Public Religion

The religious right taught America to misread the Bible. Christians have misused Scripture to consolidate power, stoke fears, and defend against enemies. But people who have been hurt by the attacks of Christian nationalism can help us rediscover God's vision for faith in public life. Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove explores how religious culture wars have misrepresented Christianity at the expense of the poor, and how listening to marginalized communities can help us hear God's call to love and justice in the world.

Almost overnight, America's public schools have become morally toxic. They are especially poisonous for the hearts and minds of children from religious families of every faith - ordinary families who value traditional morality and plain old common sense. Parents' first duty is to their children - to their intellect, their character, their souls. The facts on the ground point to one conclusion: Get out now.

Critics of contemporary economics complain that belief in free markets - among economists as well as many ordinary citizens - is a form of religion. And, it turns out, that in a deeper, more historically grounded sense there is something to that idea. Contrary to the conventional historical view of economics as an entirely secular product of the Enlightenment, Benjamin M. Friedman demonstrates that religion exerted a powerful influence from the outset.

As cultural hostility toward Christianity intensifies, many Christians have grown more reluctant to advocate for biblical values in the public square. But our perseverance for the common good—a good defined by God alone—is more important than ever in a culture that embraces darkness. When Culture Hates You is a call for Christians to unashamedly pursue righteousness in society out of our love for others.

Grounded in both solid theology and communication theory, Devote Yourself to the Public Reading of Scripture will teach listeners how to present Scripture in a compelling way. The book's comprehensive approach includes everything from simple delivery skills to the history of public reading, how to build a culture that values public reading, group reading, and how to prepare yourself spiritually, mentally, and emotionally for public reading.

What is the true nature and mission of the church? Is its proper Christian purpose to save souls, or to transform the social order? This question is especially fraught when the church is one built by an enslaved people and formed, from its beginning, at the center of an oppressed community's fight for personhood and freedom. Such is the central tension in the identity and mission of the Black church in the United States.

When political division shows up not only on the campaign trail but also at our dinner tables, we wonder: Can we be part of a better way? The Spirit of Our Politics says "yes," offering a distinctly Christian approach to politics that results in healing rather than division, kindness rather than hatred, and hope rather than despair.

Jesus calls us to make disciples of all the nations. Many Christians believe this means enlisting soldiers in a culture war. But putting faith in the service of politics risks remaking God in our own image. How can the church help bring God's kingdom to earth without relying on the political structures of this world? Critiquing our idolization of the values of classical Western liberalism, Steven Félix-Jäger seeks a renewal of the church's public witness.

In this culmination of his highly acclaimed Cultural Liturgies project, James K. A. Smith examines politics through the lens of liturgy. What if, he asks, citizens are not only thinkers or believers but also lovers? Smith explores how our analysis of political institutions would look different if we viewed them as incubators of love-shaping practices—not merely governing us but forming what we love.

From the classic best-selling series on prayer, with over 4 million books sold, comes this much needed and requested edition written especially for leaders - in business, ministry, and government. Discover dozens of powerful, scripture-based prayers written in light of a leader's great responsibilities! Plus special sections are included specifically for the needs of those in government with prayers for America, its citizens and military.

This lively and encouraging resource is the collaboration of a gifted Bible narrator and a mentor to church leaders. In it, they show how churches can train their own teams of Scripture readers.

American Zion is the story of the Bundy family, famous for their armed conflicts in the West. With an antagonism that goes back to the very first Mormons who fled the Midwest for the Great Basin, they hold a sense of entitlement that confronts both law and democracy. Today their cowboy confrontations threaten public lands, wild species, and American heritage.

In 1802, President Thomas Jefferson distilled a leading idea in the early American republic and wrote of a wall of separation between church and state. That metaphor has come down from Jefferson to 21st-century Americans through a long history of jurisprudence, political contestation, and cultural influence. This book traces the development of the concept of separation of church and state and the Supreme Court's application of it in the law.

Archbishop Rowan Williams is the most gifted Anglican priest of his generation. His views are consistent and orthodox and yet he has been consistently misunderstood - especially in relation to his views on contemporary society, public morality, and the common good. In this, the final published work of his Archepiscopate, Dr Williams has assembled a series of chapters on matters of immediate public concern and the relationship of Christianity to these issues.

Decades ago, we systematically removed religious education from the public school day. LifeWise Academy is bringing it back. During School Hours is the two-part (true) story of how it's happening right now. Part 1 investigates WHY religious education was removed from public schools, the unintended consequences of its removal, and why reinstalling it is a game-changer for future generations. Part 2 shows exactly HOW LifeWise Academy is doing it now - bringing Bible education to public school students During School Hours.

Drawing on a collection of lectures that N. T. Wright delivered from 1999 to 2015, God in Public brings together the message of Jesus—in its larger biblical context—and the challenges of the contemporary public and political worlds. In this book, Wright challenges the West's response to 9/11 and then expands to discuss a more Jesus inspired way of approaching the public problems we find ourselves in, based on following Jesus' life and teachings.

Often, the accusations are fair. Christians tend to get stuck in one of two political ditches: we either privatize our faith or make it partisan. We think religion and politics should be separate and never intermingle, or we align so tightly with a political party that we conflate the gospel with a human agenda. In Political Gospel, Patrick Schreiner argues Christianity not only has political implications but is itself a politic.

Nearly 25% of American Christians do not regularly attend church in person (Pew Research, 2023). How can we recapture the duty and delight of public worship?

Public worship is not simply something we should do; it is something we should love. In the newest Puritan Treasure for Today, David Clarkson helps believers glorify God by enjoying the privilege and duty of the corporate assembly.

Among Buddhist traditions, Zen has been remarkably successful in garnering and sustaining interest outside the Buddhist homelands of Asia, and "zen" is now part of the global cultural lexicon. This deeply informed book explores the history of this enduring Japanese tradition - from its beginnings as a form of Buddhist thought and practice imported from China to its reinvention in medieval Japan as a force for religious, political, and cultural change to its role in Japan's embrace of modernity.

Phillip E. Johnson pries the lid off public debate about questions of ultimate concern - questions often suppressed by our society’s intellectual elite. Moving far beyond matters of creation and evolution, Johnson outlines the questions we all ought to be asking about the meaning of human history, the limits of scientific inquiry, religion and education in a pluralistic society, truth, liberty and moral choices, and God and his word, Jesus Christ.