Five Views on the Church and Politics

Learn to think deeply about the relationship between church and state in a way that goes beyond mere policy debates and current campaigns.

Few topics can grab headlines and stir passions quite like politics, especially when the church is involved. Considering the attention that many Christian parachurch groups, churches, and individual believers give to politics--and of the varying and sometimes divergent political ideals and aims among them--Five Views on the Church and Politics provides a helpful breakdown of the possible Christian approaches to political involvement.

General Editor Amy Black brings together five top-notch political theologians in the book, each representing one of the five key political traditions within Christianity:

• Anabaptist (Separationist: the most limited possible Christian involvement in politics) - represented by Thomas Heilke
• Lutheran (Paradoxical: strong separation of church and state) – represented by Robert Benne
• Black Church (Prophetic: the church's mission is to be a voice for communal reform) – represented by Bruce Fields
• Reformed (Transformationist: emphasizes God's sovereignty over all things, including churches and governments) – represented by James K. A. Smith
• Catholic (Synthetic: encouragement of political participation as a means to further the common good of all people) – represented by J. Brian Benestad

Each author addresses his tradition's theological distinctives, the role of government, the place of individual Christian participation in government and politics, and how churches should (or should not) address political questions. Responses by each contributor to opposing views will highlight key areas of difference and disagreement.

Thorough and even-handed, Five Views on the Church and Politics will enable readers to consider the strengths and weaknesses of the most significant Christian views on political engagement and to draw their own, informed conclusions.

J. Brian Benestad (PhD, Boston College) is the D-Amour Chair of Catholic Thought at Assumption College in Worcester, Massachusetts. The editor of Fellowship of Catholic Scholars Quarterly, his published works include The Pursuit of a Just Social Order and Church, State, and Society: An Introduction to Catholic Social Doctrine. 

Robert Benne (Ph.D., University of Chicago) is Jordan-Trexler Professor Emeritus and research associate at Roanoke College. He founded the Roanoke College Center for Religion in 1982 and is the author of twelve books including Good and Bad Ways to Think About Religion and Politics, Reasonable Ethics, and A Christian Approach to Social, Economic, and Political Concerns. 

Bruce L. Fields (Ph.D., Marquette University) is associate professor of biblical and systematic theology and chair of the biblical and systematic theology department at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He is the author of Introducing Black Theology: Three Crucial Questions for the Evangelical Church.

Thomas W. Heilke (Ph.D., Duke University) is associate dean of graduate studies and professor of political science at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan. He is author, co-author, or co-editor of more than 40 publications, including Voegelin on the Idea of Race and Nietzsche's Tragic Regime: Culture, Aesthetics, and Political Education.

James K. A. Smith is professor of philosophy at Calvin College where he holds the Gary & Henrietta Byker Chair in Applied Reformed Theology & Worldview. The author of many books, including the award-winning Who’s Afraid of Postmodernism? and Desiring the Kingdom, Smith is a Cardus senior fellow and serves as editor of Comment magazine.