Description
Book Synopsis2021 Book Award Winner, The Gospel Coalition (Public Theology & Current Events) Southwestern Journal of Theology 2021 Book Award (Honorable Mention, Baptist Studies) Christians are often thought of as defending only their own religious interests in the public square. They are viewed as worrying exclusively about the erosion of their freedom to assemble and to follow their convictions, while not seeming as concerned about publicly defending the rights of Muslims, Hindus, Jews, and atheists to do the same. Andrew T. Walker, an emerging Southern Baptist public theologian, argues for a robust Christian ethic of religious liberty that helps the church defend religious freedom for everyone in a pluralistic society. Whether explicitly religious or not, says Walker, every person is striving to make sense of his or her life. The Christian foundations of religious freedom provide a framework for how Christians can navigate deep religious difference in a secular age. As we practice religious liberty for our neighbors, we can find civility and commonality amid disagreement, further the church's engagement in the public square, and become the strongest defenders of religious liberty for all. Foreword by noted Princeton scholar Robert P. George.
Table of ContentsContents
Foreword by Robert P. George
Introduction: You Get to Decide What to Worship, Not Whether to Worship
1. Religious Liberty as a Christian Social Ethic
Part 1: Eschatology
2. The Reign of Jesus Christ and Religious Liberty
3. Religious Liberty and Christian Secularism
Part 2: Anthropology
4. The
Imago Dei and Religious Liberty
5. That They Should Seek God
Part 3: Missiology
6. Religious Liberty as Christian Mission
7. Moral Ecology and Christian Mission
Conclusion: Retrieving a Tradition for the Common Good
Epilogue: Liberal Democracy and Religious Liberty
Appendix: How Religious Liberty Made Me a Baptist
