The Ballot and the Bible: How Scripture Has Been Used and Abused in American Politics and Where We Go from Here
Ebook
★ Publishers Weekly starred review
"A nuanced look at America's legacy of scriptural language."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Christianity Today 2024 Book Award Finalist (Politics and Public Life)
How do Bible passages written thousands of years ago apply to politics today? What can we learn from America's history of using the Bible in politics? How can we converse with people whose views differ from our own?
In The Ballot and the Bible, Kaitlyn Schiess explores these questions and more. She unpacks examples of how Americans have connected the Bible to politics in the past, highlighting times it was applied well and times it was egregiously misused.
Schiess combines American political history and biblical interpretation to help readers faithfully read Scripture, talk with others about it, and apply it to contemporary political issues--and to their lives. Rather than prescribing what readers should think about specific hot-button issues, Schiess outlines core biblical themes around power, allegiance, national identity, and more.
Readers will be encouraged to pursue a biblical basis for their political engagement with compassion and confidence.
From the Back Cover
"A book about faith, politics, and the Bible that our churches and our democracy needs"
In The Ballot and the Bible, Kaitlyn Schiess explores America's history of using the Bible in politics, highlighting times it was applied well and times it was egregiously misused. She combines American political history and biblical interpretation to help us faithfully read Scripture, talk with others about it, and apply it to contemporary political issues--and to our lives.
"A book about faith, politics, and the Bible that our churches and our democracy need."
--Jemar Tisby, New York Times bestselling author of The Color of Compromise and How to Fight Racism; professor, Simmons College of Kentucky
"This clever, judicious, and remarkably persuasive book challenges us to rethink how we apply Scripture to politics."
--Beth Allison Barr, bestselling author of The Making of Biblical Womanhood; professor, Baylor University
"A wonderfully illuminating history of how Americans have reached for the Bible--for better or worse--to shape our shared political life. Highly recommended!"
--Phil Vischer, VeggieTales creator; cohost of the Holy Post podcast
"Whether you lean left or lean right, whether you come from a red state, blue state, or a purple one, if you are a Christian who seeks to apply biblical principles to your political thinking, you will find something instructive, challenging, and enlightening in this book."
--Karen Swallow Prior, author of The Evangelical Imagination
"Offers keen, level-headed, and perceptive insights into the use of Scripture in our political life. I highly recommend it."
--Michael Wear, president and CEO, Center for Christianity and Public Life; author of The Spirit of Our Politics
"A must-read for every Christian who cares about the role of faith in the public square."
--Skye Jethani, author of What If Jesus Was Serious?; cohost of the Holy Post podcast
"What a gift Kaitlyn Schiess is to the church. This book should be required reading for anyone who teaches the Bible."
--Sharon Hodde Miller, author of The Cost of Control
"Buttressing her claims with impressive close analysis, Schiess sets out a nuanced look at America's legacy of scriptural language."
--Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Contents
Introduction: Is That Your Bible?
1. A City on a Hill: An American Legacy of Puritan Biblical Interpretation
2. Submission and Revolution: Romans 13 and American Identity
3. "The Bible through Slave-Holding Spectacles": The Bible in the Civil War
4. Your Kingdom Come: Social Gospel Hermeneutics
5. A Stick of Dynamite: Civil Rights and Scripture
6. Magic of the Market: The Hermeneutics of Small Government
7. Late Great United States: Biblical Eschatology in the Cold War
8. Prayer, Politics, and Personal Faith: George W. Bush's and Barack Obama's Use of Scripture
9. "Give unto Caesar What Is Caesar's": Evangelicals and Trump
10. Seek the Peace and Prosperity of the City: Jeremiah 29 and Political Theology
Conclusion: The Promise and Peril of Biblical References in Politics
- Title: The Ballot and the Bible: How Scripture Has Been Used and Abused in American Politics and Where We Go from Here
- Author: Kaitlyn Schiess
- Publisher: Brazos Press
- Print Publication Date: 2023
- Logos Release Date: 2022
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781493442294, 9781587435966, 1587435969, 1493442295
- Resource ID: LLS:9781493442294
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2024-03-27T17:52:40Z
Kaitlyn Schiess (ThM, Dallas Theological Seminary) is a writer, speaker, and theologian. She is the author of The Liturgy of Politics: Spiritual Formation for the Sake of Our Neighbor and is a regular cohost on the Holy Post podcast with Skye Jethani and Phil Vischer. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, Christianity Today, Christ and Pop Culture, Relevant, and Sojourners. Schiess is currently a doctoral student in political theology at Duke Divinity School. She lives in Durham, North Carolina.