The Contested Public Square: The Crisis of Christianity and Politics

by Greg Forster

Christian thinking about involvement in human government was not born (or born again!) with the latest elections or with the founding of the Moral Majority in 1979. The history of Christian political thinking goes back to the first decades of the church's existence under persecution. Building on biblical foundations, that thinking has developed over time. This book introduces the history of Christian political thought traced out in Western culture--a culture experiencing the dissolution of a long-fought-for consensus around natural law theory. Understanding our current crisis, where there is little agreement and often opposing views about how to maintain both religious freedom and liberal democracy, requires exploring how we got where we are. Greg Forster tells that backstory with deft discernment and clear insight. He offers this retrospective not only to inform but also to point the way beyond the current impasse in the contested public square. Illuminated by sidebars on key moments in history, major figures and questions for further consideration, this book will significantly inform Christian scholars' and students' reading and interpretation of history.

Genres: Politics, History, Philosophy, Theology, Religion, Nonfiction

254 pages, Paperback

First published September 30, 2008

Reviews

[Brian Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Greg Forster's The Contested Public Square is a readable, informative, and engaging history of Christian political thought. Far from an academic treatise, Forster recognizes that the moral consensus which Western nations have shared for fifteen hundred years has come apart, leading to a political crisis. He believes that "the first step to finding an answer [to this crisis] is understanding the question. We are going to have to do a better job of understanding the real nature of the crisis. If we do achieve that insight, we still might not succeed; but if we do not even try to achieve it, we will have lost before we even begin. That is what has driven me to write this book" (249).

Forster begins his work with the first centuries of the church, detours to take into account the influence of Greek philosophies, and then moves through Western history to the present.

In the patristic era Christian apologists argued against state persecution of Christianity, but Christians had not real theology or philosophy of political involvement. Christian thinkers tended to argue against government and military participation because of the religious compromise it involved. But with the Christianization of the Roman Empire, Christians needed to develop a political theology. As in so many areas of theology, Augustine proved most influential (Forster points especially to book 19 of the City of God). Augustine first made use of the idea of natural law that developed into a political theory in the middle ages and persisted on to the time of Locke where it became a foundational element in his case for religious toleration and liberal democracy. Even in medieval Europe the seeds for Locke's approach existed in the belief that natural law, with its concern for temporal goods, provided the foundation for civil law whereas the Bible and the Church concerned itself with spiritual goods. Yet because a shared morality, based on a shared religion, is necessary for the temporal good of society, the state enforced religious uniformity in the middle ages.

The Reformation shattered this uniformity. Because of the continued belief in the necessity of a shared religion, the Reformation set off a series of religious persecutions and wars. One attempt to settle the problem was to permit the prince to choose the religion of his nation. But in nations, such as England, where the religious positions of the monarchs shifted between Catholicism and Protestantism, religious conflict was only exacerbated. Enter John Locke. In his early years Locke favored strictly enforced religious conformity to ensure public tranquility. But on a diplomatic mission to Cleves, a city in Germany which, due to some strange political circumstances, allowed religious toleration, Locke's views were radically transformed. He saw that toleration had removed religion from the political equation and led to public tranquility among adherents to different religion. Public virtue was not threatened because natural law undergirded a shared morality despite religious differences. Locke's views led to the advent of religious toleration, even religious freedom, and liberal democracy.

But in the twentieth century liberal democracy entered a crisis as political theorists denied the natural law foundations of Locke's position and sought to replace them with something else: tradition (Edmund Burke and conservatism) and the maximization of human happiness (John Stuart Mill and utilitarianism) being the chief alternatives discussed by Forster. As philosophical and religious diversity increases, shared morality is fragmenting. A shared religion, at least on some level does seem necessary for shared morality. And yet it is impossible at this juncture to return to a shared religion for each political community. Forster concludes, "All paths now lead to danger. If we wish to preserve religious freedom, we must somehow find a way to build social consensus around moral laws that politics requires without going back to dependence upon a shared religion." How is this to be done; is it even possible? Forster concludes, "I do not know the answer to this crisis" (249).

The lack of an answer to this intractable problem does not eviscerate that value of Forster's work. He set about not to answer the question but to providing the necessary background to understand it. In this he succeeded admirably. My one complaint with the book is that there were various points where I desired greater documentation. That aside, I found this one of the most illuminating books that I have read.

[Debbie Howell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent overview of the development of Christian political thought and how it developed through the transition from the church's first 400 years living under persecution, through the era of Christendom, and on into a post-Christian environment. Attention is given to major influences on church-state relations/thought, including Greek philosophy, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, John Locke, and more recently, the differing approaches of Niebuhr, Barth, and Lewis. The Reformation's impact on the role of the church in civil matters is given particular attention. I thought author Greg Forster did an excellent job of laying out 2,000+ years' worth of thinking, both secular and Christian, about the role of the church in society, and showing how the ideas were built on each other. He doesn't get into the specifics of current-day controversy about Christians' involvement in U.S. politics, which I think is actually a strength of the book. Instead, Forster focuses on underlying philosophies and historical developments that have shaped that controversy. Great resource.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an excellent introduction to the history of natural law political theory. Forster takes us from the early Christian fathers, to Augustine, Aquinas, Ockham, and Locke up to modern natural law theory. This is a fairly objective history of natural law, though he's clearly an advocate of natural law theory. This is a highly informative book for those not well read in the area, and is fairly accessible for the general reader.

Forster forcefully advocates for natural law as the foundation of civil society. Yet, this view, seems to me sub-biblical, as it denies the authority of the Scriptures over the civil realm and leaves civil government to natural reason.

The book is a great exposition of natural law theory, but has a deficient view of Scripture and the covenantal nature of God's law.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Forster has provided a very readable short history of the relationship between religion, specifically Christianity, and politics in the 'West'. Here I would make two observations which by no means come close to doing justice to his work but which provide a sample of what I see as pros and cons.
On the positive side, I think Forster provides a very good analysis of the way in which we have arrived at a crisis in Liberal Democracy and the nature of the relationship between this crisis and the failure, in the post-Reformation context, to find a new foundation for public morality that thinkers such as Locke were so confident we would in the new age of a commitment to religious freedom and turning away from a shared religion.
On the other hand, I am less convinced by some of his theological analysis and biblical exegesis. In particular, the centrality of his appraisal of the difference between the Church as eternal and the State as temporal, seems to me to misunderstand the nature of the biblical Church as the sum of all relationships between God's people across time and space, in contrast to the Church as a socio-political reality. I also do not buy into his underlying commitment to a fundamental division between eternity and Creation.

[Brian Pate · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sweeping and ambitious overview of Christian political thought from the NT to today. Starting with the persecuted authors of the NT, the author moves on to Augustine's City of God, then the concept of natural law as developed by Aquinas and Ockham, and different approaches during the Reformation. He devotes a good bit of attention to Locke and how the US founders used his political philosophy to defend their right to revolt. Finally, he gives examples of how Christians responded to totalitarianism: Barth, Niebuhr, and Lewis.

The book ends with a pressing question: What is our basis for a consensus on social morality if we do not have a shared religion? As we try to preserve religious freedom, this is the question Christians must answer today.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! This book is an amazing introduction to how Christians have engaged with politics since the NT, the development of Natural Law, Lockean political philosophy, and some of the political problems that confront us in the 21st century. I could not recommend this book enough. One does not have to accept the author's endorsement of Natural Law to appreciate the chronological telling of Christian political history or the problems presenting liberal democracy today.
Thank you Dr. Forster.

[J. Tayler Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good book for anyone wanting to better understand the relationship between Christianity and government throughout history into today. The book is almost entirely historical in its outlook, which is good. Not everyone will enjoy it, but I think it is import for Christians in the Western world to read up on this subject.

[StephenM · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty basic and narrow in its focus, and a little Whiggish in the way it leads up to liberal democracy, but still strong for an intro text, with lots that I didn't know and found valuable.

[Justin Dillehay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very readable and helpful narrative of Christian political philosophy. And very honest in wrestling with the downsides of religious freedom.

[Jay Winters]

Book Opening: I’m opening this book with a political science graduate student here at FSU named Matt. Matt and I have talked about all sorts of different things in the past - from the Resurrection to the nature of evil to pornography to basic Christianity. He’s a great discussion partner to have for a book, and this is right up his alley - being about the development of the mixing of political and theological rhetoric.
The introduction to the book makes it seem like it’s going to be a little like drinking water from a firehose. The author, Greg Foster, even says that every page is about a decade’s worth of historical development of theology and politics. He also makes a big deal about the concept of natural vs. revealed law, and it will be interesting to see where he takes that.

Should be fun….it will also take me a while to read this because we normally read a chapter, discuss, read a chapter, discuss. So expect to see this on my reading list for a while.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Forster's review of religion's influence and participation in the political world is worth a read. The best parts were the discussions of natural law and how it takes an important role in development of state order.

[Paul D. Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good intro-level text on Christian political thought, suitable for undergraduate use.

[Seth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting