You may have to Search all our reviewed books and magazines, click the sign up button below to create a free account.
A unique, timely, and wide-ranging book that formulates and applies an ethic of Jesus to the realm of global politics. Since the fourth century, Christians have wrestled with how they should interact with political authority. The most common view holds that while their ultimate loyalty rightfully belongs to God, Christians also have allegiance to their countries and a moral responsibility to transform their political systems. In The Global Politics of Jesus, Nilay Saiya provides a normative critique of this conventional view and advances an alternative approach. While it may seem natural for the church to fervently engage in political life and cultivate a close relationship with the state, Saiya argues that such beliefs result in a "paradox of privilege." As he shows, when the church yields to the seduction of political power when enjoying the benefits of an alliance with the state, it struggles to adhere to its tenets, and when it resists the allure of state power, it does its best work. This unique and wide-ranging book examines the paradox of privilege in some of the most important areas of global politics and considers its implications for the church itself.
This book is designed to familiarise students with leading International Relations (IR) theories and their explanation of political events, phenomena, and processes which cross the territorial boundaries of the state. Thus, students will be exposed to the interplay between power, interest, ideas, identity, and resistance, in explaining continuity and change in international relations. Developed to provide students with the analytical tools and intellectual frameworks needed to understand the behaviour of different international actors in contemporary global affairs. This textbook responds to the challenges of a dynamic job market by assisting students to gain both thorough theoretical knowle...
A thoughtful exploration of the intersection of faith and politics, Exiles asks: What if we considered ourselves “exiles in Babylon” and turned to Scripture, not political parties, to shape our most passionate values? Politics are dividing our churches like never before. New York Times–bestselling author Dr. Preston M. Sprinkle reminds us that the first-century church was not an apolitical gathering, where Christians left their Roman politics at the door. It also wasn’t a place where Christians mounted a Roman flag next to—or above—a Christian one. Church was a place where God’s plan for governing the world was revealed, where one could witness what it means to follow the Creat...
Is Jesus the way to recover our humanity? One New Humanity offers a vision of glory that confronts the shame and violence of our world. Drawing insights from early Christians, the global church, social sciences, and Scripture, the authors argue that Ephesians 2:13–17 reveals a social and horizontal dimension to the gospel of Christ: In Christ we gain a new peaceable way of being human. Through this extensive look at the gospel of peace, we discover that Scripture speaks more powerfully than we often realize to the problems of polarization, alienation, shame, and violence. The gospel offers a way out of the cycles of violence which have entrapped both the church and the world, and opens up a path of true freedom, purpose, and glory in Jesus. One New Humanity offers a fresh framework for Jesus-centered reconciliation; we embody Christ’s peace, for the world, near and far.
Christianity Today Book Award of Merit in Politics and Public Life (2024) How to heal America’s deep divisions by preserving religious liberty for all As our political and social landscapes polarize along party lines, religious liberty faces threats from both sides. From antidiscrimination commissions targeting conservative Christians to travel bans punishing Muslims, recent litigation has revealed the selective approach both left and right take when it comes to freedom of religion. But what if religious liberty can help cure our political division? Drawing on constitutional law, history, and sociology, Thomas C. Berg shows us how reaffirming religious freedom cultivates the good of indivi...
Is Islam hospitable to religious freedom? Daniel Philpott examines conditions on the ground in forty-seven Muslim-majority countries today and offers an honest, clear-eyed answer to this urgent question.
This book examines the growing diversity of religions and worldviews across South & Central Asia, and the factors affecting prospects for 'covenantal pluralism' in these regions. Going beyond banal appeals for mere 'tolerance', the theory of covenantal pluralism calls for a constitutional order of religious freedom and equal treatment combined with a culture of practical religious literacy and everyday virtues of engagement across lines of religious difference. According to the Pew Religious Diversity Index, half of the world’s most religiously diverse countries are in Asia. The presence of deep religious/worldview difference is often seen as a potential threat to socio-political cohesion ...
Religious terrorism poses a significant challenge for many countries around the world. Extremists who justify violence in God's name can be found in every religious tradition, and attacks perpetrated by faith-based militants have increased dramatically over the past three decades. Given the reality of religious terrorism today, it would seem counterintuitive that the best weapon against violent religious extremism would be for countries and societies to allow for the free practice of religion; yet this is precisely what this book argues. Weapon of Peace investigates the link between terrorism and the repression of religion, both from a historical perspective and against contemporary developments in the Middle East and elsewhere. Drawing upon a range of different case studies and quantitative data, Saiya makes the case that the suppression and not the expression of religion leads to violence and extremism, and that safeguarding religious freedom is both a moral and strategic imperative.
God's Warriors challenges the assumption that most religious violence stems from marginalized groups, contending instead that dominant and privileged religious majorities are the primary source. As countries have developed alliances between historically and culturally dominant religious communities and the state, they have emboldened extremists from privileged religious communities to attack minorities. This has produced a "paradox of privilege," which today afflicts all the major religious traditions around the world.
Beginning with the idea that the battlefield has irrevocably become the battlespace, this book explores the relation between religion and modern warfare in a variety of historical and contemporary contexts. Solely blaming religion for creating conflict does not survive contact with the evidence. Religious factors are at least equal to social, cultural and psychological ones in understanding the sources of conflict and the motivations of the combatants.