Faithful Politics

Cruz weaves an excellent framework through which Christians can understand and better engage with citizenship in the Kingdom of God alongside national, regional, and even state citizenship. When I first opened her work, I worried that I would encounter bias that may undercut her ten-view approach. I found myself happily surprised that this was not the case. In her research and analysis, Cruz discusses a range of ideological approaches to dual citizenship in the Kingdom of God and of country. I thought she did well in discussing potential pitfalls in each approach, but that her most ambitious proposal (a better, personal framework) was her most successful. I was surprised to find that Cruz doesn't encourage the reader to choose one ideology or another--particularly in a time in which it seems that indoctrination, one way or the other, is unavoidable. Rather, Cruz suggests that depending on the viewpoint of the individual, their understanding of the Kingdom of God could lead them to partisanship in any respective political sect. This felt refreshing. Cruz aimed to arm the reader with tools through which to make decisions without forcing decisions onto the reader, and my assessment is that she succeeded. I think Cruz's work will be perfectly timed for Christian readers who hope to make an informed decision, whatever that decision may be, come November 2024.

Faithful Politics by Miranda Zapor Cruz will help to provide understanding as to how Christians got to where they are in today's political world. It gives a detailed description of how politics are viewed by the different Christian denominations in the US. Sources are cited throughout for those who may want to do further reading.

I found it interesting and sometimes enlightening to see how different Christian denominations (some I hadn't heard of or been exposed to) have embraced certain biblical ideas and have ignored others, sometimes (often?) on opposite sides of the Christian "spectrum."

I especially appreciated the section about how many evangelicals claim God's Biblical promises to Israel as promised to the United States. America is not Israel, our government isn't (or should not be) our Messiah, and our country is not Heaven. But the author doesn't only touch on this. She also addresses the either/or tendency in politics versus a more thoughtful position that considers each facet of politics and each issue to be voted on on an independent basis, versus all or nothing Democrat or Republican.

I did not personally feel as if the author was leaning left or right politically (which is a difficult thing to achieve today); rather, I feel it has the ability to challenge any reader. It's not a book that I read and the whole time found things wrong with it, nor was it a book that I simply nodded my head as I read (and let me be honest - getting bored.)

This would be a great read in preparation for the upcoming election and the various issues on the ballots., regardless of where the reader stands in their faith.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6424128269

Faithful Politics is a book I didn't know how much I needed. Zapor Cruz has used her unique education, experiences, and expertise to write a book that every Christian should read. Somehow staying very unbiased and unpartisan, she gives an expertly crafted history and theology of major political movements within the United States to show where they miss representing the gospel and what they offer Christians, if anything, to learn from. Her summary and recommendation on how to approach being a politically active person in our country (which is necessary) and have a sound perspective and witness to the gospel is original and vaulable and something that will shape my conversations about politics with and without members of the church. Her section on Christian Nationalism was particularily powerful. If you have been burned by false gospels in the name of Christ to advance dominionism, nationalism or any such theology or want to be better about connecting with people who approach their faith in this way, I highly recommend this book. This is a true advancement of the gospel in a chaotic political society that is our current American experience.

This fascinating book by a scholar of theological history examines several strategies Christians have used over the centuries for engaging (or not engaging) with politics, from Anabaptist separation to the social gospel to principled pluralism. The author makes the case that there are many valid options for Christian engagement with political issues, and we can learn a lot from each of them. This book is a call for Christians to be “salty” and choose loyalty to God over devotion to any one political party, whether we’re voting, campaigning or running for office. The author also explores two ways of engaging with politics that she argues do not glorify God (dominionism and Christian nationalism) and explains why these are unbiblical.

This book was deeply researched but complex theological concepts were explained clearly enough to be easily understandable to those of us without a seminary background. I like that it didn’t prescribe particular views on specific political issues, but instead focused on how Christians on either side of the political aisle can honour God through their politics. I think this book would make a really interesting small group study, particularly in politically and theologically diverse congregations.