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The Mighty and the Almighty: How Political Leaders Do God
It is striking how many global political leaders are Christian believers and how far their faith shapes and is shaped by their politics. This collection documents the Christian background of these leaders, how it has informed their political values and agenda, their priorities, and their rhetoric; and what all this says about Christianity and contemporary political power. Politicians featured Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Nelson Mandela, Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair, Angela Merkel, Vladimir Putin, and Stephen Harper. Nick Spencer is director of studies at the UK based public theology think tank Theos. His books include Freedom and History, Politics and the English Bible and The Origin of the Species .
384 pages, Hardcover
Published December 12, 2017
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About the author
Nick Spencer
23 books10 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
British theologian and chairman of Theos, a think tank examining politics from a religious perspective.
British theologian and chairman of Theos, a think tank examining politics from a religious perspective.
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March 5, 2018
When I first embraced the Christian faith I was fairly black and white. Having read the teachings of Jesus I naturally assumed that Christian politicians would oppose war, care for the poor and treat all people fairly. I learned that it is more complicated than that.
This book is a series of pen portraits of 18 political leaders, some known to me others not, and how their relationship(?) with God shaped their politics. As with most books using a variety of contributors it is a bit patchy but mostly interesting.
I was left with a number of questions:
• If the gospel is about transformation and change why are so many of these leaders with faith “middle of the road”? With Ferdinand Lugo and possibly, Nelson Mandela as exceptions most of them walked a moderate path.
• Does the Christian politician always have to compromise and cut corners if s/he is to be successful?
• Why was Jimmy Carter not included? I realize he was on the edge of the chronological timeline but I think we could have been more edified by a reflection on his legacy that that of Donald Trump whose term in office had barely begun.
I had some favourites ; Havel, Merkel, Johnson Sirleaf, Lugo; some pleasant surprises; Reagan, Bush and May; some unpleasant confirmations; Thatcher, Howard, Rudd and Abbott.
All in all I was impressed by how difficult it is to lead democratically if you are a person who holds to minority views.
I wonder if a similar book could be written about leaders of different faiths?
This book is a series of pen portraits of 18 political leaders, some known to me others not, and how their relationship(?) with God shaped their politics. As with most books using a variety of contributors it is a bit patchy but mostly interesting.
I was left with a number of questions:
• If the gospel is about transformation and change why are so many of these leaders with faith “middle of the road”? With Ferdinand Lugo and possibly, Nelson Mandela as exceptions most of them walked a moderate path.
• Does the Christian politician always have to compromise and cut corners if s/he is to be successful?
• Why was Jimmy Carter not included? I realize he was on the edge of the chronological timeline but I think we could have been more edified by a reflection on his legacy that that of Donald Trump whose term in office had barely begun.
I had some favourites ; Havel, Merkel, Johnson Sirleaf, Lugo; some pleasant surprises; Reagan, Bush and May; some unpleasant confirmations; Thatcher, Howard, Rudd and Abbott.
All in all I was impressed by how difficult it is to lead democratically if you are a person who holds to minority views.
I wonder if a similar book could be written about leaders of different faiths?
Displaying 1 of 1 review