c. 2006 Religion News Service
(UNDATED) New books hitting the shelves this year are giving evangelicals a platform to voice concerns about how their faith is being expressed in politics. Here’s a sampling of titles offering a critique:
Thy Kingdom Come: An Evangelical’s Lament: How the Religious Right Distorts the Faith and Threatens America
By Randall Balmer
Publisher: Perseus ($24.95, 242 pp.)
Summary: A professor of American religious history skewers his contemporaries who, in his view, misrepresent the values of his faith. The nub: American evangelicalism historically defended society’s most vulnerable elements, but today in politics it suppresses and exploits them.
Excerpt: “I write as a jilted lover. The evangelical faith that nurtured me as a child and sustains me as an adult has been hijacked by right-wing zealots who have distorted the gospel of Jesus Christ, defaulted on the noble legacy of 19th century evangelical activism, and failed to appreciate the genius of the First Amendment. They appear not to have read the same New Testament that I open before me every morning at the kitchen counter.”
The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power Is Destroying the Church
By the Rev. Gregory A. Boyd
Publisher: Zondervan ($19.99, 208 pp.)
Summary: A Minnesota pastor pleads with fellow evangelicals to consider the high cost of accumulating worldly power in a hapless bid to make American society reflect a Biblical ideal.
Excerpt: “My thesis, which (has) caused such an uproar, is this: I believe a significant segment of American evangelicalism is guilty of nationalistic and political idolatry. To a frightful degree, I think, evangelicals fuse the kingdom of God with a preferred version of the kingdom of the world (whether it’s our national interests, a particular form of government, a particular political program, or so on). Rather than focusing our understanding of God’s kingdom on the person of Jesus _ who, incidentally, never allowed himself to get pulled into the political disputes of his day _ I believe many of us American evangelicals have allowed our understanding of the kingdom of God to be polluted with political ideals, agendas, and issues.”
Christian, Evangelical & … Democrat?
By George G. Hunter III
Publisher: Abingdon ($12, 120 pp.)
Summary: A Methodist professor of church growth and evangelism says American evangelicals need to learn from fellow evangelicals overseas and bring their sensibilities to bear in all areas of society, including the Democratic Party.
Excerpt: “I am especially concerned for the soul and the credibility of evangelical Christianity in this land. Many of our most public `evangelical’ spokespersons do not fully represent Christianity, and Christianity’s vision for the world, to the pre-Christian populations of the United States … Two indispensable objectives in our public role, therefore, are to build all the bridges possible to lost people who need to be found and to accurately and fully represent the Christian faith and ethic when we represent it.”
Evangelicals in the Public Square: Four Formative Voices on Political Thought and Action
By J. Budziszewski
Publisher: Baker ($19.99, 224 pp.)
Summary: A philosopher and his dialogue partners reflect on the political activities of four historical figures in American evangelicalism. He concludes that the tradition has always struggled _ and still does _ to ground its arguments for public policy in generally accepted principles that transcend sectarian differences.
Excerpt: “What then does the Bible teach about politics and government? As we are about to see, evangelicals have long found it difficult to approach this question honestly, and the difficulty they experience with it goes far toward explaining why, even after centuries of opportunity, evangelical political reflection leaves so much to be desired. Historically, the most common fallacy of evangelical political theory has been projective accommodation: accommodating Scripture to one’s own political views by reading those views into the biblical text. The longevity of this habit will make it hard to break.”
Evangelicalism: An Americanized Christianity
By Richard Kyle
Publisher: Transaction ($34.95, 353 pp.)
Summary: An evangelical historian in the Mennonite Brethren tradition tackles what makes evangelicalism in America distinctive. He concludes that adherents have long been both wary of secular culture, and also eager to embrace it.
Excerpt: “In the political arena, the evangelical paradox runs deep. On one hand, the very birth pangs of the Christian Right can be seen in its resistance to modern cultural trends _ secular humanism, feminism, abortion on demand, gay rights, homosexuality, liberalism, and an expanded government. In this sense, the Christian Right is truly a countercultural movement. On the other hand, few religious bodies have Americanized the Christian faith as have conservative Protestants. You name it, they have Christianized it _ America’s heritage, democracy, market economy, foreign policy, military involvement, and great wealth.”
KRE/CM END MACDONALD
Editors: To obtain photos and bookcovers for Boyd, Balmer, Budziszewski, Kyle and Hunter, go to the RNS Web site at https://religionnews.com. On the lower right, click on “photos,” then search by subject or slug.
Also see related story, RNS-EVANGEL-LAMENT, transmitted Sept. 21, for an overview of evangelical dissatisfaction with politics.
