YEP, here it is again, the offer extended, re-posted below, with the 30% off discount deal and an offer of a free book sent your way — IF YOU ORDER BY END OF DAY WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2024. I’ve newly included just a few other titles, too, on the front end, and then the rest of this BookNotes is a repeat of the one I posted previously. If you missed that earlier deadline for the 30% off deal, here is a second chance. Hooray!

We’ve got lots more on this topic, but I was pretty satisfied with the array of titles I listed for you a few weeks back, more or less arranged by ease of reading and scholarly depth. As voting day draws near, most of us have an awareness of the importance of this election (and some, I’m sure, are adamant about your thoughts and opinions; I sure am.)

I’ve been doing a Faith & Politics class at my church and videos of it can be found at First Presbyterian Church of York’s Facebook page or at the church website. I’m pretty excited and a bit goofy at times and the sound isn’t great on one of them but most folks have enjoyed the course and I invite you to check it out. (This week I review just a bit about Jesus and his first sermon about the Year of Jubilee and then move into the drama of Paul’s civil disobedience and trials in Acts to set the stage for a quick look at Romans 13.) We are glad for those who have tuned in as I try to offer a big picture overview of the good of politics, what the Bible says, and general principles for thinking well about our citizenship. We’re calling it “Elephants and Donkeys and the Lamb (Oh My)” with a clever nod to the Wizard of Oz. Ha. The point, of course, is serious and I hope whatever your political passions are, you’ve done some thinking about how you relate your faith (if you are a follower of the Lamb of God) to your public life, your civic involvement, and your voting up and down the ballot.

I sometimes say that how we end up voting is somewhat less relevant than how you came to decide; that is, the process of thinking it through matters. (I favor the process offer by Ron Sider in Just Politics, for instance [see below], but it is notable how some who have strong political opinions seem not to have taken diligent steps to allow their Biblical faith to color their political values and candidate choices.) I hope you have a reasonable Biblical hermeneutic, that you’ve read a bit about law and justice in the Bible, the grand history of Christians in political life, that you have a coherent public theology. Otherwise, we can get stuck in conventional secularized loyalties to parties and ideologies that may or may not be consistent with a Christian worldview or a faithful political agenda. The process of being formed in civic holiness isn’t easy, I’ll admit, but we are grateful that some have said that our books have helped.

For those that want a quick dip into this conversation about books that offer a way to think about Christians stewarding well their gift of citizenship, I invite you, also, to listen to my latest “Three Books from Hearts & Minds” podcast, in which I describe three books on faith and political life. You can watch the Zoom conversation on YouTube or listen podcast-style on Apple or Spotify. We say in the program notes that we offer 20% off on any books mentioned, but if you order any of those in the next three days, we’ll do 30% off and send along a free book added in, too. That OFFER EXPIRES at midnight OCTOBER 23.

In this BookNotes I am going to give a fresh shout-out to five other relevant books, then just re-post that big listing from two weeks ago about the vocation of citizenship. We are extending our 30% off offer for a few more days.

If you feel so inclined, I’d ask you share this. We’d love for folks to see our suggestions. Thanks

Here are the five that I’ve added in to this redux BookNotes. I wanted to spice it up with a couple that I hadn’t listed before. They are very good reads, one and all.

Each are 30% off until October 23rd; after than back to the more typical 20% off BookNotes special.

“Here Are Your Gods” — Faithful Discipleship in Idolatrous Times Christopher J.H. Wright (IVP Academic) $22.00 /  OUR 30% OFF SALE PRICE = $15.40

I have noted before how much I appreciated this, a fabulous book drawn from a couple of well received talks by the international ministries director for Langham Partnerships in the UK. He has written a lot of books, including a magisterial one called The Mission of God, and more.  This exploration — the title comes from the Israelite exclamation given at the sight of the golden calf — not only is an astute study of idolatry but then offers particularly keen insights about what we might call political idolatry. It’s really, really good.

Tremper Longman (author of The Bible and the Ballott, named below) says it is a “must-read for Christians as they engage with the political process.”) Duke Divinity School Old Testament professors Ellen Davis reminds us that Wright’s insights relate to “mission, creation care, justice, work, addiction-treatment, and the cultivation of theological maturity and ethical integrity.” She says it is “a sobering call to repentance and the renewal of Christian vocation.”

The Justice Calling: Where Passion Meets Perseverance Bethany Hanke Hoang & Kristen Deede Johnson (Brazos) $24.00 / OUR 30% OFF SALE PRICE = $16.80

This is one of my all-time favorite books by two authors I so respect and I can hardly say enough about it. Briefly, it is a study of justice and — get this! — the need for a persevering hope in our passion for justice. That is, while we serve a faithful God who does not falter, we (as it says on the back) need a “deep perseverance we can’t muster on our own.” Despite the staggering needs of a broken and unjust world, we need God’s strength to keep us going and profound Kingdom hope to keep on keeping on.

This very fine work is, in the words of Andy Crouch, “a deep, wide, wise contribution to a truly comprehensive understanding of justice.” Despite the violence in our world and corruption on our political systems, this is a real encouragement. Delightful is word that comes to mind, but that makes it sound maybe a bit light-weight, and it is not. It is (in the words of Dan Allender) a “glorious book.” When books carry such fine endorsements by scholars like Nicholas Wolterstorff and global activists like Gary Haugen, and educators like Kara Powell, you it is book worth having on your shelves. In the months ahead, you will need to have it near at hand.

I love how The Justice Calling does, indeed, invite us to the vocation of being agents of justice. It is serious, but inviting. The Bible has more about this topic than most know, and this book offers the needed Biblical theology of justice from the whole story of Scripture. Yet, as I’ve said, it also has this spiritual formation piece and tone, offering a call to hope, a guide to perseverance. There is real promise and great possibility taught here. It isn’t about politics, as such, but the call to justice is part of our own discipleship and public fidelity, so this is a great resource as we think about civic life and the values the might shape our voting. Highly recommended.

Jesus Takes a Side: Embracing the Political Demands of the Gospel Jonny Rashid (Herald Press) $17.99 / OUR 30% OFF SALE PRICE = $12.59

You might recall the name of this author — Jonny Rashid — from the candid and pathos-filled telling of the story of the now-defunct, radical, Brethren church in urban Philly, Circle of Hope, told so well in Eliza Griswald’s Circle of Hope: A Reckoning with Love, Power, and Justice in an American Church. I reviewed that book in a previous BookNotes and have already discussed Jesus Takes a Side. My previous review of Rashid was written before I read about his fiesty role in the anti-racist work of Circle, and reading Griswald on the painful struggle within that earnest congregation helps shed some light on Jesus Takes…

Be that as it may, the book is darn good. From Drew Hart’s riveting foreword through the many stories Rashid tells — he grew up in central Pennsylvania and felt in his very body the discrimination faced by people of Arab descent in the racist US, especially during President Trump’s “Muslim travel ban”, for instance — I couldn’t put it down. Jesus Takes a Side is an unashamed, progressive Biblical study showing how Jesus always sided with the poor, the oppressed, the marginalized. This is a Bible-based, evangelical sort of liberation theology that insists we may not (espeically in the name of civility and graciousness) refuse to take the explicit teachings of Jesus seriously and stand, in fact, where he would stand. Drawing on James Cone and Howard Thurman, Walter Brueggemann and Abraham Joshua Heschel, Melissa Florer-Bixler and Willie Jennings and so much more, this passionate young pastor has offered a controversial book that, as author Kurt Willems  puts it, “will provoke important conversations about what it means to follow Jesus in any political system.”

Ministers of Propaganda: Truth, Power, and the Ideology of the Religious Right Scot M. Coley (Eerdmans) $26.99 /  OUR 30% OFF SALE PRICE = $18.89

Oh my, I should have been pushing this earlier as it is an excellent study, a great book that (as the back cover says), “exposes the inner workings of the religious right’s propaganda — and how Christians can resist it.” It isn’t just an expose of the misogyny and complicity in racist movements idolatrous nationalism that plagues the religious wing of the MAGA movement, but is a careful study of their rhetoric and prooftexting (and what he explains as “motivated reasoning.”)  Professor Coley teaches at Mount St. Marys University in Maryland and lives in Lancaster, PA. He’s a respected scholar and popular teacher.

Ministers of Propaganda fills a real need in the literature, not only offering a wise and balanced Christian assessment of the far religious right, Christian Nationalism, and such, but shows how that movement has taken hold, how it has promoted itself and disseminated its frankly undiscerning and at times idolatrous views of culture, church and state. As historian Kristin Kobes Du Mez puts it, Coley “brings a philosophical scalpel to evangelical truth claims,” where, as she puts it starkly, “much of what passes as ‘biblical’ can better be understood as propaganda, as the deliberate obfuscation of reality in the interest of propping up self-serving hierarchies of authority and submission.” Wow. She is in the middle of it and her own historical research overlaps with his, so her evaluation is important and reliable. If you have been shaped by evangelical takes on creationism, race, gender, and the like, or if you’ve read Du Mez’s Jesus and John Wayne, this will be an important book for you. His penultimate chapter (“Christo-Authoritarianism”) is really something and the final word, “Resisting Christo-Authoritarianism” is vital. I recommend this one.

List to Andrew Whitehead, an exceptionally reasonable scholar, author of American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church:

I couldn’t put this book down. Coley skillfully provides a framework that reveals how and why influential portions of American Christianity have consistently failed to embody the command of Jesus to love our neighbors as ourselves. Equipped with this knowledge, readers will be able to recognize these mechanisms at work, faithfully confront those advocating only for self-interested expressions of Christianity, and pursue a more just future for all.

How to End Christian Nationalism Amanda Tyler (Broadleaf Books) $27.99 /  OUR 30% OFF SALE PRICE = $19.59

Wow, this book just came out and while it is a guidebook for those of us who want to dismantle the false ideologies of extreme Christian Nationalism — written by the lead organizer of Christian Against Christian Nationalism — it is also an introduction to the movement and will be useful resource for the years to come. We are glad to announce it and offer it at this extra discount.

Ms Tyler has a great writer’s voice in this easy-to-read books; she strikes the right notes from her background as attorney and civic leader, life-long Baptist and Christian activists. The names of those she thanks in the acknowledgments are a whose who of those researching and writing about this controversy within the public square. She obviously knows her stuff and this has energetic endorsements from Jemar Tisby, Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Anthea Bulter, William Barber, Robert Jones, Liz Theoharis, Bradley Onishi, and people from non-Christian faith perspectives, too, such as Eboo Patel and Rep. Jamie Raskin (who calls it “a gift to America in dangerous times.”)

Here is how it starts:

“When did you become radicalized about Christian nationalism?”

The question from the journalist jarred me. I had never though of myself as a radical about anything. I’m a mild-mannered person, and freinds have long remarked on my ability to remain outwardly calm and collected in stressful situations. As an attorney, I’ve spent my career steeped in rational inquiry, measured analysis, and logical argument. I’m a lifelong Baptist, and I lead a religious advocacy group, so I spend a lot of time preaching, participating in Bible studies, serving on church committees, and going to potlucks.  I’m also a mother, so I have volunteered for the PTA, packed countless lunches, and read many bedtime stories. I wasn’t sure what was so radical about days spent reading Supreme Court opinions, writing sermons, and making dinner for my family.

I also associate the term radicalized with extremist violence, something that must be roundly condemned no matter its source. We see radicalization all around us in the nation and in the world, and I had never thought of the term as having anything to do with me. How did working to maintain the separation of church and state and to protect faith freedom for all people become radical?

How to End… is a fabulous and reasonable project, a good primer, a hopeful guide to making a difference in turning around the public reputation and witness of people of faith who have been involved in politics in unhelpful ways. Amanda Tyler seems like a gem.

Part way through this fine book she talks of her work (years ago) for a Democratic political figure in Texas and how people would flood his public events with ugly chants and scary posters. Soon enough they started bringing guns; this alt-right anger (in those years against Obamacare plans) lead to — in her telling — the awful, bloody rampage of the US Capitol on that infamous January 6th. (You know, the one the former President Trump called “a day of love.”) We must disentangle evangelical and Biblical faith from this extremist and authoritarian civil religion even as we advocate for pluralism and religious freedom and sanity. There is work to do, and this guidebook will be useful for many.

Okay, three more days, folks. Here’s the BookNotes we sent out a few weeks ago. Enjoy.

+++

ALL OF THESE ARE ON SALE AT AN EXTRA DISCOUNT FOR THEE MORE DAY ONLY. Order now and get 30% OFF. After that they will return to our customary BookNotes 20% discount.

 

AND — we will offer a free book that we have selected for you, to be sent (while supplies last) with any purchase from this list. Cheers.

I’ll group the recommendations in a few categories or levels of sophistication. The categories are a bit fluid, I’ll admit. I hope you read through the whole important list.

101 – BASIC, ACCESSIBLE  BOOKS ON POLITICS & CITIZENSHIP

201 – MORE SERIOUS, READABLE BOOKS ON POLITICS & CITIZENSHIP

301 – MODERATELY ADVANCED READS ON POLITICS & CITIZENSHIP

401 – IMPORTANT BOOKS ON POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY & CULTURAL ANALYSIS –

URGENT BOOKS ON THE DANGERS POSED BY THE EXTREMIST RIGHT WING

Again, all books are 30% off until October 23, 2024. And we’ll send two free ones, while the bonus supplies last.

101 – BASIC, ACCESSIBLE  BOOKS ON POLITICS & CITIZENSHIP 

The Political Disciple: A Theology of Public Life Vincent Bacote (Zondervan) $18.99 / OUR EXTRA SPECIAL SALE PRICE = $13.29

This little classic makes the simple case of why we must think about the call to engage culture and care about political life in light of God’s call to holiness. A lovely, very brief introduction to a wide-as-creation, Biblically-informed vision of public life. Buy a bunch!

Dr. Bacote teaches at Wheaton College and has published widely about the Bible, the Holy Spirit, public thinking, civic life, racial justice, and the theology of Abraham Kuyper.

 

Politics for People Who Hate Politics: How To Engage Without Losing Your Friends on Selling Your Soul Denise Grace Gitsham (Bethany House) $16.99 / OUR EXTRA SPECIAL SALE PRICE = $11.89

A really basic guide to American citizenship and Christian faith by an experienced Republican politico. Although she tilts right, her first allegiance is to the gospel and for building unity.

There are endorsements on the back not only from a Fox News commentator but a Democratic Senator. Maybe not my own favorite but a good starter resource for someone you may know.

How To Be a Patriotic Christian: Love of Country as Love of Neighbor Richard Mouw (IVP) $18.00 / OUR EXTRA SPECIAL SALE PRICE = $12.60

I adore this little book, always in awe at how Mouw can bring his professional training as a political philosopher in the Reformed tradition to bear in a way that is readable and enjoyable and instructive and helpful. This lovely book is a great starter for reminding us of why patriotism — properly understood — is a good thing, even though it can go ugly and even idolatrous at times.  I appreciate his “on the other hand” balance and his insight that our patriotism should be an avenue of love of others. Solid.

 

Thou Shalt Not Be a Jerk: A Christians Guide to Engaging Politics Eugene Cho (David C. Cook) $17.99 / OUR EXTRA SPECIAL SALE PRICE = $12.59

Many of us have admired Cho for his passionate work not only as an innovative evangelical pastor but his radical work on poverty and wages. His work with immigrant communities in his home state of Washington has been studied and praised. But now he is most known as the CEO of Bread for the World, the premier citizens action group that works on legislative efforts that help mitigate hunger, both globally and in the US. BFW is a group we should all appreciate — their long-time President, the late Arthur Simon was a friend and regular customer — and Cho wrote this upbeat book about civility and effectiveness in political activism before he took over the leadership of Bread. This is a very fine book, thoughtful and insightful. Enjoy!

Truth Over Tribe: Pledging Allegiance to the Lamb, Not the Donkey or the Elephant Patrick Miller & Keith Simon (David C. Cook) $17.99 / OUR EXTRA SPECIAL SALE PRICE = $12.59

I know that some of our customers enjoy the provocative Truth Over Tribe podcast where these dudes regularly remind Christians that they dare not be loyal primarily to a tribe, a party, a group other than the church of Jesus Christ. Like the book, it is enjoyable and yet really thoughtful. Many of us feel exhausted by tribalisms of all sorts and while this does not shy away from political involvement, it puts it within the context of the ideologies of tribalism that are so very hard to avoid these days. Can truth and love win out over tribalism and fear?

The After Party: Toward Better Christian Politics Curtis Change & Nancy French (Zondervan) $19.99 / OUR EXTRA SPECIAL SALE PRICE = $13.99

  Chang is a long-time, thoughtful theological scholar having written on the likes of Augustine and Aquinas. Now a working psychologist, he partners here with long-time civic activist — until a few years back, exclusively with the Republican Party — Nancy French. Both have come a long way in pondering how a Biblical view of humility and hope can guide us through the “how” and “what” of complex political conversations. They offer some “types” of approaches and postures, ranging from the harsh ideologue to the hurting cynic. There is a better way of conversing and they invite us to think Christianly less about political philosophy but about comporting ourselves with graciousness and Christ-likeness.

The Party Crasher: How Jesus Disrupts Politics as Usual and Redeems Our Partisan Divide Joshua Ryan Butler (Multnomah) $17.00 / OUR EXTRA SPECIAL SALE PRICE = $11.90

I, at least, couldn’t put this one down and hope you will also find it engaging and helpful.  It is really helpful and a necessary guidebook to understanding the lay of the land in ways that are a bit more wise and interesting than the routine left vs right continuum. Using a matrix quadrant of four views, Butler suggest these perspectives are almost like religions for some people and people of Christian faith ought not be taken in by any of the four tendencies. I think he is right in exposing the religion-like commitments that undergird these orientations of progress and responsibility and identity and security (as he names them.)

After this astute orientation, he offers Biblical insight rooted in a vivid understanding of who Jesus is as Lord and how his disruption (as Party Crasher) can bring hope to our partisan mess. He offers ten political commandments for Christlike engagement, too. Some are pretty common sense (and oh-so-necessary) and others are surprising and nearly brilliant. A fun and provocative book.

Kingdom and Country: Following Jesus in the Land That You Love edited by Angie Ward (NavPress) $16.99 / OUR EXTRA SPECIAL SALE PRICE = $11.89

As you may know, I’m often frustrated that the media and many thoughtful Christian leaders put all evangelicals in the same far-right basket of those who go along with the MAGA movement’s nutty claims about the last election being stolen and who are willing to support a candidate who gives the nod to racists in the KKK and  violent thugs like the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers. Of course this is not at all the case, and this collection of informative and inspirational pieces is such a good example of ordinary evangelicals who care about justice and the common good, who see the Bible as guiding them to resist overstating the ideologies of the right or the left. What do you do when the priorities of God’s Kingdom clash with political trends? A great handful of rising leaders within the broader evangelical movement. There are women and men from different social locations and ethnicities, too, giving a fresh batch of insight and passion. Most admit there are few easy answers and following Christ is complicated. Very highly recommended.

By the way, see another in this “Kingdom Conversations” series edited by Angie Ward called The Least of These: Practicing a Faith Without Margins (NavPress) $16.99 / OUR EXTRA SPECIAL SALE PRICE = $11.89

Jesus and the Powers: Christian Political Witness in an Age of Totalitarian Terror and Dysfunctional Democracies N.T. Wright & Michael F. Bird (Zondervan) $22.99 / OUR EXTRA SPECIAL SALE PRICE = $16.09

I have previously reviewed this one, of course, and we have been proud to feature it at events over the summer and fall — there is no doubt that these Biblical scholars have thought well about public life and the threats to democracies around the world in these dangerous days. But, to be clear, they are Bible guys, and here they study the Scriptures, especially the New Testament teaches about “the powers” and what it means that Christ has conquered them. I’ve read a few other theological studies of the powers — think Berkof, say, or Walter Wink, or Marva Dawn — but this is doubtless the best, most readable, study of a Biblical basis for our Christian political witness. Of course we love how it explores the nature of the Kingdom of God, framing the upheaval of our day by the light of the here-but-still-coming reign of Christ.

201 – SLIGHTLY MORE SERIOUS, READABLE BOOKS ON POLITICS & CITIZENSHIP 

The Liturgy of Politics: Spiritual Formation for the Sake of Our Neighbor or Kaitlyn Schiess (IVP) $18.99 / OUR EXTRA SPECIAL SALE PRICE = $13.29

A generation of young Christians (and old ones, too) are weary of the political legacy they’ve inherited and are hungry for a better approach. This asks how we should form our political convictions and how we can explore the habits and practices that inform our visions of citizenship and the public good. This is nearly brilliant, a must read for one and all.  Blurbs on the back sing its praises from Makoto Fujimura, James Skillen, Karen Swallow Prior, Molly Worthen, Matthew Kaemingk, Michael Wear. Right on — an absolute must-read for anyone interested in political faithfulness.

This explains it well and why you will value it. Not only for you own earnest self-evaluation but as entertain others in conversations about how they form their views.

How should Christians vote? In the last several years, this question has become a dividing line in the church, polarizing the people of God into opposing camps and fracturing the Christian community along worldly fault lines. With wisdom beyond her years, Kaitlyn Schiess recognizes the folly of centering on this question and instead focuses on a better one: What sort of people are we being formed into? With biblical grounding, theological depth, and the spiritual urgency of a next-generation leader, Kaitlyn lays the groundwork for a better, more faithful approach to political engagement. After finishing this book, here is the one thing I know for sure: we have not seen the last of Kaitlyn. — Sharon Hodde Miller, author, Nice: Why We Love to Be Liked And How God Calls Us to More and The Cost of Control: Why We Crave It, the Anxiety It Gives Us, and the Real Power God Promises

Compassion & Conviction: The AND Campaign’s Guide to Faithful Civic Engagement Justin Giboney, Michael Wear, and Chris Butler (IVP) $24.00 / OUR EXTRA SPECIAL SALE PRICE = $16.80

This is a fabulously rich, enjoyable read that explores questions of social justice and moral order as it pertains to the common good. These authors worked in what they called the “AND” campaign — think of the gospel called to speak the truth in love. Or, as the title summarized, compassion and conviction. This shows how we who follow Jesus in light of a Biblical orientation may sometimes feel too progressive for conservatives and too conservative for progressive. We needn’t be stuck in this continuum, really, but this campaign is trying to help us be more faithful, wholistic, balanced approach.

What an honor for the to have the black political activist Barbara Williams-Skinner write the powerful foreword.

The Spirit of Our Politics: Spiritual Formation and the Renovation of Public Life Michael Wear (Zondervan) $18.99 / OUR EXTRA SPECIAL SALE PRICE = $13.29

When I reviewed this at BookNotes earlier this year I raved and now I want to rave again. This is not a simple guide to thinking faithfully about politics (let alone about how to vote) but is more foundational, inviting us to ask how our hearts are, what sort of soulful approach we should have as we think about political service in God’s complicated world. Few books related prayer and our political responsibilities so well, that’s for sure.

Surely most of us need a deeper interior life, a view of knowing the world and how things work that is informed by the spirituality of a Biblical worldview. I love Michael Wear and would read anything he does. In this book he is deeply and wonderful informed by a wide reading of the whole corpus of the great Christian philosopher Dallas Willard. There is simply nothing like this one in print. Don’t miss it.

Wear’s 2017 book about working for and then leaving the Obama administration (as a very young man) is still very well worth reading — it’s Reclaiming Hope: Lessons Learned in the Obama White House about the Future of Faith in America (Thomas Nelson; $16.99.) / OUR EXTRA SPECIAL SALE PRICE = $11.89

The Bible and the Ballot: Using Scripture in Political Decisions Tremper Longman (Eerdmans) $25.99 / OUR EXTRA SPECIAL SALE PRICE = $18.19

The good Dr. Longman is one of the great Biblical scholars and teachers working today and here he has several significant chapters on what we might call a political hermeneutic; that is, how do we read the Bible to ascertain a “Biblical perspective” on modern civic life? These are well done, thoughtful, nuanced but not overwrought or arcane. It’s complicated, granted, but he offers some warnings and advice. The second half of the book offers a nuanced Biblical orientation towards a number of hot topics from immigration to pro-life concerns to questions about nationalism to racism, poverty, and more. After amassing the Biblical data, he wisely calls for a principled pluralistic in applying Scriptural wisdom into our modern, secular, political landscape. This is, at least, a handy resource to have around.

Healing the Heart of Democracy: The Courage to Create a Politics Worthy of the Human Spirit Parker Palmer (Jossey Bass) $17.95 / OUR EXTRA SPECIAL SALE PRICE = $12.56

I do not need to say much about this, I trust. Parker Palmer is a gentle, quiet, insightful author, a Quaker who has written with passion about public life most of his life. He has written about teaching, the reform of higher education, famously about vocation and “listening to your life” and about how concern,generally, about the spirit (or the Spirit) of our lives matters, also to our public and cultural endeavors. From the journey inward to the journey outward he has been a good and wise guide.

Here he draws us into this invitation to listen well, to be decent neighbors, to work hard for a civil and gracious public order that invites reform and human caring. I’m not sure if his nonviolent circles and kind initiatives of finding common ground are potent in this polarized age, but I’d like to think they are. We are, I think most agree, in this together. We can appreciate others and we can hold tension in life-giving ways. Right? Can we form community among our own often tense communities? Palmer offers here five “habits of the heart” that can be developed in everyday settings like families, neighborhoods, classrooms, congregations, and workplaces to help restore an ethics of government “of the people, by the people, and for the people.” A distinctively Christian contribution might want to say more than that (in fact, Palmer wants to say more than that) but it’s a good start, eh? A lovely and heartening book.

301 – MODERATELY ADVANCED READS ON POLITICS & CITIZENSHIP 

Just Politics: A Guide for Christian Engagement Ronald J. Sider (Brazos Press) $26.00 / OUR EXTRA SPECIAL SALE PRICE = $18.20

I have maintained ever since this first came out years ago that it was simply the best book on a Christian approach to political life that I have yet read. He draws on a wide range of thinkers and activists, offers an impeccable commitment to the authority of Scripture, and calls us not only to research the Bible well but also to, in light of a broad Christian vision of life and society, evaluate well the data on the ground about key issues. (That is, for example, even if we agree that social policy ought to be biased in favor of the poorest among us, good folks can disagree about whether or not, in fact, for instance, raising the minimum wage helps the poor in the long run.) So, here, Sider gives us an inspiring process of how to think well about politics as such and how to humbly but responsibly develop a consistently Christian view of best approaches to policies and, finally, to voting. The late Ron Sider badly wanted us to be biblically grounded and factually responsible and graciously active. It isn’t a difficult read, really, but it is thorough — although not even 250 pages. You can do this!

James Skillen, founder of the nonpartisan Center for Public Justice, says,

Ron Sider builds on years of experience and conversations with Christians across a very wide spectrum. His balance is better than that of most who want to influence politics for the better. And biblical faith is the solid platform on which he builds and balances. Listen to Ron carefully before taking your next step. Just Politics — that’s what we need!  — James W. Skillen, founder and former president, Center for Public Justice, author The Good of Politics

The Politics of the Cross: A Christian Alternative to Partisanship. Daniel K. Williams (Eerdmans) $19.99 / OUR EXTRA SPECIAL SALE PRICE = $13.99

Now out in paperback this is, as the publisher puts it, “a theologically and historically informed treatise on a Christian approach to politics that foregrounds the priorities of God’s Kingdom instead of blind partisan loyalty.” It has been called “judicious” and Williams has been called “one of our finest historians on evangelicals and politics.”

Listen to this:

We live in a time when far too often partisan politics and catchy slogans replace thoughtful Christian engagement. Fiery rhetoric is often detached from fair-minded assessment of the past and present. It occurs on both sides of the aisle. Thankfully we have people like Daniel K. Williams, who offers both the nuance of a historian and the concerns of one committed to the fullness of ancient Christian concerns. This book will at times surprise, but also hopefully inform and encourage, those seeking to more faithfully navigate the debates of our age. — Kelly M. Kapic, author You’re Only Human: How Your Limits Reflect God’s Design and Why That’s Good News

Citizenship Without Illusions: A Christian Guide to Political Engagement David T. Koyzis (IVP Academic) $18.00 / OUR EXTRA SPECIAL SALE PRICE = $12.60

Wow! Hooray! This shipped to us more than a month early, arriving before I had time to do the major review that it so richly deserves. This thoughtful project is a somewhat more accessible and practical follow up to his magnum opus, one of the more important books of civic life to have been published in the last 25 years, Political Visions & Illusions: A Survey & Christian Critique of Contemporary Ideologies (see below.) That major work shows the deep roots of Western culture and how the binary fountainheads of political ideologies of our times — simply but, the left and the right — are more related, philosophically, then many realize. How can people of serious faith navigate the complex ideologies that pull us towards these particular (if distorted) visions?

Once one realizes the dangers of imbibing too deeply from the wells of these secularized visions, that is, once we reject the illusions and most profound claims of the left and the right alike, how then shall we vote? Well, it isn’t that simple because, for Koyzis, responsible citizenship is much more than showing up to vote every four years. What does it look like to engage wisely “without illusions” in our day by day citizenship? Can we enter the public square without betraying our own deepest convictions? Can we wisely compromise and yet offer a faithful, gracious voice? This book is fabulous, serious, important. It is just out — we’ve got it now at 30% off. Hooray. Don’t miss it.

In an age of heightened political division and widespread insistence on individual rights, often to the detriment of a vision for the public good, this primer on the task of being faithful Christian citizens is a breath of fresh (principled!) air. While reflecting the erudition of a senior political science scholar, Koyzis’s book is eminently readable, theologically grounded, and insightfully practical for anyone wanting better to live in the tension between the heavenly kingdom of God for which we pray and the broken earthly political and social contexts in which we all live. — David Guretzki, president, CEO, and resident theologian, Evangelical Fellowship of Canada

Citizenship Without Illusions is the best one-stop treatment of political citizenship written by the most significant evangelical political theorist of our day. In it, Koyzis makes a case for political engagement as a divine vocation in which our allegiance to Christ is primary and our allegiance to political parties and platforms is secondary. His ability to turn complex political realities into practical frameworks for action is second to none. Highly recommended. — Bruce Riley Ashford, senior fellow at the Kirby Laing Centre for Public Theology

Faithful Politics: Ten Approaches to Christian Citizenship and Why It Matters Miranda Zapor Cruz (IVP Academic) $24.00 / OUR EXTRA SPECIAL SALE PRICE = $16.80

My, my, let me tell you that this is perhaps my favorite new book on this topic of the season so far — stunning almost, brimming with insight, remarkable clarity, page-turning writing, balanced, wise, vital views. This “helps us learn from Scripture and from Christians of the past as we discern how to be salt and light in our own time and place.”  The author is a popular professor of historical theology at Indiana Wesleyan University. She holds a PhD in religion politics and society from Baylor University and an MDiv from Princeton Theological Seminary. Wow. This is one you should have to last nearly a lifetime.

The most comprehensive understanding of the role of the Christian believer in national politics from a biblical, theological, and historical perspective to date. A classic for generations. — Jo Anne Lyon, general superintendent emerita of The Wesleyan Church

This book is a trust guide for any and all believers who are struggling to faithfully navigate the oft-bewildering and sometimes downright distressing landscape of American public life. — Heath W. Carter, Princeton Theological Seminary, co-editor, Turning Points in the History of American Evangelicalism

The Good of Politics: A Biblical, Historical, and Contemporary Introduction James W. Skillen (Baker Academic) $24.00 / OUR EXTRA SPECIAL SALE PRICE = $16.80

Jim Skillen has been a hero in my view (especially for his work in founding the Center for Public Justice) and has been a good friend to Beth and me over the years. He has written a lot, some of it brilliant, some a bit arcane. This is his magnum opus, or so it seems, with a detailed survey of how the government has been understood by different thinkers throughout church history. As he honors the unfolding of social diversity and the rise of the possibilities of the modern state Skillen stands solid on Augustinian notions of the sovereignty of God and yet shows how even Augustine’s seminal The City of God, as important as it is, is itself mired in more than one political theory. Ditto with Constantine, Aquinas, Althusius, Calvin, John Locke, etc. There is so much to know and this is more than an introduction, believe me.

The detailed second half of The Good of Politics offers a birds-eye view of various political issues in light of his argument for what Kuyper called “sphere sovereignty” and both principled pluralism and  structural pluralism. If you take it slow this repays the work tenfold. One of the primer Christian political thinkers in our lifetime, a quiet scholar and patient gentleman. You should read his astute, important work.

Church, State and Public Justice: Five Views edited by P. C. Kemeny (IVP Academic) $35.99 / OUR EXTRA SPECIAL SALE PRICE = $25.19

This book came out in 2007 and remains as important now as it was then. One of these back and forth that can be so illuminating as five authors offer their particular viewpoint and the others offer critical feedback. We have here top notch authors representing what might be called a Roman Catholic view, an Anabaptist / Mennonite view (by the great Ron Sider), a mainline Protestant social justice perspective, a principled pluralist view (informed by the legacy of Dutch and Reformed leader Abraham Kuyper and modern advocate Jim Skillen) and a classical separationist view by a  Baptist professor at Baylor.  This is really fascinating and truly informative. Your head might spin a little but we all need to consider the various options and learn the strengths and weaknesses of those who have spent their lifetime in Christian political service and scholarship.

Five Views on the Church and Politics edited by Amy Black (Zondervan Academic) $19.99 / OUR EXTRA SPECIAL SALE PRICE = $13.99

Not unlike the above volume edited by Paul Kemeny, this one, edited by Wheaton professor Dr. Amy Black (author of the lovely, lively, Honoring God in Red or Blue: Approaching Politics with Humility, Grace, and Reason) includes five scholars from robust religious traditions, each going back and forth with the others. Here is how they arrange the debate:

An Anabaptist view (which they call “Separationist”, being the most limited possible Christian involvement in politics) is represented by Thomas Heilke; a Lutheran approach (called “Paradoxical” includes a robust witness and a strong separation of church and state) which is represented by Robert Benne; there is a “Black Church, prophetic” witness (which reminds us that the church’s mission is to be a voice for communal reform) and is represented by Bruce Fields; there is a Reformed (or “Transformationist” vision which emphasizes God’s sovereignty over all things, including churches and governments) and is represented by James K. A. Smith and the Catholic view (which they call “Synthetic” which encourages political participation as a means to further the common good of all people) and is represented by J. Brian Benestad. For what it is worth, Jamie Smith’s reply to each one is itself a stellar example of solid ecumenical insight and helpful, gracious critique. Smith’s role in this is brilliant.

Toward an Evangelical Public Policy: Political Strategies for the Health of the Nation edited by Ronald J. Sider & Diane Knippers (Baker) $24.99 / OUR EXTRA SPECIAL SALE PRICE = $17.49

This big, now out of print, book is one we still recommend (we have only a few left) as it is nothing short of extraordinary, fabulously conceived and deliberately edited with a wide range of thinkers. The two editors (now both solving their differences in heaven) were themselves representing two very different orientations (Sider was at the time the often lefty President of Evangelicals for Social Action and Knippers was the President of the very conservative Institute for Religion and Democracy.) The contributions to this 380+ page volume include scholars we respect — from political writers and leaders like Paul Marshall and Stephen Monsma to profs of public theology like Dennis Hollinger and Max Stackhouse and Nicholas Wolterstorff. Some are known on issues around life and bioethics (Nigel M. De S. Cameron) and others think Biblically about peacemaking (like Glen Stassen.) On the ground congressional staff like Mark Rodgers contribute and other women and men with evangelical theology and public policy experience contribute. This is not only a call to sophisticated civic responsibility, but a handbook of big-picture thinking and specific topical policy proposals. Included is the impressive document “For the Health of the Nations.” Perhaps a bit dated? I’m not so sure…

401 – IMPORTANT BOOKS ON POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY & CULTURAL ANALYSIS

Political Visions & Illusions: A Survey & Christian Critique of Contemporary Ideologies David Koyzis (IVP Academic) $35.99 / OUR EXTRA SPECIAL SALE PRICE = $25.19

I have alluded to this above — his new one is more practical and designed for ordinary citizens — and I insist it is one of the most important volumes in decades. He insists that the philosophical movements that gave rise to what today we might call “liberals” and “conservatives” are much more alike that we often realize and as we unearth the assumption behind these ideologies, we realize that as Christians attempting to be faithful in our formulations of our political theories, we really ought to be careful not to fall into visions of change inspired by these essential pagan illusions. What a book! Careful, thoughtful, wise, this is complex and rich, important for anyone serious about developing a uniquely Christian discernment about modern politics. The newer expanded edition has a great introduction by Richard Mouw.

David Koyzis introduces readers to the range of political theories that have emerged and competed for dominance since classical times. He carefully and respectfully separates wheat from chaff in each of them in terms of a Christian worldview, and in a style that is clear, irenic, and persuasive. The second edition helpfully updates the first in terms of major political events of the past two decades. In an increasingly polarized world, this kind of book is essential reading for concerned citizens of all political and religious leanings.” — Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen, professor emerita of psychology and philosophy, Eastern University, author Gender and Grace: Love, Work, and Parenting in a Changing World

This second edition of David’s great book is a gem. The brighter light he now shines on his assessment of modern ideologies comes from an in-depth assessment of the story each tells and the idolatry exhibited in each one. This also pushes Christians to examine the extent to which we may be compromising our dedication to God by bowing (even unconsciously) to other gods for political guidance. In this day of heightening nationalism, racism, terrorism, and sheer ignorance, the message of this book could not be more urgent or important. Read and discuss it carefully even if it takes weeks to do so. The multiple forces at work in our homelands and around the world will not be thwarted or redirected by one election or one major event. Christian love of God and neighbor demands responsible civic service and that requires the kind of understanding provided by Political Visions and Illusions. — James W. Skillen, founder and former president of the Center for Public Justice, author, The Good of Politics

Awaiting the King: Reforming Public Theology James K.A. Smith (Baker Academic) $27.00 / OUR EXTRA SPECIAL SALE PRICE = $18.90

This is the third major piece of the “Cultural Liturgies” trilogy. You may know Smith’s summarizing volume You Are What You Love which captures in lovely, readable prose the profound insights of these three major volumes. What you may know now is that he wrote that one — You Are What You Love — before he wrote this third major one and, in fact, as he explains in the beginning, he changed his mind a bit. So good as that third section of You Are What You Love is, Awaiting the King explores political theology with other conversation partners and with other conclusions. It’s mind-blowing, serious but important. Kristen Deed Johnson of Western Theological Seminary (and co-author of The Justice Calling) says it is “masterful” and “constructive.”

One of the great contributions is how seriously he takes the important scholarship of Willie James Jennings (The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race) and his deft, detailed examination of the heady work of Oliver O’Donovan. Whew.

Not every book of public theology has endorsements from Yuval Levin and Stanley Hauerwas and even Eric Gregory of Princeton. This is impressive stuff as he sets out “to reform Reformed political theology.” Wow.

Democracy and Solidarity: On the Cultural Roots of America’s Political Crisis James Davison Hunter (Yale University Press) $40.00 / OUR EXTRA SPECIAL SALE PRICE = $28.00**

**This book is currently out of stock and we are unclear when they will be available again. We have a waiting list.

Called his “melancholy masterpiece”, the recent, weighty, Democracy and Solidarity is certainly one of the books of the decade, exploring with in-depth and scholarly rumination what sort of shared values a democracy like ours needs to survive and if we have lost such plausible unity in our era of nihilistic culture wars. When I first announced this a few months ago at BookNotes I cited Jon Meacham’s back-cover blurb which reminds us of its importance.

Meacham, author of The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels, writes:

With his characteristic wisdom and acuity, James Davison Hunter has written an important and illuminating work on the cultural roots of our current democratic discontents. For those seeking to understand how we got here – and what we can do now – this is a vital book.

I first heard of social historian Jackson Lears from Ken Myers on his astute Mars Hill Audio services. Lears continues to be an astute cultural critic and it makes sense that he would know Hunter. Lears writes about this fresh and challenging interpretation of America in crisis:

Hunter has the insight to discern the nihilism pervading our politics, the courage to see its authoritarian consequences, and the wisdom to imagine humane alternatives.

Calvin in the Public Square: Liberal Democracies, Rights, and Civil Liberties  David W. Hall (Presbyterian & Reformed) $19.99 / OUR EXTRA SPECIAL SALE PRICE = $13.99

I have been dipping into this big volume again for a class on politics I’m teaching at my church — it came out as part of the Calvin 500 series of books from P&R in 2009 — and I must say I’d love to be able to teach more of this, even if it is above my pay-grade. Hall is a rigorous historian and informed Calvin scholar and this makes the case (whether one likes the magisterial Institutes or not) that the experiment in local governance in Geneva in the mid 1500s was a vanguard of new thinking about human rights and the common good, shaping much of the development of Western political science and even revolutionary transformations. There’s a reason why, centuries later, the British King George squawked about “that Presbyterian war” in 1776. What a major work this is.

In the past two decades, a small cottage industry of important new scholarship has emerged documenting the distinctive Calvinist contributions to the development of Western theories of law, democracy, and human rights. In this engaging volume, David Hall offers a crisp distillation of the latest scholarly findings and a clarion call to reclaim the Calvinist pedigree of some of our most cherished political ideas and institutions. — John Witte, Jr., Professor of Law, Director, Center for the Study of Law and Religion Emory Law School, author Christianity and Law: An Introduction

Why Liberalism Failed  Patrick Deneen (Yale University Press) $19.00 / OUR EXTRA SPECIAL SALE PRICE = $13.30

It is above my pay-grade as a small-town bookseller, I’m afraid, to say much about this short but much-cited volume. Professor Deneen teaches at Notre Dame and, if you are reading this part of BookNotes, I suspect you know that he does not mean “liberalism” in the sense of being a contemporary Democrat (a lefty on the continuum of liberal to conservative) but classical liberalism, the ideology from the Enlightenment, written into our Declaration of Independence, inspired by the likes of John Locke. That is, in liberal modernity we are free of the superstitions and constraints of the Medieval world and extol a value-free world where each person does what they want — highlighting individualism and freedom and rights and the like. In a way, this understanding of classic liberalism is part of being modern in the secular age. Does that sort of political ideology (that often animates the right and the left in contemporary American political discourse) really work? Can it be sustained? Is our liberal political order in disarray, in part, because it has succeeded? Rod Dreher wrote in the American Conservative back in 2018 that it was the most important political book of the year. David Brooks says, in a blurb in the expanded second edition, that most debates these days are really less about policy but more about “basic values and structures of our social order.” He’s right, I think.

And listen to this:

Bracing. . . . Deneen comes as a Jeremiah to announce that Tocqueville’s fear that liberalism would eventually dissolve all [its] inheritances . . . may now be fully upon us. –  Ross Douthat, New York Times, author, The Decadent Society: How We Became the Victims of Our Own Success

American Covenant: How the Constitution United Our Nation – And Could Again Yuval Levin (Basic Books) $32.00 / OUR EXTRA SPECIAL SALE PRICE = $22.40

What an amazingly well-informed book this is, just chock-full of new insights and ideas. In the words of a recent review by the young scholar Brad Littlejohn, “the basic structure of the book is methodical and easy to follow. After articulating (his) basic theses, Levin devotes one chapter to each of to the basic building blocks of our constitutional system: federalism, the Congress, the Presidency, the courts, and our party system (a slightly later innovation, to be sure, but one that he considers “a missing piece in the constitutional puzzle”).

He continues,

Each chapter begins with a masterclass in constitutional history, mining the Convention debates and the Federalist papers for insight into how each element of our political order was designed to build consensus through friction. Each then explains how and why we have lost our way, either by misunderstanding the purpose of these institutions, failing to nurture the norms that sustain them, or by consciously trying to do end-runs around them in order to achieve more decisive policy action.

In comparing and contrasting Yuval Levin’s view of our fellow citizen’s shared assumptions with the more pessimistic evaluation of Hunter (see above) he muses:

Our politics increasingly takes place within the funhouse mirrors of a thousand overlapping media ecosystems, each purporting to tell us what our fellow citizens and governing authorities really believe. Judging by many of those data points, it is certainly not implausible to conclude that we are in uncharted territory, and perhaps past a point of no return: we no longer have sufficient agreement on the basics of anthropology and morality that can serve as the starting points for political negotiation.

Zero Hour America: History’s Ultimatum Over Freedom and the Answer We Must Give Os Guinness (IVP) $23.99 / OUR EXTRA SPECIAL SALE PRICE = $16.79

Guinness has been one of my favorite authors for decades and he writes about a variety of topics and themes, but he has done in the last six or seven years a trilogy of titles that speak to his perception that America has drifted from her balance of ordered liberty, sustained by the virtues of the citizenry, and that we are in a serious crisis point. Zero Hour is a punchy, passionate cry from the heart, informed by his extraordinary knowledge of Greco-Roman civic philosophy and insights from the America Founders who shaped a new set of political ideas (in contrast, he is wise to remind us) to the secularizing and finally authoritarian impulses of the French Revolution. Over and over Guinness brings new evidence, fresh explanations, and renewed energy to this big project of understanding the decline of the United States. He is worried, but not hopeless. As Steve Forbes (of Forbes Media) notes, Os “longs to see it return to the grand vision of its founding ideals.”

If Zero Hour insists that America has lost its way and will fall (“unless…”), his naming seven key foundation stones of freedom is a helpful pathway towards defining and ordering our life together. These are eloquently offered, as always, but, in a way, are keys to further (much-needed) conversation. As always, Guinness is realistic but proclaims a message of hope. His passionate reminder of the urgency should not be minimized and his gospel-driven reliance on God dare not be forgotten.

For more detailed and thorough teaching — important books that came from Os before the succint and feisty  Zero Hour America — I recommend his 2021 release The Magna Carta of Freedom: Sinai’s Revolutionary Faith and the Future of Freedom (IVP; $22.99 / OUR EXTRA SPECIAL SALE PRICE = $16.09) which brilliantly relates the book of Exodus and a Jewish view of freedom with the secularizing ideology of the French Revolution. It is dedicated to the great British Rabbi, Lord Jonathan Sacks. This is one of Guinness’s most important and foundational books to understand what is behind the motif of freedom in the American revolution. I have read it twice and while there will be sections you may not fully agree with, it is simply indispensable these days.

Before that, he wrote in 2018 his political masterpiece, now out in paperback, Last Call for Liberty: How America’s Genius for Freedom Has Become Its Greatest Threat (IVP; $26.99 / OUR EXTRA SPECIAL SALE PRICE = $18.89.) The publisher summarizes this robust call for active and informed citizenship like this:

The American republic is suffering its gravest crisis since the Civil War. Will conflicts, hostility, and incivility tear the country apart? Os Guinness provides a careful observation of the American experiment, offering a stirring vision for faithful citizenship and renewed responsibility for not only the nation but also the watching world.

Christ and the Common Life: Political Theology and the Case for Democracy Luke Bretherton (Eerdmans) $35.00 / OUR EXTRA SPECIAL SALE PRICE = $24.50

Big and thick and richly drawn, this magisterial volume is one of the best examples of Christian political theology I have ever seen. David Gushee calls it “a monumental achievement” and Cambridge University scholar and author Sarah Coakley says it is written “with incisive clarity and remarkable accessibility” and is a “scholarly achievement of great note.” It is also, I’d say, inspirational, drawing as it does on Biblical insights about being a neighbor and about the most foundational ethic of all: love. It is a major, important, lasting contribution.

Bretherton is a distinguished professor of Moral and Political Theology and senior fellow of the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University.

Deeply learned and humane, Bretherton’s book surveys the landscape of political theology while making its own argument for ‘why Christians should be committed to democracy as a vital means for pursuing a flourishing life.’ Bretherton’s five case studies — on humanitarianism, Black Power, Pentecostalism, Catholic social teaching, and Anglicanism — are nothing short of a master class in different Christian conceptions of political flourishing. — Cathleen Kaveny, author Prophecy Without Contempt: Religious Discourse in the Public Square

Luke Bretherton has been thinking hard about the polis, plurality/pluralism, and democratic citizenship for a long time. This erudite synthesis and expansion of [Bretherton’s] work over the last two decades brims with insights into essential and interrelated topics, such as secularity, toleration, economy, sovereignty, and populism. This book makes the case for democracy and establishes the framework for discussions in Christian political theology for the next quarter century. — Amos Yong, author, Renewing the Church by the Spirit: Theological Education After Pentecost

The Ballot and the Bible: How Scripture Has Been Used and Abused in American Politics and Where We Go from Here Kaitlyn Schiess (Brazos Press) $19.99 / OUR EXTRA SPECIAL SALE PRICE = $13.99

I hope you know the name Kaitlyn Schiess (I commented on her Liturgy of Politics above.) She is a PhD student (studying with Luke Bretherton, in fact, at Duke) and has already shown herself to be an astute observer of the unfolding conversations about solidly, graciously, Christian political options. This isn’t, granted, heady political philosophy, but I listed it here as it is less about forming a Christian political mindset as it is an overview on how the Bible has been too often misused in public discourse. There have been many who have written about this exact thing — I still like a book by a Jewish scholar in 2007 called Thumping’ It: The Use and Abuse of the Bible in Today’s Presidential Politics — but this historical study is without a doubt the best work on the topic to date.

Beth Allison Barr has called it “clever, judicious, and remarkably persuasive” and Skye Jethani says it is a “must read.”

Whether you lean left or lean right, whether you come from a red state, blue state, or a purple one, if you are a Christian who seeks to apply biblical principles to your political thinking, you will find something instructive, challenging, and enlightening in this book. — Karen Swallow Prior, author of The Evangelical Imagination

Recharging the American Experiment: Principled Pluralism for Genuine Civic Community James W. Skillen (The Center for Public Justice) $9.99 / OUR EXTRA SPECIAL SALE PRICE = $6.99

I have mentioned Jim Skillen often and highlighted above his major, wonderful volume The Good of Politics. This is a more complex work, but not super-scholarly. It might be a bit demanding only because it is written out of a framework and using arguments that are not typical within our assumed binary political continuum. Skillen here sets out to bring an innovative vision of building civic community by explaining both principled pluralism and confessional pluralism and how that political lingo and governmental agenda from a reformational worldview  — with roots in Kuyper’s political party in early 1900s Holland, actually — might recharge our nearly bankrupt America civic life. Fascinating and, for those who are eager, a vital project.

This Is Going to Hurt: Following Jesus in a Divided America Bekah McNeel (Eerdmans) $24.99 / OUR EXTRA SPECIAL SALE PRICE = $17.49

This isn’t a book about political philosophy, as such; heck, it is hardly a book about politics since it is so centered on people’s stories. But McNeel is a talented, snarky — and, really, really funny — political reporter. As an old-school investigator she has carted herself all over, talking with people about their hopes and fears and hurts. And this book — shocking in some regards — is a vividly told report from the front lines of our divided culture where people are not only arguing, but, often, ignoring the bruised and bleeding, nearly right under their (our?) noses. It is, finally, a book about compassion. It is an unashamed call to care.

Former conservative/evangelical Frank Schaeffer wrote a remarkable foreword, noting that the sacrifice of self for another is “the highest sacrament of all.” He continues, “The promise of sacrificial mercy McNeel offers is unconditional, based only on faith and love. And that alone is the answer to suffering”

This book offers, as another reviewer noted, “a compelling challenge to the narratives that separate us from the suffering of others and, for the sake of healing, calls us to deeper compassion for all humanity.”

In this fiesty, remarkable read, McNeel tells of kids who are facing huge mental health challenges; she writes about immigrants, about those who are victims of climate change; about the poor and the abused. She is candid about re-thinking some of her narrative around the Covid crisis. There’s a great chapter about (as she calls it, “the mockumentary”) of critical race theory (and “why kids use the n-word.”) In a chapter that will disturb some, she offers human-scale and tender reports from the complicated abortion debates. As a Texan, she knows quite a bit about gun culture, and enters the discussion about mass shootings. Holy smokes, this is a brave, caring book — clever, passionate, raw, real. As the wonderful Mae Elise Cannon (author of The Social Justice Handbook: Small Steps for a Better World) tells it, “McNeel doesn’t shy away from addressing critical divisions within the church while calling us to respond ore faithfully as witnesses to the cross.”

At the end of each chapter MnNeel offers the same set of bullet-points showing where the key fissures are, what might be done to build bridges, what trade-offs might be necessary, and how the “Us vs them” mindset has damaged our conversations on this topic. Despite these keen take-aways, Ms McNeel is a master storyteller and believes in the power of stories; that’s the heart of it. One chapter is called “Turning the Stories Inside Out.” This is one heck of a book and I name it here because I am sure this sort of human solidarity with those who suffer injustices is, frankly, a core piece of any political philosophy that dares to suggest it is Christ-like.

URGENT BOOKS ON THE DANGERS POSED BY THE EXTREMIST RIGHT WING

Your Jesus Is Too American: Calling the Church to Reclaim Kingdom Values over the American Dream Steve Bezner (Brazos Press) $19.99 / OUR EXTRA SPECIAL SALE PRICE = $13.99

This lively author trains church planters, is an executive of the Texas Baptists, and a professor at Truett Theological Seminary. He’s beloved and respected for an evangelical vision that calls us to confront the idols of power and influence that have eroded principled Christian ways. Although he is beloved in his context — Beth Moore wrote the lovely forward; Beth Allison Barr says she’s giving it away to friends and family — others esteem it as well. Philadelphia African American pastor Eric Mason affirms the book’s Christ-centered worldview. Michael Wear says the author has “put his heart into this book” even as he calls for obedience to the way of Jesus. This warns about how the ideologies of various political movements can quickly erode the clarity and power of our Christian discipleship. This is a great, readable book, a good reminder for one and all.

American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church Andrew Whitehead (Brazos Press) $24.99 / OUR EXTRA SPECIAL SALE PRICE = $17.49

I have highlighted this several times in recent months and find it to be both warm and semi-scholarly, a clear-headed and inspiration book by a serious academic; he is, by the way, trained as a sociologist and he follows the data in ways most of us do not. He’s written on other prominent publishers and here distills much of his research and thinking for a Christian audience. It is one of the best studies of so-called Christian nationalism, explaining what it means, exploring how prevalent it is, and reflecting on why it all matters to those wanting an effective, Biblical faith. Excellent.

American Christian Nationalism: Neither American Nor Christian Michael W. Austin (Eerdmans) $17.99 / OUR EXTRA SPECIAL SALE PRICE = $12.59

This is brand, brand new by an author we’ve followed for years. (It was just a few months back when we were celebrating his lovely book (Humility: Rediscovering the Way of Love and the Life of Christ. Professor Austin also wrote the very important book QAnon, Chaos, and the Cross: Christianity and Conspiracy Theories which grows more timely and urgent with each passing week.

This succinct new one shows how nationalism is contrary to both American values and Christian virtues and then he offers a simple vision for a better form of civic engagement. This is, as Daniel Williams writes, for Christians who are “dismayed by the contemporary state of American politics.” Joel Looper (of Another Gospel) notes that it avoids “any hint of a polemical tone” Wow.  By the way, there is a very good foreword by the respected and eloquent Marlena Graves. We obviously need this short (86 pages) but potent book.

The Violent Take it By Force: The Christian Movement That Is Threatening Our Democracy Matthew D. Taylor (Broadleaf) $32.99 / OUR EXTRA SPECIAL SALE PRICE = $23.09

When historian Kristin Kobes Du Mex says a book is “required reading for anyone seeking to understand Christian nationalism” I take notice.

After hearing him one Sunday morning on NPR I realized he is a vibrant Christian with a charismatic church past, and that his passion is more than academic or even patriotic, but from a place deep in his own heart. He understands his topic — the New Apostolic Reformation movement of so-called prophets and apostles — and understands well their interest in spiritual warfare, the Seven Mountains mandate, the Jericho Marches, the Cyrus stuff, and more. That January 6th was organized in part using conference calls from Pentecostal preacher Paula White’s office in the White House should be front page news. That these neo-Pentecostals, who call themselves Apostolic prophets, are very different then the older school fundamentalist Moral Majority (who at first rejected Trump as too worldly) and are all-in about the lies of the 2020 election steal and the like, is vital to understand.

Other authors who have written about the extremist Christian right — Bradley Onishi (of Preparing for War) and Katherine Stewart (of The Power Worshippers), and Samuel Perry (of Taking America Back for God) and Jim Wallis (of The False White Gospel) all give urgent reviews for this being not only meticulously researched but a major contribution to our understanding of public religion in our age. The radical charismatic movement has catapulted from the fringes and into the center of MAGA politics and the implications are fast. This “propulsive” account of the network of this new version of the Christian right is an important expose. This is a piece of the puzzle we have to understand.

Disarming Leviathan: Loving Your Christian Nationalist Neighbor Caleb E. Campbell (IVP) $18.00 / OUR EXTRA SPECIAL SALE PRICE = $12.60

One of the longer and most heart-felt reviews I’ve done this year was in the BookNotes last July when I explored the importance of this beautiful, painful, energetic, and very helpful book which helps us realize that the very far fringes of the QAnon / Proud Boys / alt-right that approves of militias and winks at the KKK and the like is, frankly, not really Christian. That is, to counter this cult-like devotion to this extremist ideology will take more than kind conversations but a serious-minded missional strategy that is committed to loving others and sharing the true gospel of Jesus Christ. Christian Nationalists are neighbors to be loved and we need a pastoral response that is gospel-centered and gracious. Yes, it is, as one reviewer put it, “ a sobering assessment of the heretic elements of American Christian nationalism” but it also is written by one with “a deep love for those who have fallen into its trappings.” I so appreciate the love and grace and commitment to truth that pastor Campbell shows in this guide to ministering faithfully to “Christian” nationalists.

The Kingdom, The Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism Tim Alberta (Harper) $35.00 / OUR EXTRA SPECIAL SALE PRICE = $24.50

Tim Alberta is a respected journalist and a Christian — an evangelical pastor’s kid, in fact — who has covered the ugliness of the far right, having written a mainstream bestseller (American Carnage.) When Trump loyalists and MAGA believers assailed him at his own father’s funeral, he realized that he had to write more intentionally about extremist Christians and the theologically weirdness of our times. He is not only one of our best political reporters, but he is a gracious and solid Christian; he cares about this stuff a lot. There is a large amount of sordid detail here, but you will need to keep turning these 475+ pages. Even those who follow political news will be shocked at the ways in which the GOP has co-opted so many on the religious right. This is trenchant and revealing, compelling and deeply moving. If you saw him in his many media appearances (watch the one on The View, for instance) you will know how good he is at explaining complex matters with care and insight.

Another Gospel: Christian Nationalism and the Crisis of Evangelical Identity Joel Looper (Eerdmans) $19.99 / OUR EXTRA SPECIAL SALE PRICE = $13.99

This one was highlighted alongside my BookNotes review of Disarming Leviathan and it “offers his fellow evangelicals a theological rationale for resisting Christian nationalism.” Politicized evangelicals seem to think they are fighting liberal and secularizing forces but Looper shows that it is they who are eroding the first things of the gospel, mixing up the church and the state, reducing religion to civic values from a (mis)remembered past.

I hope you saw the excellent review of this in Christianity Today that highlighted that while the author firmly exposes the nonsense of some of the leaders of the Christian nationalistic right — Eric Metaxas, Robert Jeffress, Stephen Wolfe — he also explores the public theology, such as it is, of others who are lesser known. This not only reflects on Trump’s inadequate view of Christian faith but critiques others of the Christian right for grounding their civic views in ideologies other than the gospel of Jesus Christ. Remember the Apostle Paul’s warning about adopting a false gospel? We should all take heed. Looper helps.

Chaos Comes Calling: The Battle Against the Far-Right Takeover of Small-Town America Sasha Abramsky (Bold Type Books) $30.00 / OUR EXTRA SPECIAL SALE PRICE = $21.00

This just recently came out and I am almost finished with it already. I have to admit there were times I had to stop to catch my breath; reading this has brought up great turmoil in my own life, mostly around the radicals who — despite thousands dying of Covid in 2021, with hospitals and morgues on overload — started movements, sometimes violent, against anyone who believed in masks, social distancing, or quarantining. As the awful virus spread, there were thousands and thousands who formed groups to take over small town councils and push back against what they thought were draconian policies. To this day it is a hot-wire topic and those who were anti-vax seem to often deny the reality of their neighbors who were dying. Of the morgues. Of the stress of the nurses and doctors. Add to this the complexities of the BLM protests and the political tensions around, eventually impeachment trials and the like. From Trump to George Floyd to wild fires to school closings to the so-called lock down measures, the first half of our current decade was pretty horrid. Abramsky is understanding of the vast tensions in our cultural air and he tries to be fair to all involved.

(He is a fair and honest reporter, telling the backstory of lots of colorful characters, but doesn’t cover up the nutty stuff that happens — rumors that Antifa activists were coming in a white bus to destroy a small town, for instance and citizen vigilantes brought out their long-guns against their neighbors who were peacefully protesting about racial injustices.)

This riveting report studies a town in Washington and the ways in which well-meaning, even conservative public servants were hounded (sometimes with the most vile, sexually abusive and threatening language — utterly by otherwise super-spiritual Christians, even) by those who had entered this extremist campaign to make America great again. This is a book full of trauma and local conflict. It has been called chilling and disturbing. We all know it is true. There are, as Jeff Sharlet (author of the must-read Undertow: Scenes from a Slow Civil War) writes, “real people in this ultimately reported book, real consequences — and also real hope.”  Is authoritarianism a problem? You bet. Do many want to upend standard institutions of civic life? Sadly, more than you may know.

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