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The Global Politics of Jesus: A Christian Case for Church-State Separation
A unique, timely, and wide-ranging book that formulates and applies an ethic of Jesus to the realm of global politics.
Since the fourth century, Christians have wrestled with how they should interact with political authority. The most common view holds that while their ultimate loyalty rightfully belongs to God, Christians also have allegiance to their countries and a moral responsibility to transform their political systems. In The Global Politics of Jesus , Nilay Saiya provides a normative critique of this conventional view and advances an alternative approach. While it may seem natural for the church to fervently engage in political life and cultivate a close relationship with the state, Saiya argues that such beliefs result in a "paradox of privilege." As he shows, when the church yields to the seduction of political power when enjoying the benefits of an alliance with the state, it struggles to adhere to its tenets, and when it resists the allure of state power, it does its best work. This unique and wide-ranging book examines the paradox of privilege in some of the most important areas of global
politics and considers its implications for the church itself.
Since the fourth century, Christians have wrestled with how they should interact with political authority. The most common view holds that while their ultimate loyalty rightfully belongs to God, Christians also have allegiance to their countries and a moral responsibility to transform their political systems. In The Global Politics of Jesus , Nilay Saiya provides a normative critique of this conventional view and advances an alternative approach. While it may seem natural for the church to fervently engage in political life and cultivate a close relationship with the state, Saiya argues that such beliefs result in a "paradox of privilege." As he shows, when the church yields to the seduction of political power when enjoying the benefits of an alliance with the state, it struggles to adhere to its tenets, and when it resists the allure of state power, it does its best work. This unique and wide-ranging book examines the paradox of privilege in some of the most important areas of global
politics and considers its implications for the church itself.
- GenresPolitics
368 pages, Paperback
Published June 24, 2022
15 people are currently reading
183 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 23, 2024
4.5 stars!! (So close to a 5-star book for me)
There's a lot to love about this one - and I should say that I'm approaching this from a largely sympathetic, Neo-Anabaptist - perspective, so I'm basically primed to agree with most of what Saiya argues here, when it comes to developing a political theology for the modern world.
That said, there's a lot here that will rightly stretch and challenge any reader, whether or not you have those some presuppositions. Most importantly, Saiya really does make a "global" case, which is so helpful. He does speak about the U.S., and the West more broadly, when appropriate, but there is so much here about other parts of the world that is really enlightening, especially for an American reader like me. I learned a ton about the goings-on in Sub-Saharan Africa, for example, when it comes to the troubling involvement of the church in genocide or political violence. There is also a really good section on Russia and the Orthodox Church, and there are good sections on historical surveys of issues like slavery or human rights, and the participation of the church in troubling political maneuvering on those issues in various countries. All in all, this is a remarkable overview of some complex issues, and Saiya does a commendable job portraying his case through a global lens.
Ultimately, probably because the ambition of the book is very high, I did feel like the explicitly theological chapters were a bit short and under-developed. Again, I'm in basic agreement with him, but I kept imagining the pushback as I read his approach, and felt like he didn't have the page count to deal adequately with positing a theological case. The book is at its strongest when it is exploring case studies or historical data, and ultimately, the reader does need to wrestle with the hard-to-deny reality that when the church is entangled in explicitly political power, anywhere in history or around the globe, it does tend to find itself on the "wrong" side of issues of violence, justice, peace and mercy.
There's a lot to love about this one - and I should say that I'm approaching this from a largely sympathetic, Neo-Anabaptist - perspective, so I'm basically primed to agree with most of what Saiya argues here, when it comes to developing a political theology for the modern world.
That said, there's a lot here that will rightly stretch and challenge any reader, whether or not you have those some presuppositions. Most importantly, Saiya really does make a "global" case, which is so helpful. He does speak about the U.S., and the West more broadly, when appropriate, but there is so much here about other parts of the world that is really enlightening, especially for an American reader like me. I learned a ton about the goings-on in Sub-Saharan Africa, for example, when it comes to the troubling involvement of the church in genocide or political violence. There is also a really good section on Russia and the Orthodox Church, and there are good sections on historical surveys of issues like slavery or human rights, and the participation of the church in troubling political maneuvering on those issues in various countries. All in all, this is a remarkable overview of some complex issues, and Saiya does a commendable job portraying his case through a global lens.
Ultimately, probably because the ambition of the book is very high, I did feel like the explicitly theological chapters were a bit short and under-developed. Again, I'm in basic agreement with him, but I kept imagining the pushback as I read his approach, and felt like he didn't have the page count to deal adequately with positing a theological case. The book is at its strongest when it is exploring case studies or historical data, and ultimately, the reader does need to wrestle with the hard-to-deny reality that when the church is entangled in explicitly political power, anywhere in history or around the globe, it does tend to find itself on the "wrong" side of issues of violence, justice, peace and mercy.
August 13, 2022
This is a great book that speaks to one of the most important issues of our day, namely the relationship between Christianity and politics. The author possesses a first-rate knowledge of political theology and global politics. The book makes a persuasive case that the quest for political privilege harms both the church and the state. Not everyone will agree with the author's conclusions, but readers will be challenged in how they think about faith and politics.
January 17, 2023
The writer does an excellent job showing to the reader how the church loses it’s mission and purpose the closer it gets to the state. This was made very clear and there was some interesting points made. My only concern is that I feel the writer focused too much on what the church is not to be like. I would have liked to read more about what it looks like for the church to be the prophetic witness that the author says the church is called to be.
July 3, 2023
This book is very comprehensive and does a great job making the practical case for the avoidance of Christian realism and power mongering. A biblical case is in there as well, but the meat here is how Christendom has played out in the world. Other books can give a more comprehensive biblical and early church case.
January 13, 2025
The Way of Peace
This book does a great job of explaining the correct Christian approach to living out our faith without compromising ourselves on the secular altar of national politics.
This book does a great job of explaining the correct Christian approach to living out our faith without compromising ourselves on the secular altar of national politics.
July 5, 2022
A must read book for anyone interested in the relationship of Christianity and government.
Want to read
June 17, 2023Podcast theology in the raw, highly recommended Preston Sprinkle on separation of church and state
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews