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The ballot and the Bible : how scripture has been used and abused in American politics and where we go from here / Kaitlyn Schiess.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: Grand Rapids, Michigan : Brazos Press, a division of Baker Publishing Group, [2023]Description: 211 pages ; 22 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781587435966
  • 1587435969
  • 9781587436086
  • 1587436086
Subject(s):
Contents:
Introduction: Is that your bible? -- A city on a hill: an American legacy of Puritan biblical interpretation -- Submission and revolution: Romans 13 and American identity -- "The Bible through slave-holding spectacles": the Bible in the Civil War -- Your kingdom come: social gospel hermeneutics -- A stick of dynamite: civil rights and scripture -- Magic of the market: the hermeneutics of small government -- The late great United States: biblical eschatology in the cold war -- Prayer, politics, and personal faith: George W. Bush's and Barack Obama's use of scripture -- "Give unto Caesar what is Caesar's": evangelicals and Donald Trump -- Seek the peace and prosperity of the city: Jeremiah 29 and political theology -- Conclusion: The promise and peril of biblical references in politics.
Summary: "This book explores America's history of using the Bible in politics, highlighting moments of proper practice and examples of deep misuse, and helps us apply the Scriptures in our political participation"-- Provided by publisher.Summary: In June 2020, after the killing of George Floyd, President Donald Trump posed with a Bible outside St. John's Episcopal Church in Washington, DC. For many, the scene epitomized the relationship between scripture and politics: the Bible is a prop, a tool for leaders to exploit for their purpose. Schiess's book has two goals: to mine history for examples of biblical interpretation distanced enough from our own context that we might be able to see things clouding our judgment in the heat of our own debates; and to gain a rough sketch of some of the political biblical interpretation trends and traditions that have shaped America. -- Adapted from Introduction.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 261.7 S332 Available 33111011319858
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

★ 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.

Includes bibliographical references.

Introduction: Is that your bible? -- A city on a hill: an American legacy of Puritan biblical interpretation -- Submission and revolution: Romans 13 and American identity -- "The Bible through slave-holding spectacles": the Bible in the Civil War -- Your kingdom come: social gospel hermeneutics -- A stick of dynamite: civil rights and scripture -- Magic of the market: the hermeneutics of small government -- The late great United States: biblical eschatology in the cold war -- Prayer, politics, and personal faith: George W. Bush's and Barack Obama's use of scripture -- "Give unto Caesar what is Caesar's": evangelicals and Donald Trump -- Seek the peace and prosperity of the city: Jeremiah 29 and political theology -- Conclusion: The promise and peril of biblical references in politics.

"This book explores America's history of using the Bible in politics, highlighting moments of proper practice and examples of deep misuse, and helps us apply the Scriptures in our political participation"-- Provided by publisher.

In June 2020, after the killing of George Floyd, President Donald Trump posed with a Bible outside St. John's Episcopal Church in Washington, DC. For many, the scene epitomized the relationship between scripture and politics: the Bible is a prop, a tool for leaders to exploit for their purpose. Schiess's book has two goals: to mine history for examples of biblical interpretation distanced enough from our own context that we might be able to see things clouding our judgment in the heat of our own debates; and to gain a rough sketch of some of the political biblical interpretation trends and traditions that have shaped America. -- Adapted from Introduction.

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