Political Church


Book Description

The church is political. Theologians have been debating this claim for years. Liberationists, Anabaptists, Augustinians, neo-Calvinists, Radical Orthodox and others continue to discuss the matter. What do we mean by politics and the political? What are the limits of the church’s political reach? What is the nature of the church as an institution? How do we establish these claims theologically? Jonathan Leeman sets out to address these questions in this significant work. Drawing on covenantal theology and the ‘new institutionalism’ in political science, Leeman critiques political liberalism and explores how the biblical canon informs an account of the local church as an embassy of Christ’s kingdom. Political Church heralds a new era in political theology.




Church, State, and Citizen


Book Description

Christians are often portrayed as sharing the same political opinions and the same theological foundations for their actions. Yet, from the time of the early church, believers have held a variety of perspectives on the relationship between church and state and what constitutes legitimate political behavior for Christian citizens. Thoroughly Christian political beliefs run the gamut from disavowal of any political responsibility to a complete endorsement of government policies and the belief that the state has been divinely appointed. In Church, State, and Citizen, Sandra F. Joireman has gathered political scientists to examine the relationship between religion and politics as seen from within seven Christian traditions: Catholic, Lutheran, Reformed, Anabaptist, Anglican, Evangelical and Pentecostal. In each chapter the historical and theological foundations of the tradition are described along with the beliefs regarding the appropriate role of the state and citizen. While all Christian traditions share certain beliefs about faith (e.g., human sin, salvation, Christ's atonement) and political life (e.g. limited government, human rights, the incompleteness and partiality of all political action) there are also profound differences. The authors discuss the contemporary implications of these beliefs both in the United States and in other areas of the world where Christianity is showing increasing vigor.




Political Orthodoxies


Book Description

Dispatches on nationalism and religion As an insider to church politics and a scholar of contemporary Orthodoxy, Cyril Hovorun outlines forms of political orthodoxy in Orthodox churches, past and present. Hovorun draws a big picture of religion being politicized and even weaponized. While Political Orthodoxies assesses phenomena such as nationalism and anti-Semitism, both widely associated with Eastern Christianity, Hovorun focuses on the theological underpinnings of the culture wars waged in eastern and southern Europe. The issues in these wars include monarchy and democracy, Orientalism and Occidentalism, canonical territory, and autocephaly. Wrought with peril, Orthodox culture wars have proven to turn toward bloody conflict, such as in Georgia in 2008 and Ukraine in 2014. Accordingly, this book explains the aggressive behavior of Russia toward its neighbors and the West from a religious standpoint. The spiritual revival of Orthodoxy after the collapse of Communism made the Orthodox church in Russia, among other things, an influential political protagonist, which in some cases goes ahead of the Kremlin. Following his identification and analysis, Hovorun suggests ways to bring political Orthodoxy back to the apostolic and patristic track.




Awaiting the King (Cultural Liturgies Book #3)


Book Description

In this culmination of his widely read and highly acclaimed Cultural Liturgies project, James K. A. Smith examines politics through the lens of liturgy. What if, he asks, citizens are not only thinkers or believers but also lovers? Smith explores how our analysis of political institutions would look different if we viewed them as incubators of love-shaping practices--not merely governing us but forming what we love. How would our political engagement change if we weren't simply looking for permission to express our "views" in the political sphere but actually hoped to shape the ethos of a nation, a state, or a municipality to foster a way of life that bends toward shalom? This book offers a well-rounded public theology as an alternative to contemporary debates about politics. Smith explores the religious nature of politics and the political nature of Christian worship, sketching how the worship of the church propels us to be invested in forging the common good. This book creatively merges theological and philosophical reflection with illustrations from film, novels, and music and includes helpful exposition and contemporary commentary on key figures in political theology.




Calvin's Political Theology and the Public Engagement of the Church


Book Description

John Calvin's two kingdoms political thought offers a fresh paradigm for constructive Christian engagement in pluralistic liberal societies.




The Myth of a Christian Nation


Book Description

Arguing from Scripture and history, the author makes a compelling case that getting too close to any political or national ideology is disastrous for the church and harmful to society.




White Evangelical Racism


Book Description

The American political scene today is poisonously divided, and the vast majority of white evangelicals play a strikingly unified, powerful role in the disunion. These evangelicals raise a starkly consequential question for electoral politics: Why do they claim morality while supporting politicians who act immorally by most Christian measures? In this clear-eyed, hard-hitting chronicle of American religion and politics, Anthea Butler answers that racism is at the core of conservative evangelical activism and power. Butler reveals how evangelical racism, propelled by the benefits of whiteness, has since the nation's founding played a provocative role in severely fracturing the electorate. During the buildup to the Civil War, white evangelicals used scripture to defend slavery and nurture the Confederacy. During Reconstruction, they used it to deny the vote to newly emancipated blacks. In the twentieth century, they sided with segregationists in avidly opposing movements for racial equality and civil rights. Most recently, evangelicals supported the Tea Party, a Muslim ban, and border policies allowing family separation. White evangelicals today, cloaked in a vision of Christian patriarchy and nationhood, form a staunch voting bloc in support of white leadership. Evangelicalism's racial history festers, splits America, and needs a reckoning now.




CHURCH POLITICS - The Killer of Great Grace


Book Description

Political engagements and involvements in the church affairs today is gaining more ground than the assignment of the Great Commission given to us by the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 28:20 that says: 19: Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. Politics in the church is gradually becoming legalized and a norm that people celebrate above the Holy Bible. It has become a career people nurture that if you do not belong to the evil political group today, you are seen as uncivilized or uninformed. This clearly is an act of corruption in the sight of God. Church politics is all about manipulations, deceptions, corrupt and sharp evil practices from the pulpits, offices and boardrooms. The Pulpit is meant to be a place for pulling people out of hell by preaching unadulterated and non-situational messages, but today it has become a place of sending people to hell by the lifestyles and attitudes of most “men and women of God”. Oh, what a corrupt generation we are in! Nothing kills the anointed faster and render him carnal in the sight of God like participation in church politics, calling blue black and calling white green thereby deceiving people, leading people astray and being led astray. Many pastors have lost their calling in the sight of God because of political and tribal sentiments in decision making. What can be more frustrating than God relying on a man and the man sending God out of his ministry? Church politics is therefore evil and devilish, hence it is a punishable offence in the sight of God. It is an act of acute spiritual and physical corruption, which has made many men of God go in the acts of Balaam thereby moving from error of Balaam (Jude 11), to the way of Balaam (2Pet. 2:14-15) and finally settled in the doctrine of Balaam (Rev. 2:14) which has led many young Christians astray. It sponsors conspiracy therefore, avoid it, reject it and kill it so that it will not kill you shortly. Everyone involved in the participation of ‘church politics’ in the Bible did not end well, even in our contemporary day, God has left many of them. Some are just operating in their old glory that is a mere shadow of irreplaceable and irreparable loss (Ichabod)! (1 Sam. 4:21). Please note this which I will repeat again and again in the course of this book “IF CARE IS NOT TAKEN, THE HIGHER YOU GO IN THE CHURCH (DENOMINATIONAL) HIERARCHY, THE FARTHER YOU MAY BE FROM GOD AND THE CLOSER YOU MAY BE TO HELL BECAUSE OF THE POLITICS INVOLVED, BE WARNED!”. For this reason, God has inspired me to write this life-corrective and instructive manual in order for you to excel and end well in your ministerial assignments. Remain current with God in Jesus name! Your Brother in Christ, Apelorioye Igbekeleoluwa David




Religion, Identity and Politics in Northern Ireland


Book Description

There has been increased interest in the relationship between religion, identity and politics in modern societies. Building on this debate, Claire Mitchell presents a challenging analysis of religion in contemporary Northern Ireland, arguing that religion is not merely a marker of ethnicity and that it continues to provide many of the meanings of identity, community and politics. Drawing on a range of unique interview material, this book traces how individuals and groups in Northern Ireland have absorbed religious types of cultural knowledge, belonging and morality.




Religion and Politics in Comparative Perspective


Book Description

This book examines religion and politics in diverse countries or regions.