm, world suspicion, and the politics of suffering.