Five Books Worth Reading this Political Season

January 19, 2012 in Life with 2 Comments

We’re sixteen Republican debates into the election season. By November, we’ll have all whipped ourselves into a vitriolic froth and will have convinced ourselves that the very survival of the planet hinged on the result of the election. Somehow we Christians, whether we are on the right or the left, have given ourselves a pass to be more partisan than Christ-follower in the arena of politics.  Christianity Today wisely cautioned us all regarding the endorsement of Santorum last Saturday by 150 Evangelical leaders.

Confession: I found myself mentally disengaged from politics after being sickened by the culture wars and the power plays in which Evangelical Christians get entangled. But this is no good either. If the Gospel is to work itself into every arena of our life that would include politics. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a an alternate model to culture wars in my imagination. Here’s four books that helped me on my way:

“Exclusion and Embrace” by Miroslav Volf: Richard Dahlstrom turned me on to this book. Dr. Volf experienced the devastation of the ethnic and religious conflict in the Balkans and responded with this rich theology of reconciliation. Volf is no Utopian. He’s seen too much. He accurately describes the sociological moves needed for a group of people to feel justified in taking aggression against another tribe.  Then he describes what it would look like for the Gospel to confront misogyny and Patriarchalism, racism, and nationalism. Volf writes from the vantage point of witnessing a literal war, but the truths apply just as sturdily to our culture wars.

“A Public Faith” by Miroslav Volf: Volf’s 2011 release paints a positive vision of what it looks like to be a Christian in the pubic arena without resorting to combativeness. Another 2011 release,  Love Wins opened up a theological battlefield in the afterlife. “A Public Faith” is a field guide for deescalating the ones we’ve built in this one.

“God Politics” by Jim Wallis: This is the book to read understand the case for Christian politics from the left. Wallis methodically works through scripture and forces the reader to see God’s unmistakable concern for the poor and marginalized. Brother Jim concludes that a government submitted to God will reflect God’s desires in this area. I appreciated his willingness to save some critiques for the Democrats as well.

“Politics– According to the Bible: A Comprehensive Resource for Understanding Modern Political Issues in Light of Scripture” by Wayne Grudem:There’s foreshadowing in the title, kids. For those who don’t know, Grudem is an esteemed, New Testament scholar and systematic theologian. You’d probably file his work under “Reformed/Calvinist.” This volume is a thick reference manual, laid out in the style of a systematic theology. That said, I haven’t read this one cover-to-cover. However, if you want to understand the mind of a Christian who is politically conservative and skip the vitriol, this would be the book to tackle.

“The Myth of a Christian Nation” by Greg Boyd: This will never cease to amaze me: Pastor Boyd preaches open theology and his congregation barely blinks. However, when he preaches sermons debunking “American Exclusivism”  and the mythology that America is somehow a Christian nation, thousands of his congregants walk. I don’t agree with every word in this book, but he makes important points.

How about you, what books have help you work through the thorny issue of God and politics? 

 

 

(This post does not reflect the positions of Grace Church or any of my coworkers. We’re diverse like that.)

 

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  • http://middletree.blogspot.com James Williams

    “will have convinced ourselves that the very survival of the planet hinged on the result of the election”
    How true.
    Larry, I hear what you’re saying, and am in a similar place. I once was waaayyyyy too caught up in politics, and when I see others speak now like I did then, I feel for them. 

    That said, it occurs to me that one can have passionate positions about important topics without being caught up in the politics. I see abortion as an issue which transcends politics. It’s an emotional issue, not a political one.  But for us as a nation to get where I would like us to be on abortion, some legislation would have to be passed. And that puts me in a position where I need to weigh the pros and cons of various candidates.  And the same goes for other issues which other voters would consider to be high on their list.

    • Anonymous

      Abortion is a good example of an issue that transcends politics. There’s an emotional piece but it touches our religious, scientific, and moral convictions as well. Since it transcends politics, we get to decide if aiming for a political solution is our best choice or not.