In The Political Disciple: A Theology of Public Life, Vincent Bacote addresses the Christian ambivalence toward political involvement: being active agents in the public sphere is an extension of our Christian responsibility. Rather than withdrawing from these duties in response to increasing partisanship and the ensuing political discord, Christians are to remain faithful to the here and now. Bacote challenges faith communities to re-consider their level of public involvement and what it means to reflect Christ through public service. Political engagement is a necessary duty in maintaining Christian faithfulness.

In his review of The Political Disciple, Project contributor Kristopher Norris writes:

Bacote writes this book for Christians tempted to leave the public square and find alternative models of faithfulness. He argues that, instead, Christians honor God best by “remaining faithful to the task of public engagement” and suggests that we accept our mandated public responsibility. Involvement in politics is simply part of the larger question of Christian participation in secular culture.

Christians are indeed aliens and pilgrims in this world, and primarily citizens of heaven. But our witness to this “otherness” requires public action. “Though Christians have a greater allegiance to God than to any earthly nation or political figure it is proper Christian practice to be a good citizen” (51). We are “kingdom citizens” who are committed to the good of all earthly nations.

This week on the Lived Theology Reading List, we offer a review of James E. Atwood’s America and Its Guns: A Theological Exposé published in 2012 by Cascade Books. Atwood documents how Americans have been deceived into believing that the tools of violence, whether they take the form of advanced military technology or a handgun in the bedside stand, will provide security. He closes with a wake-up call to the faith community, which he says is America’s best hope to unmask the extremism of the Gun Empire.

In his review of America and Its Guns, Project Contributor Kristopher Norris states:

Atwood confesses that during his early years of activism, he misplaced his hopes and energies in the power of national and state legislatures to regulate guns while still respecting gun rights. Laws will not change, he believes, until people of faith realize how the “Gun Empire” has convinced America that only violence will achieve our security. Recognizing the inability of the political powers to adequately address the problem, he realized that gun violence was as much a spiritual issue as a political one. Understanding gun violence as a spiritual issue allows us to see that our trust in guns is nothing less than idolatry, he confesses. “Instruments which bring only death [are] incapable of providing peace” (204).

For more information on Atwood’s book, click here. To continue reading Norris’s review, click here. For access to this and other book reviews like this one, click here.

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