Faith and power: Christianity and Islam in "secular" Britain

by Newbigin, Newbigin

This work demonstrates that in a modern multicultural society with diverse religious loyalties, identities and even laws, a Christian vision is needed, to bring social coherence and freedom. All three authors call for the churches to end their abdication of the public domain.

177 pages, Paperback

First published July 30, 1998

Reviews

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essential reading in Anglican political theology for those interested in the question of Christian-Muslim relations in the public sphere. Close reading for the subtle differences in thought between this work at Mathew Kaemingk's "Christian Hospitality and Muslim Migration in the Age of Fear" (Eerdman's, 2018) will reward readers. I judge this work to be more wholistic insofar as its focus on the Christian gospel, rather than Christian worship, as the source of a generous tolerance and pluralism towards Muslims in the civic life of a nation-state. The gospel can encompass the need for worship without dispensing of the need for mission. The latter is something which Kaemingk's work can sometimes downplay. This ultimately reflects a difference in thought between the Dutch Reformed school of theology with its philosophy of "separate spheres" between church and state, and the Augustinian Anglican belief that the gospel can influence the way that rulers come to govern.

[Dan Glover · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was uneven. The chapters by Newbigin are, as usual, well argued and well written. The chapters by the two other contributers are sometimes too dense and their arguements less than clear and therefore less than convincing. I would give this 4 stars for Newbigin's contribution but only 2.5 for the others. They read like doctoral theses which haven't been reworked quite enough for public consumption.

Oh yeah, and on the issue of the tyrany of the majority over minorities in a democracy, wow, did this work ever miss the boat in their argument that Christianity is the only public theology/worldview which can balance the two. Their position would have been infinitely stronger if they had argued it from the ground that Christianity is unique because of its doctrine of the Trinity. Due to its core belief that man is made in the image of a triune God, three in one, individuality and community in balance and harmony, it really is the only worldview which does not need to have either individual liberty and autonomy triumph over the majority or the collective strength of the majority tyranize over the various weaker minorities.

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