After the Election: Prophetic Politics in a Post-Secular Age

by Ron Sanders, Scotty McLennan

The role of Evangelical Christianity in American public life is controversial. The mythology of America as a "Christian nation" and the promissory note of secularism have proved inadequate to cope with the increasing pluralism, the resilience of spirituality, and the wariness toward formal religion that mark our post-secular age. Christianity and democracy have a complex history together, but is there a future where these two great traditions draw the best out of one another? What does that future look like in a heterogeneous society? Sanders argues that democracy is stronger when it allows all of its religious citizens to participate fully in the public sphere, and Christianity is richer when it demonstrates the wisdom of God from the ground up, rather than legislating it from the top down. In this reality, the Evangelical church must return to Christianity's prophetic roots and see itself as a "community in exile," where participation in the political is important, but not ultimate--where the substantive work of the church happens "after the election."

156 pages, Paperback

Published May 8, 2018

Reviews

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sanders addresses two issues I've been wrestling with recently: how we as Christians interact with the culture at large, and what the role of government ought to be in society. I think Sanders is right in his conclusion that we out to see ourselves as exiles. I highlighted a lot, especially in chapters 2, 4 & 5. As much as I liked the content, it wasn't an easy read - To me it reads a little too much like a PhD dissertation (which I think it was).