Tag "Augustine"

What Hath Christianity To Do with Politics?: (Pt. 2: Augustine and the Roman Empire)

The early church forged its thinking about politics from Scripture and in the context of a decadent pagan Roman Empire. It grappled with how best to further the Christian mission in such a context. Should it withdraw from the political sphere, given its persecuted minority status within the empire? Conversely, should it expend the majority of [ Read More ]

How politics has replaced religion in America

America has always been more religiously devout than other Western democracies. But now, like them, it has begun to secularize rapidly. And, as religion has declined, political ideology has intensified, society has fragmented, and cultural common ground has disintegrated. As a result, politics is increasingly divisive and existentially fraught. For over three decades, debates about [ Read More ]

7 All-Stars of the Just War Tradition

As we noted in a recent article, the roots of the just war tradition are found both in the Graeco-Roman tradition and in the biblical witness. Even so, many modern histories of the early church assert that the early church was universally pacifist. In fact, if you mentioned the word “pacifist,” for many today the [ Read More ]

How to Corrupt the Youth: 5 Imperatives for Shaping Students’ Hearts & Minds in Opposition to False Ideologies

[Note: This post represents a peek into what I do in my role as Provost and Dean of the Faculty at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Each year for Faculty Workshop, I write an essay which encapsulates the overall theme of the workshop. “How to Corrupt the Youth: 5 Imperatives for Shaping Students’ Hearts & Minds in [ Read More ]