"Faithful Politics" (Miranda Zapor Cruz)

TITLE: Faithful Politics: Ten Approaches to Christian Citizenship and Why It Matters
AUTHOR: Miranda Zapor Cruz
PUBLISHER: Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2024, (216 pages).

Do we choose Republicans because the Presidential candidate carries a Bible? Do we choose Democrats because my Christian friends are there? Do we choose parties simply because their policies are more Christian? How do we practice our Christian Faith in our often heated political environment? What is the difference between heavenly and earthly citizenship? How do we know if our actions are serving God or Caesar? How do we live as heavenly citizens while on earth? In our polarized climate, how can Christians behave as peacemakers? Is there such a thing as a Christian political party? Should we vote for candidates who claim to be Christians? These are some of the questions that trouble many Christians. Before attempting to answer any of these questions, we might need to ask a more fundamental one: "What does it mean to practice faithful politics?" This one question is the basis of this book to show us what it means to be salty, prophetic, separationist, and social. Underlying these principles are biblical applications of dual citizens, first of the Kingdom and then of earthly citizens. Living as Kingdom citizens means recognizing the different approaches to politics as compared to what we see in everyday worldly affairs. For instance, instead of limiting ourselves to relationships based on our nationality statuses on earth, we learn a universal perspective of seeing people as fellow humans living under grace from heaven. Instead of fighting one another to gain access to limited resources on earth, we learn to share in the hope that the economies of God will always be more abundant. 

Author Miranda Zapor Cruz weaves in Scripture, Theology, History, and various cultural contexts in conversation with politics. She describes what it means for us to be citizens of the Kingdom. Taking lessons from Augustine's "City of God" treatise, she points out that Kingdom citizens are called to be different from the world. She guides us on how to live as dual citizens: Of the Kingdom and of the Earth. She emphasizes the opposing values of Kingdom and Country regarding loyalty, Freedom, and Power. Such contrasts are critical in distinguishing our dual roles. After discussing the differences, Cruz shows us what it means to live as biblical dual citizens in our engagement with government, justice, and discernment between submission and resistance. She takes special care to explain the different contexts of biblical Israel and modern American governments. Chapter Three follows up on Christian participation in politics. Here we learn about the American political system, its history, the benefits and risks of joining any party, and the risk of becoming "bland" instead of "salty" believers in the political arena. After setting forth these principles of engagement, Cruz takes us through ten approaches to Christian citizenship and political participation. Of these ten approaches, the first five are "separatist" models, followed by one social gospel model, two Calvinist options, and two non-recommended models of dominionism and Christian nationalism. They are all arranged from the most isolated to the most conflated.

1. Separatist 1: As Anabaptist Radical Isolation
2. Separatist 2: As Anabaptist Prophetic Witness
3. Separatist 3: Evangelical separation based on strategic withdrawal
4. Separatist 4: Historic Baptist Separation of Church and State
5. Separatist 5: Two Kingdoms Separation based on Luther's Political Theology
6. Social Gospel
7. Calvinist 1: Principled Pluralist
8. Calvinist 2: Direct Christian 
9. Dominionism
10. Christian Nationalism

The first three separatist approaches are called "keeping the kingdom out of the country" while models #4 and #5 are called "Keeping the country out of the kingdom." The former believes that the present country will never become the Kingdom of God and thus better to be kept separate. The latter however do a slight reverse insisting that without the separation, the State would contaminate the Church. In model #6, adherents believe that the Christian gospel can influence and make the Kingdom of God a reality on earth as it is in heaven. Social gospel proponents will actively engage in society but risk granting too much trust in world systems and earthly justice. The two Calvinist approaches (#7 and #8) propose the role of stewardship and responsibility when engaging world governments. The "Direct Christian" approach tends to be the path taken by conservative parties that believe conscience and politics should never be divided. The "Principled Pluralist" believes that world governments are ordained by God and Christians ought to be involved for the common good. The author describes #7 and #8 under the umbrella of "Keeping the Country Under the Kingdom." The last two models are incompatible with Christianity because their principles of engagement revolve around domination and majority or total control. Cruz concludes by taking salient points of each model to provide us a path forward on how we can be biblical, separatist, salty, and Kingdom-loyal. 

My Thoughts

Firstly, this book is timely, especially with the coming November 2024 presidential elections in the United States. The ten models listed for us are not new positions. They have been professed by different groups of believers today, some more some less. By giving us the historical developments of each model, readers can analyze their own political orientations more intelligently. Things today do not exist in a vacuum. They arise from certain causes which should inform our broader understanding. In general, many Christians are not sure how to be faithful in their politics. Most of them have been influenced by mass media, friends, public opinions, social media postings, personalization algorithms, and political candidates. Even Bible-affirming people are more influenced by world philosophies instead of biblical values. Hopefully, Cruz's presentation will help us be more informed in our political choices, in time for us to discern our votes. 

Secondly, it is important to note that the author distinguishes nonpartisanship from neutrality. Just because one does not take sides does not mean one will never vote for any of them. The main benefit of reading this book is to ensure that we become more informed about biblical values and the application of principles to help us analyze and make sense of our political choices. We can also evaluate all the promises made by various candidates and better appreciate our roles as dual citizens of heaven and earth. Instead of beginning with our choices in mind, we begin with God's Word. That said, it is easier said than done. That is why I recommend taking time to understand each of the ten models before taking our positions. The ten models are not author recommended ones (especially (#9 and #10). The author is simply laying out the landscape of many existing positions. 

Finally, I like the way the author concludes with the five key paradigms of faithfulness: Salty, Prophetic, Separatist, Social, and Pluralist. She does not straitjacket any of the ten models on us but encourages us to use these five paradigms to evaluate all of them. Politics is essentially about power struggle. When issues become politicized, opposing parties adopt positions to gain some advantage over their opponents. We should be careful not to become unwitting pawns to power-grabbing or lobbying entities. I usually tell fellow believers at state or national elections that we are selecting national or community leaders and not popes or bishops for the state. The more we understand the biblical implications of the above faithfulness paradigms, the better equipped we will be in discerning how we should vote or not vote at all. Having said that, when it comes to leadership, I suggest leaders or people in positions of influence assert the principles of Kingdom-living over and above any temptation to choose a candidate, party, or political affiliation. Leaders should never put the cart of orientation before the horse of biblical convictions.

Miranda Zapor Cruz is professor of historical theology at Indiana Wesleyan University. She holds a PhD in religion, politics, and society from Baylor University's J. M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies and an MDiv from Princeton Theological Seminary.

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5.

conrade

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This book has been provided courtesy of IVP Academic via NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.