Tag "politics"

What Hath Christianity to Do with Politics? (Pt. 3: Lutheran, Reformed, Anabaptist, Black Church)

Out of the Catholic and Orthodox traditions emerged newly-formed streams of Christianity. Those traditions both drew upon, and reacted against, the other traditions. In this installment, we will explore briefly some of the main distinctives of these traditions as they sought to formulate the proper approach to the political sphere. We will begin with the [ Read More ]

What Hath Christianity To Do with Politics? (Pt. 3: Catholic and Orthodox Traditions)

In the wake of Augustine’s magisterial City of God, and the ensuing weakening of the Roman Empire, the church continued to reflect upon, and develop its approach toward politics. After the schism that resulted in the formation of an Eastern Orthodox church distinct from the Roman Catholicism, some differences of approach emerged. In this installment, [ Read More ]

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 ]

What Hath Christianity To Do with Politics? (Pt:1: The Bible and Politics)

What Hath Christianity To Do with Politics?: (Pt:1: The Bible and Politics) In a nation divided socially, culturally, and politically, there is a necessity to reflect upon the proper relationship between Christianity and politics. As Richard John Neuhaus often remarked, politics is a function of culture at large, and culture is always underlain by religion [ 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 ]

In Search of a Better (Conservative) Story

The only organ to which secular progressive political activists make little appeal these days—one could consider it America’s only understimulated organ—is the cerebrum. The brain. But when progressives do appeal to voters’ rationality, they wisely do so more primarily through story than through argument. Yet, unfortunately, the progressive story is a “story” not only in [ Read More ]

Why Should I Vote?

In this interview for “The Dual Citizen” podcast, Anna Claire Noblitt and I discuss the responsibilities and privileges of living in a twenty-first century democratic republic. The conversation is wide-ranging, covering a number of issues at the intersection of Christianity, politics, and public life. Listen to the 27-minute interview by clicking here.