For more than a millennium, beginning in the early Middle Ages,
most Western Christians lived in societies that sought to be
comprehensively Christian--ecclesiastically, economically, legally,
and politically. That is to say, most Western Christians lived in
Christendom. But in a gradual process beginning a few hundred years
ago, Christendom weakened and finally crumbled. Today, most
Christians in the world live in pluralistic political communities.
And Christians themselves have very different opinions about what
to make of the demise of Christendom and how to understand their
status and responsibilities in a post-Christendom world. Politics
After Christendom argues that Scripture leaves Christians
well-equipped for living in a world such as this. Scripture gives
no indication that Christians should strive to establish some
version of Christendom. Instead, it prepares them to live in
societies that are indifferent or hostile to Christianity,
societies in which believers must live faithful lives as sojourners
and exiles. Politics After Christendom explains what Scripture
teaches about political community and about Christians'
responsibilities within their own communities. As it pursues this
task, Politics After Christendom makes use of several important
theological ideas that Christian thinkers have developed over the
centuries. These ideas include Augustine's Two-Cities concept, the
Reformation Two-Kingdoms category, natural law, and a theology of
the biblical covenants. Politics After Christendom brings these
ideas together in a distinctive way to present a model for
Christian political engagement. In doing so, it interacts with many
important thinkers, including older theologians (e.g., Augustine,
Aquinas, and Calvin), recent secular political theorists (e.g.,
Rawls, Hayek, and Dworkin), contemporary political-theologians
(e.g., Hauerwas, O'Donovan, and Wolterstorff), and contemporary
Christian cultural commentators (e.g., MacIntyre, Hunter, and
Dreher). Part 1 presents a political theology through a careful
study of the biblical story, giving special attention to the
covenants God has established with his creation and how these
covenants inform a proper view of political community. Part 1
argues that civil governments are legitimate but penultimate, and
common but not neutral. It concludes that Christians should
understand themselves as sojourners and exiles in their political
communities. They ought to pursue justice, peace, and excellence in
these communities, but remember that these communities are
temporary and thus not confuse them with the everlasting kingdom of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Christians' ultimate citizenship is in this
new-creation kingdom. Part 2 reflects on how the political theology
developed in Part 1 provides Christians with a framework for
thinking about perennial issues of political and legal theory. Part
2 does not set out a detailed public policy or promote a particular
political ideology. Rather, it suggests how Christians might think
about important social issues in a wise and theologically sound
way, so that they might be better equipped to respond well to the
specific controversies they face today. These issues include race,
religious liberty, family, economics, justice, rights, authority,
and civil resistance. After considering these matters, Part 2
concludes by reflecting on the classical liberal and conservative
traditions, as well as recent challenges to them by nationalist and
progressivist movements.
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