Christianity and Politics: A Brief Guide to the History

by C.C. Pecknold

It is not simply for rhetorical flourish that politicians so regularly invoke God's blessings on the country. It is because the relatively new form of power we call the nation-state arose out of a Western political imagination steeped in Christianity. In this brief guide to the history of Christianity and politics, Pecknold shows how early Christianity reshaped the Western political imagination with its new theological claims about eschatological time, participation, and communion with God and neighbor. The ancient view of the Church as the "mystical body of Christ" is singled out in particular as the author traces shifts in its use and meaning throughout the early, medieval, and modern periods-shifts in how we understand the nature of the person, community and the moral conscience that would give birth to a new relationship between Christianity and politics. While we have many accounts of this narrative from either political or ecclesiastical history, we have few that avoid the artificial separation of the two. This book fills that gap and presents a readable, concise, and thought-provoking introduction to what is at stake in the contentious relationship between Christianity and politics.

Genres: History, Theology, Politics, Nonfiction, Christianity, Catholic

196 pages, Paperback

First published August 6, 2010

About the author

Dr. Chad Pecknold received his PhD from the University of Cambridge (UK) and since 2008 he has been a Professor of Historical & Systematic Theology in the School of Theology at The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. He teaches in the areas of fundamental theology, Christian anthropology, and political theology. Pecknold is the author of a number scholarly articles and books including most recently, Christianity and Politics: A Brief Guide to the History (Cascade 2010) and The T&T Clark Companion to Augustine and Modern Theology (Bloomsbury, 2014). Dr. Pecknold is also a frequent contributor to debates in the public square, writing regular columns for First Things & National Review on a range of topics related to the importance and impact of Church teaching on social and political questions.

Professor Pecknold is frequently sought after for his opinion on current events, and has been quoted in hundreds of news outlets around the world such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. He has appeared as an invited guest on radio and television shows such as NPR’s “All Things Considered,” Vatican Radio, Al Jazeera America, BBC World News, ABC News, FOX News, CNBC Squawk Box, and he is a regular contributor on EWTN News Nightly offering his clear analysis and expert opinion on the Catholic Church, the papacy, and the relationship between the Church and politics in American culture.

A self-described "Augustinian-Thomist," Pecknold is an Associate Editor for the English Edition of the international Thomistic journal of theology, Nova et Vetera, and co-edits with Fr. Thomas Joseph White, O.P., the new Sacra Doctrina series at Catholic University of America Press. Dr Pecknold is currently writing a book on Augustine’s City of God.

Professor Pecknold resides in Alexandria, VA with his wife, Dr. Sara Pecknold(who teaches Music history at CUA) and their three kids Will, Cate and Jack.

Reviews

[David Beadle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This fantastic little book sets the stage for Christian political discourse. It is my most often recommended book to friends who care about this stuff. A must-read.

[Soraya Keiser · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I would have liked reading this more if I read it for a different class. Unfortunately, I read it for a class with graded reflection questions, so I was not much of a critical thinker. Instead I just focused on finding the answers instead of truly interacting with the material. Rip Political Quest — I would have loved taking you as a freshman and not a senior.

[Shari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grad school text.

[Daniel R · Rating 2 out of 5]

An overly simplistic op-Ed

This book cherry picks from the life of the reformers to build strawman arguments and construct fallacious conclusions. The author repeatedly notes the historic complexity of Christianity and politics, but offers a hopelessly simplistic argument for his own point of view.

[Parker Ambrose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent overview of the interaction of Christianity and politics from AD33 until the present day. As Pecknold notes in the conclusion, it is truly but a "brief guide"; nevertheless, it's a quality introduction to those interested in the topic in an age of growing hostility to Christianity in the West, or for political theorists who seek a concise reference work.

The bibliography Pecknold relies upon is the worth the read in and of itself!

[Lyndon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This work does not feel like an introduction. It reads like a kind of tour: of themes, trajectories and fissures; something like the guided tours at the MET in New York or the National Gallery in London. In Christianity and Politics, Pecknold traces the threads of people and ideas who have provided the West with its political imagination. Drawing on the Catholic theologian Henri de Lubac, and the political theorist, Sheldon Wolin as duel 'guides', Pecknold opens up enough of the 'imaginary' of the politics of communion and community to allow the reader to grasp the notion that 'politics as usual' hides more than it reveals. The articulation of what and who constitutes the 'polis', and how and by what means the 'social' and the 'individual' are understood, is explored by way of the ancients, Augustine, the Reformers, and finally (surprisingly?) Pope Benedict.

The goal of this brief 'guide' is not just to inform, but to gesture towards a vision of community that is unintelligible outside of our participation in the communion of divine life through the gift of bread and wine. Here community is given shape; in the Eucharist, the image of the 'polis' is most clear as the proper site for human flourishing.

A recommended work.

[Zach de Walsingham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book after reading a review for it by Dr. Peter Leithart. It is a history of the Eucharist and the mystical body of Christ and how this has been misapplied and migrated from the Christian people universally to ethnicity and nation states. We now call ourselves Irish, or American, or Texan before we would identify ourselves as Christian. Nationalism is a modern day attempt to see an ethno culture as a mystical body using Christian ideas, and that we need to deconstruct our enlightenment ideas to return to a Christian community centred around Word and Sacrament.

The water of baptism should be thicker than blood. Definitely will have to visit some of the bibliography.

For those interested I would also recommend Dr. Leitharts review of the book over at Credenda/Agenda: http://www.credenda.org/index.php/Rev...

[Mike Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful introduction to an exceedingly complex subject