Just Politics

J. Sider Ronald

Description

Evangelicals today probably have more political influence in the United States than at any time in the last century--but they might not be certain what to do with it. It has been difficult to develop a unified voice on pressing issues such as social justice and moral renewal. Bestselling author and theologian Ron Sider offers a biblically grounded, factually rooted, Christian approach to politics that cuts across ideological divides. Shaped by a careful study of society, this book will guide readers into more thoughtful and effective political activity. It addresses perennially tough questions that often divide the church and includes a case study of the federal deficit debate.Practical, balanced, and nonpartisan, this book will be a welcome resource during the 2012 presidential race. This is a revised version of what was previously published as The Scandal of Evangelical Politics.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie

Informations

• Publié par: Baker Publishing Group
• Date de parution: 01 septembre 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781441239822
• Langue: English

Extrait

© 2012 by Ronald J. Sider
Published by Brazos Press a division of Baker Publishing Group P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287 www.brazospress.com
First edition published in 2008 by Baker Books as The Scandal of Evangelical Politics .
ISBN 978-1-4412-3982-2
Ebook edition created 2012
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means for example, electronic, photocopy, recording without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, Today’s New International Version®. TNIV®. Copyright © 2001, 2005 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com
Scripture quotations labeled ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2007
Scripture quotations labeled NIV 1984 are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com
Scripture quotations labeled NKJV are from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations labeled NRSV are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The internet addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers in this book are accurate at the time of publication. They are provided as a resource. Baker Publishing Group does not endorse them or vouch for their content or permanence.
“Thirty years ago, Ron Sider prophetically challenged the evangelical world with Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger . Now he raises the bar with a new challenge: to develop a holistic, biblically grounded political philosophy. If you’re wondering what it means to say Christ is Lord of our political life, Sider has, as always, credible and compelling answers. This book again establishes why Ron Sider is one of our most important public theologians.”
Jim Wallis , president, Sojourners; author, God’s Politics
“For decades now, Sider has been the evangelical Christian world’s clearest, sanest, and most biblically faithful voice on politics and public policy. Now, in Just Politics , Sider serves up his most compelling statement ever on how Christians can and should influence American government to promote the common good, both at home and abroad. It would be a scandal for anyone who truly cares about the subject not to read and heed this marvelous book by the evangelical thinker who puts the fact-based in faith-based and practices what he preaches. Sider is a civic and intellectual treasure.”
John J. DiIulio Jr. , first director, White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives; author, Godly Republic
“Ron Sider could well be our nation’s best professor of Christian social activism. He not only equips us to understand the Bible’s teaching on current issues, he also trains us for loving and effective political involvement. Just Politics should be a guidebook for Christians who want to be a voice for Jesus in shaping social policy. This book is becoming a part of my personal discipleship process.”
Joel C. Hunter , senior pastor, Northland, A Church Distributed; executive committee member, National Association of Evangelicals
“ Just Politics is in some ways a culminating achievement of Ron Sider’s remarkable life of service to God’s kingdom. The fulfillment of a dream he has long cherished, Sider here offers a mature, balanced, well-informed, richly biblical Christian political ethic for a broad audience.
“Far less a work of critique than of constructive thought, the book reflects Sider’s commitment to both/and rather than either/or thinking, his hopeful spirit, and his wide reading and dialogue both nationally and internationally.
“This is a significant contribution to the emerging evangelical center in Christian political ethics.”
David P. Gushe e, Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics, Mercer University; president, Evangelicals for Human Rights; author, The Future of Faith in American Politics
“For decades now, Ron Sider has been a rare voice in the public square calling believers to both a broader agenda that includes the poor and to an approach to public life that is less sectarian and more grounded in principled pluralism and love of neighbor. Here, Sider systematically offers a badly needed public philosophy to ground that work, one reflective of biblical ethics and history, and one that points to both the promises as well as the limits of the State in settling the great moral and social issues of society.
“Reflecting well his own Anabaptist history, Sider consistently brings a quiet, thoughtful yet compelling voice to the policy table. Ron’s work has undoubtedly helped usher in an era in which fewer believers rush to embrace the secular ideologies of either Left or Right and even less the rancorous behavior associated with them and instead embrace a deeper biblical ethic as a guide to political positions as well as public conduct.”
Don Eberly , author; White House aide to presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush
“This is vintage Sider: an abundance of biblical texts to ground and inspire the kind of civic action Christians should take to serve God and neighbors. American evangelicals should read and discuss this book and think hard about the kind of organizing that will be needed to fulfill genuine political responsibility.”
James W. Skillen , former president, Center for Public Justice
“This is the book that we’ve been waiting for Ron Sider to write for years. In Just Politics he persuasively brings the Bible to bear on the major issues of our day. In so doing he provides a road map, a guide to help Christians of all political persuasions to develop a relevant and just political philosophy. This work shows how political philosophy should ultimately result in civic responsibility.”
Tony Hall , United States ambassador, United Nations, Rome
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Endorsements
Acknowledgments
Preface
Preface to the Second Edition
Part 1 The Scandal of Evangelical Political Engagement
1. Tragic Failure, New Opportunity
Part 2 A Better Approach
2. Developing a Faithful Methodology
3. Politics and the Biblical Story
Part 3 Building a Solid Framework: From Biblical Paradigms and Societal Analysis to an Evangelical Political Philosophy
4. The State: Its Nature, Purpose, and Limits
5. Justice
6. Human Rights, Democracy, and Capitalism
7. The Sanctity of Human Life
8. Marriage and Family
9. Religious Freedom, Church, and State
10. Peacemaking, Just War, and Nonviolence
11. Creation Care
12. Nation-States and International Affairs
Part 4 Loving One’s Neighbor through Faithful Political Engagement
13. Biblical Balance, Historic Opportunity

Bibliography
Notes
Subject Index
Scripture Index
About the Author
Back Cover
Acknowledgments
I want to thank the many, many people who contributed to this book. Most cannot be named because their specific contribution at numerous conferences, in vast numbers of personal conversations, and in many books read over more than four decades has faded from conscious memory. A large portion of those interactions happened in one or another program of Evangelicals for Social Action or my teaching at Palmer Seminary at Eastern University, which have provided wonderful places for my thinking on this topic to develop over more than thirty years.
The several-year process that Diane Knippers and I cochaired for the National Association of Evangelicals was an especially significant time for me. That time of vigorous interaction with key evangelical thinkers on public policy, which led to “For the Health of the Nation: An Evangelical Call to Civic Responsibility” (unanimously approved by the NAE’s board of directors in October 2004), helped crystallize my thinking about an evangelical political philosophy.
I want to thank Timothy Shah and Daniel Philpott, who provided crucial assistance on short notice for chapter 12. I am also especially grateful for two graduate research scholars. Regina Downing (my Ayres Graduate Research Scholar) did research and typed the vast bulk of the manuscript (slowly learning how to decipher my handwritten original). Peter Sensenig (my Wilberforce Graduate Research Scholar) helped Regina with some of the research and typing. Many thanks for their careful work over many long hours.
For this second edition, Heather Biscoe (my Wilberforce Graduate Research Scholar) provided excellent help typing the manuscript and Rachel Lesher (my Sider Scholar) did valuable research.
Preface
H uman experience proves that politics profoundly impacts billions of people. Bad political choices lead to dictatorship, starvation, and death for hundreds of millions. Good political decisions nurture freedom, life, justice, and peace. Politics matters.
Christian faith teaches that all authority on heaven and earth has already been given to the risen Lord Jesus. He is now King of kings and Lord of lords. Christians, therefore, must act politically in ways that are faithful to Christ the Lord.
Tragically, Christian political activity today is a disaster. Christians embrace contradictory positions on almost every political issue. When they join the political fray, they often succumb to dishonesty and corruption.