Political Engagement as Biblical Mandate

How does the Bible shape the perspective from which Christians view politics the manner in which they engage in public debate and the strategies they adopt when they translate faith into action? In Political Engagement as Biblical Mandate Hanson suggests that many believers give insufficient thought to the basic principles that biblical study contributes to the lives of those who simultaneously seek to live in obedience to the central confessions of the Christian faith and to engage constructively in the life of a nation guided by the First Amendment and populated by an increasingly religiously diverse citizenry. A genuine manifesto! But one charged with and rooted in the words of Scripture calling the church to a renewed faithfulness in its commitment to the well-being of the human community. Hansons passionate convictions are matched by his openness to other views. Like the prophets of old he sets forth a strong critique of our inattention to the sociopolitical world but that critique is on the way to an imaginative and biblical vision of the way it should and can be. Some readers may find themselves uncomfortable at times but that is the reason they should keep reading. --Patrick D. Miller Princeton Theological Seminary Paul D. Hanson is Florence Corliss Lamont Professor of Divinity at Harvard University. He is the author of numerous works including The People Called The Dawn of Apocalyptic Dynamic Transcendence and The Diversity of Scripture.