Product Description
How can the church move forward in unity amid such political strife and cultural contention?
As Christians, we’ve felt pushed to the outskirts of national public life, yet even within our congregations we are divided about how to respond. Some want to strengthen the evangelical voting bloc. Others focus on social justice causes, and still others would abandon the public square altogether. What do we do when brothers and sisters in Christ sit next to each other in the pews but feel divided and angry? Is there a way forward?
In How the Nations Rage, political theology scholar and pastor Jonathan Leeman challenges Christians from across the spectrum to hit the restart button by
- shifting our focus from redeeming the nation to living as a nation already redeemed
- rejecting the false allure of building heaven on earth while living faithfully as citizens of a heavenly kingdom
- letting Jesus’ teaching shape our public engagement as we love our neighbors and seek justice
When we identify with Christ more than a political party or social grouping, we can return to the church’s unchanging political task: to become the salt and light Jesus calls us to be and offer the hope of his kingdom to the nations.
Hardcover, 272 pages
Publication Date: April 2018
Endorsements
"Leeman provides a careful and theologically compelling treatment of the relationship between faith and politics... This book deserves careful consideration by any Christian who seeks to walk faithfully in the public square.”
R. Albert Mohler Jr., president, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
“What has the church to do with politics? Is there a proper, biblically-informed relationship between church and state? In HOW THE NATIONS RAGE, Leeman exhorts the church neither to withdraw from nor to dominate the political sphere, but to represent heaven to a world in turmoil. What timely counsel, especially to the American church!"
John MacArthur, Grace Community Church
“Jonathan Leeman has written not simply a good book, but an important book. Using the ever-deepening political divide in the United States as a starting point, HOW THE NATIONS RAGE exhorts Christians not to allow politics to rule our lives, but to allow God to do so... This volume challenges our presuppositions about earthly power, informs our hopes for the heavenly kingdom, and repositions the center of our political lives inside the church of Jesus Christ.”
Thom S. Rainer, former president and CEO, LifeWay Christian Resources
“As a pastor on Capitol Hill, I’m often asked what book I would recommend on politics for the Christian. Jonathan Leeman has produced a new standard. Well illustrated and engaging, this carefully reasoned book should be read in our churches before we come to an election year contest again.”
Mark Dever, pastor, the Capitol Hill Baptist Church
Author
Jonathan Leeman is the editorial director at 9Marks, a ministry that helps church leaders build healthy churches. He teaches theology at several seminaries and has written a number of books on the church. He is also a research fellow with the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. He has degrees in political science and English, a master of science in political theory, a master of divinity, and a doctorate in political theology. Jonathan served for years as an elder at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC, but has since left to plant a nearby church. He lives in the DC area with his wife and four daughters.
