Christ and the Common Life
Political Theology and the Case for Democracy
Author Luke Bretherton ISBN 9780802876409 Binding Trade Cloth Publisher WM B. Eerdmans Publishing Company Publication Date May 07, 2019 Size 152 x 229 mm
In Christ and the Common Life Luke Bretherton provides an introduction to historical and contemporary theological reflection on politics and opens up a compelling vision for a Christian comm
In Christ and the Common Life Luke Bretherton provides an introduction to historical and contemporary theological reflection on politics and opens up a compelling vision for a Christian commitment to democracy.
In dialogue with Scripture and various traditions, Bretherton examines the dynamic relationship between who we are in relation to God and who we are as moral and political animals. He addresses fundamental political questions about poverty and injustice, forming a common life with strangers, and handling power constructively. And through his analysis of debates concerning, among other things, race, class, economics, the environment, and interfaith relations, he develops an innovative political theology of democracy as a way through which Christians can speak and act faithfully within our current context.
Read as a whole, or as stand-alone chapters, the book guides readers through the political landscape and identifies the primary vocabulary, ideas, and schools of thought that shape Christian reflection on politics in the West. Ideal for the classroom, Christ and the Common Life equips students to understand politics and its positive and negative role in fostering neighbor love.
Sarah Coakley
— University of Cambridge and Australian Catholic University, Melbourne
“Luke Bretherton's new book is a tour de force: with clarity, empathy, and impressive learning he maps out the many current forces that threaten the future of Western democracy, then turns to defend it once more from the perspective of the demanding Christian teaching on mutual love. Perhaps the most distinctive achievement of this volume is its capacity to straddle the debates on both sides of the Atlantic and to draw them into illuminating contrast. Written with incisive clarity and remarkable accessibility, this book is not only a scholarly achievement of great note but it also is a useful tool for teaching and discussion in universities, seminaries, and churches.”
David P. Gushee
— Mercer University
“Christ and the Common Life is a monumental achievement in Christian political theology. Demonstrating mastery of a huge literature and multiple, diverse sub-traditions of Christian political thought, and offering a disciplined constructive theological vision of his own, Luke Bretherton offers important, often breakthrough reflections on the most significant issues in this field. In the end, the book offers hope for the renewal of Christian engagement with democratic politics, all over the world. An indispensable contribution.”
Vincent Lloyd
— Villanova University
“Luke Bretherton has written an impressively expansive, smart, and sophisticated introduction to Christian political theology. Each chapter offers refreshing new perspectives on important topics. Moreover, Bretherton brings together and guides us through a wide array of scholarly literatures, from secular political theory to the sociology of Pentecostalism to Hebrew Bible scholarship, while also developing his own distinctive, persuasive theological voice. Christ and the Common Life will surely set the agenda in the field for a generation to come, orienting Christian political theology in the direction of justice.”
Amos Yong
— Fuller Theological Seminary
“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.”
Jennifer A. Herdt
— Yale Divinity School
“Breaking the spell long cast over political theology by Augustine’s vision of the two cities, Luke Bretherton reads faithful pilgrimage to the heavenly city through the lens of a different journey, that of a certain man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and the one who was his neighbor. Politics is neighboring, negotiating a common life between friends, strangers, enemies, and the friendless, and political theology requires a kaleidoscopic approach, brilliantly instantiated in this book, that disrupts canon, shifts geography, and eschews sovereign placement in favor of active listening. A transformative contribution!”
Marcia Y. Riggs
— Columbia Theological Seminary
“Luke Bretherton has written a solid textbook on political theology. He refreshingly explicates a range of historical and contemporary political theologies (humanitarianism, black power, Catholic social teaching, Pentecostalism, Anglicanism) as he makes a case for democratic politics as a work of love. Amid twenty-first-century political strife, Bretherton offers Christians a map for traversing the terrain.”
C. Melissa Snarr
— Vanderbilt University Divinity School
“Christ and the Common Life offers one of the most comprehensive and insightful examinations of the intersecting terrains of North Atlantic political theology while building a careful, rich, and compelling theological defense of democracy. Deftly weaving together seemingly disparate intellectual strands and issues, this is Bretherton at his finest with a wide-ranging engagement of political and social theory, dialogical explication of theological traditions, and a grounded methodology that navigates the real complexities of political and ecclesial co-constitution and the necessity of democratic practices. Whether or not one fully agrees with his assessments and proposals, Christ and the Common Lifecompels nuanced engagement and sets a new standard for political theology.”
Cathleen Kaveny
— Boston College
“Deeply learned an
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— University of Cambridge and Australian Catholic University, Melbourne
“Luke Bretherton's new book is a tour de force: with clarity, empathy, and impressive learning he maps out the many current forces that threaten the future of Western democracy, then turns to defend it once more from the perspective of the demanding Christian teaching on mutual love. Perhaps the most distinctive achievement of this volume is its capacity to straddle the debates on both sides of the Atlantic and to draw them into illuminating contrast. Written with incisive clarity and remarkable accessibility, this book is not only a scholarly achievement of great note but it also is a useful tool for teaching and discussion in universities, seminaries, and churches.”
David P. Gushee
— Mercer University
“Christ and the Common Life is a monumental achievement in Christian political theology. Demonstrating mastery of a huge literature and multiple, diverse sub-traditions of Christian political thought, and offering a disciplined constructive theological vision of his own, Luke Bretherton offers important, often breakthrough reflections on the most significant issues in this field. In the end, the book offers hope for the renewal of Christian engagement with democratic politics, all over the world. An indispensable contribution.”
Vincent Lloyd
— Villanova University
“Luke Bretherton has written an impressively expansive, smart, and sophisticated introduction to Christian political theology. Each chapter offers refreshing new perspectives on important topics. Moreover, Bretherton brings together and guides us through a wide array of scholarly literatures, from secular political theory to the sociology of Pentecostalism to Hebrew Bible scholarship, while also developing his own distinctive, persuasive theological voice. Christ and the Common Life will surely set the agenda in the field for a generation to come, orienting Christian political theology in the direction of justice.”
Amos Yong
— Fuller Theological Seminary
“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.”
Jennifer A. Herdt
— Yale Divinity School
“Breaking the spell long cast over political theology by Augustine’s vision of the two cities, Luke Bretherton reads faithful pilgrimage to the heavenly city through the lens of a different journey, that of a certain man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and the one who was his neighbor. Politics is neighboring, negotiating a common life between friends, strangers, enemies, and the friendless, and political theology requires a kaleidoscopic approach, brilliantly instantiated in this book, that disrupts canon, shifts geography, and eschews sovereign placement in favor of active listening. A transformative contribution!”
Marcia Y. Riggs
— Columbia Theological Seminary
“Luke Bretherton has written a solid textbook on political theology. He refreshingly explicates a range of historical and contemporary political theologies (humanitarianism, black power, Catholic social teaching, Pentecostalism, Anglicanism) as he makes a case for democratic politics as a work of love. Amid twenty-first-century political strife, Bretherton offers Christians a map for traversing the terrain.”
C. Melissa Snarr
— Vanderbilt University Divinity School
“Christ and the Common Life offers one of the most comprehensive and insightful examinations of the intersecting terrains of North Atlantic political theology while building a careful, rich, and compelling theological defense of democracy. Deftly weaving together seemingly disparate intellectual strands and issues, this is Bretherton at his finest with a wide-ranging engagement of political and social theory, dialogical explication of theological traditions, and a grounded methodology that navigates the real complexities of political and ecclesial co-constitution and the necessity of democratic practices. Whether or not one fully agrees with his assessments and proposals, Christ and the Common Lifecompels nuanced engagement and sets a new standard for political theology.”
Cathleen Kaveny
— Boston College
“Deeply learned an
Luke Bretherton is professor of theological ethics and senior fellow of the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University. His other books include Christianity & Contemporary Politics: The Conditions and Possibilities of Faithful Witness, winner of the 2013 Michael Ramsey Prize for Theological Writing.