For Christians, our hope is not in politics but in the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Politics does not change men fundamentally, though we do have a name for political systems that believe they can change men: totalitarianisms. Marxist regimes believed they could inculcate virtue, creating "the new man."¯ The aims of Christian democracies founded on Christian truths are more modest, chiefly protecting life, liberty, and property (in the view of the United States' Founders). Because our ultimate hope is not in politics, we should lower our political expectations and heighten our cultural expectations. We should work for cultural change by means of preaching the Gospel and applying God's truth in all areas of life; a Christianized political order will come incrementally, over time.
Andrew Sandlin
...civil religion is the misidentification of the nation of the United States with the covenant people of God. It is the casual assumption that America enjoys a special role in redemptive history. It is the confusion of the office of the political leader with the office of the spiritual leader. It is the frequent presumption of divine blessings without submission to divine judgment. It is the sublimation of Christian distinctives to a generic amalgam that conflates many faiths into a common national identity. It is as old as America itself. And it is not biblical Christianity.
William Inboden
The various modes of worship which prevailed in the Roman world were all considered by the people as equally true; by the philosopher as equally false; and by the magistrate as equally useful.
Gibbon
| Title |
Notes |
C. S. Lewis in the Public Square  |
Richard John Neuhaus |
God's Country?  |
John Warwick Montgomery |
The Christian & Politics: Has the Contemporary Church Become Obsessed With Political Solutions?  |
Darryl Erkel |
Two Kingdom Theology and Neo-Kuyperians  |
Kevin DeYoung |
Christian Engagement in Secular Society: Politics, the Gospel, and Moral Influence  |
K. T. Magnuson (pdf) - SBTJ |
Evangelical Politics - Three Generations  |
Speaking of Faith on NPR (Audio and Video) - Charles Colson, Greg Boyd and Shane Claiborne. |
Finding the Permanent in the Political: C. S. Lewis as a Political Thinker  |
John G. West, Jr. |
Is Natural Revelation Sufficient to Govern Culture?  |
John M. Frame |
Moses' Law for Modern Government  |
J. Ligon Duncan - The Intellectual and Sociological Origins of the Christian Reconstructionist Movement |
Reflecting on our Christian Responsibility to the State  |
Stephen J. Wellum (pdf) |
Religion and Politics: A Roundtable Discussion  |
William Bennett, Os Guinness, Michael Horton, Jim Wallis and Moderator Cal Thomas |
Theonomy and Eschatology: Some Reflections on Postmillennialism  |
Richard B. Gaffin, Jr. (.pdf) |
Can Politics Save?  |
Ken Jones |
Christianity & Politics: How Shall the Twain Meet?  |
Dan Bryant (Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals) |
Faith & Law Society: Fifteen Propositions  |
Don E. Eberly (Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals) |
God & Other Law-makers - Theology and Law  |
John W. Montgomery |
Is God Unconstitutional? - Part 1  |
Phillip Johnson - The Established Religious Philosophy of America |
Is God Unconstitutional? - Part 2  |
Phillip Johnson - The Established Religious Philosophy of America |
Show Them No Mercy: Old Testament Holy War & Islamic Jihad  |
Jeff Spry (pdf) |
The Christian and Politics  |
Samuel T. Logan, Jr. |
The Death Penalty: God's Timeless Standard for the Nations?  |
Bruce W. Ballard - Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society |
The [American] Revolution: Christian In Spite of Itself  |
John Warwick Montgomery |
"One Cheer" for Civil Religion?  |
William Inboden - The people as equally true; by the philosopher as equally false; and by the magistrate as equally useful. |
"One Cheer" for Civil Religion?  |
William Inboden |
...when the gospel is reduced to political protest  |
Steve Camp |
A Brief Thought for a Frustrating Election Year  |
Phil Johnson |
A Christian View of the Economic Crisis  |
Al Mohler |
A Country With a Chest  |
Gregory Koukl |
A Post on Politics  |
Nathan Busenitz |
A Prayer for America on Election Day  |
Al Mohler |
A Prayer for President Obama  |
Al Mohler |
A Short Treatise on Political Power  |
Dr. John Ponet |
A Short Treatise on Political Power  |
John Ponet, D.D. (1556) President John Adams |
An Introduction To Christian Economics  |
Gary North The uniqueness of Christian economics is that the Christian economist has specific, concrete biblical revelation concerning the limits of economic theory and practice. |
Being on God's Side: An open letter to the "religious right."  |
Joe Carter |
Beyond Culture Wars  |
Michael S. Horton |
Biblical Principles for Government  |
Peter Hammond |
Calvinism and Politics  |
Abraham Kuyper |
Calvinism and the Success of Liberal Democracy: Part 1  |
John Snyder |
Calvinism and the Success of Liberal Democracy: Part 2  |
John Snyder |
Can Politics Save?  |
Ken Jones |
Christian Civil Government  |
Bob Vincent |
Christian Politics according to Abraham Kuyper  |
Irving Hexham |
Christianity and the American Constitution  |
Bob Vincent |
Christians and Political Action  |
An Interview with Michael Cromartie |
Church and State  |
Don Closson and Robin Riggs |
Civil Government - An Exposition of Romans 13:1-7  |
James M. Willson (1853) |
Civil Government: An Exposition of Romans 13: 1–7  |
James M. Wilson, A.M. |
Concerning the Rights of Rulers Over Their Subjects and the Duty Of Subjects Towards Their Rulers  |
Theodore Beza - Published in response to the growing tensions between Protestant and Catholic in France, which culminated in the St. Bartholomew Day Massacre in 1572 |
Defense and War: A Biblical Perspective  |
Ron McKenzie |
Discernment Exercise: Can We Vote Christianly?  |
Denis Haack |
Echoes of Babel: Our New National Sin  |
Trevin Wax |
Facing A Culture In Trouble  |
Carl F. H. Henry |
Finding the Permanent in the Political  |
John G. West, Jr. |
Free to Live and Love as We See Fit?  |
Al Mohler |
God & Caesar  |
Laurence White |
God and Country or Christ's Kingdom?  |
Jon Zens and Cliff Bjork |
Govern Well or Be Governed?  |
Brian J. Lee - The Christian and the Civil Authorities in Romans 13 |
Grateful for (Almost) Any Government  |
John Piper |
Gratitude for Power-Restraints  |
John Piper |
Helping the Poor Without Feeding the Beast  |
Greg L. Bahnsen - Scripture is replete with gracious prescriptions for relieving poverty, and none of them involve government coercion |
How Barack Obama Will Make Christ a Minister of Condemnation  |
John Piper |
How can Christians have a positive influence on American politics?  |
John Piper |
How Evangelicals Traded Their Spiritual Authority for a Mess of Political Pottage  |
Phil Johnson |
How Superior Powers Ought to Be Obeyed by Their Subjects  |
Christopher Goodman (Geneva, 1558) - Justifying a Christian's right to resist a tyrannical ruler. Goodman indicated that he had presented the thesis of this book to John Calvin, and Calvin endorsed it. |
HOW TO ENGAGE IN POLITICS WITHOUT LOSING YOUR SOUL  |
Andy Jackson |
Human Action: A Treatise on Economics  |
Ludwig von Mises Christians may find a few things in this book to disagree with, but there is no doubt that Mises contributed a great deal to the argument against a bloated, deified state. |
Irreverent Wrongs  |
Thabiti Anyabwile |
Is Progress Possible? Willing Slaves of the Welfare State  |
C.S. Lewis |
Let Christians Vote As Though They Were Not Voting  |
John Piper |
Lex Rex  |
Samuel Rutherford |
Ministers of God for Our Good  |
David VanDrunen - God's Gift of Civil Government |
More Government, Less God: What the Obama Revolution Means for Religion in America  |
W. Bradford Wilcox |
N.T. Wright on God and Politics  |
Lee Irons |
Open Letter to President-Elect Obama  |
Ron Jones |
Palin Can Serve Family and Country  |
Al Mohler |
Pilgrim Politician  |
Marvin Olasky |
Politica  |
Johannes Althusius (Abridged) A Covenantal View of Human Society for the Harmonious Exercise of Social Life |
Political Polytheism  |
Greg Bahnsen |
Politics and the Pulpit  |
Bob Vincent |
Politics, Activism, and the Gospel  |
John MacArthur |
Proclamation Over Protest  |
Ken Myers - Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals |
Red and Blue America - The Washington Post Takes a Look  |
Al Mohler |
Reformation, Revival and the Religious Right  |
Tom Ascol |
Religious Liberty in America  |
David Adams |
Roosevelt’s or Reagan’s America  |
John Marini |
Secular Humanism  |
Brian Schwertley |
Some Initial Thoughts on Praying for President-Elect Obama  |
Ligon Duncan |
Some Reflections on Involvement in Politics  |
Bob Vincent |
Statism  |
R.C. Sproul |
The Abolition of Man  |
C.S. Lewis |
The Christian and Politics  |
Samuel T. Logan, Jr. |
The Christian Bill of Rights  |
Steve Camp |
The Cousins’ Wars: Religion, Politics, Civil Warfare, and the Triumph of Anglo-America (book review)  |
Mark Noll |
The Deadly Dangers of Moralism  |
John MacArthur |
The Essentiality of Transcendence and the Failure of Religious Answers  |
John Warwick Montgomery - Foundations of Human Dignity |
The Evangelical Co-Belligerents: ...you want real change? impact culture by the gospel - not politics  |
Steve Camp |
The Freedom of the Christian Market  |
Carl Trueman |
The God Gulf--Nicholas Kristof Strikes Yet Again  |
Albert Mohler |
The Gospel and Politics  |
John MacArthur |
The New Religious Establishment: A Reforming Dissent  |
Blair Brown |
The Politics of Service: Three Christian activists who drew on faith to fight social challenges  |
Collin Hansen |
The Purposes of Government  |
Matt Perman |
The Roots and Remedy of Judicial Imperialism  |
Nancy Pearcey |
The S Word  |
Pat Lencioni |
The Truth About Torture  |
John Jefferson Davis |
The Tyranny of the Minority  |
S. T. Karnick |
There Is Another King: Gospel as Politics  |
S. Joel Garver |
Toward a Theology of State  |
John Frame |
Vindicae Contra Tyrannos, or, A Vindication Against Tyrants  |
Phillipe du Plessis Mornay, a French Huguenot. |
Was Geneva a Theocracy?  |
Michael Horton |
“To Be a Truly Religious Man”: Piety and Politics in the Life and Thought of William Wilberforce (PDF)  |
Dr. Michael A. G. Haykin |