What Role Does the Church Have in Politics?

An interesting book, Debating the Divine, on the role of religion in American politics is now available in pdf format from American Progress.

Here are the contents:

Introduction

Debating the Divine, by Sally Steenland (pdf)

About the Authors (pdf)

Opening Essays

Civic Patriotism and the Critical Discussion of Religious Ideas, by David A. Hollinger (pdf)

Religious Pluralism in the Public Square, by Eboo Patel (pdf)

Responding Essays

The Two Cultures?, by Mark Lilla (pdf)

Religion in the Public Square, by Nicholas Wolterstorff (pdf)

Religions and Public Life: Problems of Translation, by Martha Minow (pdf)

Wisdom, Not Prescription: One Size Does Not Fit All, by Mark A. Noll (pdf)

Nobody Gets a Pass: Faith in Reason and Religious Pluralism Are Equally Questionable, by Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite (pdf)

Clothes Encounters in the Naked Public Square, by T. Jeremy Gunn (pdf)

America’s Tower of Religious Babble Is Already Too High, by Susan Jacoby (pdf)

Religion and Community Organizing: Prophetic Religion and Social Justice Offer Avenues to a New Democratic Pluralism, by Charlene K. Sinclair (pdf)

The Rules of Engagement: How the American Tradition of Religious Freedom Helps Define Religion’s Role in Civic Debate, by Melissa Rogers (pdf)

Globalization, the End of Easy Consensus, and Beginning the Real Work of Pluralism, by Vincent J. Miller (pdf)

Liberals and Religion, by Alan Wolfe (pdf)

Closing Essays

Patterns of Engagement and Evasion, by David A. Hollinger (pdf)

The Promise of Religious Pluralism by Eboo Patel, (pdf)

Policymaker Response

Transforming the Religious–Secular Divide to Work for the Common Good, by John D. Podesta and Shaun Casey (pdf)

Envision: Gospel, Politics, & the Future (June 8-10)

An important conference is being held over the next few days at Princeton University: Envision 08. The "evangelical left" is actively engaged in this project, along with others. A file is provided to explain the conference's purpose and structure. A preliminary consultation has already taken place on line (June 2-3), resulting in two documents. The questions discussed in the preparatory dialog included the following:

1. What are the values that ground your faith commitment to a common good?
2. What in our world today violates these values?
3. What can Christians do together to address these problems

The list of speaks and sponsors reveals the breadth of this consultation. On Wednesday, June 11, a panel of scholars and religious leaders will work on a vision statement to guide future Envision conferences.

While those in the evangelical center and on the evangelical right may not agree at various levels, the discussions are important for everyone who identifies with the Church, and its cultural instantiation in America.