Description
Book SynopsisThe Reformer John Calvin has influenced America in a formative way. Calvin remains respected as a theologian to whose work intellectuals on both the right and left appeal. In the nineteen-nineties, Evangelicals and Catholics Together (ECT) formed a politically influential ecumenical coalition to oppose abortion and change the culture. Its ecumenism of the trenches influenced the administration of George W. Bush and continues to influence religious elements in the Tea Party. Evangelicals in the coalition presume to speak for Calvin. This book provides a counter argument.Calvin rejects the ethics advocated by ECT, an ethics of individual virtue, conscience and natural right. Instead, he affirms an ethics of obedience to the authority of secular government as an institution with a divinely ordained mandate. This work considers the following themes in Calvin:Calvin on Faith. Modern and postmodern philosophical approaches, including Reformed epistemology, do not explain how Calvin understoo
Trade ReviewThis provocative, engaging, and insightful book offers both a sensitive, well-informed reading of Calvin and a shrewd account of contemporary religion and politics. -- Bruce Gordon, Yale University
H. L. Mencken may have filed Calvinism next to cannibalism in his cabinet of horrors, but if he had read Carl Rasmussen Mencken might have reconsidered. John Calvin emerges, on Rasmussen’s subtle and thoughtful reading, tonic for anyone tired of the clichés that dominate Christian reflection on U.S. politics. Even better, his book may help Christians remember their identity not as political partisans but pilgrims who seek a better country. -- Darryl Hart, Hillsdale College
Table of Contents1. Evangelicals and Catholics Together: Ecumenism of the Trenches 2. Faith Rather Than Belief: Four Augustinian Theses on Faith in Calvin 3. Life for Others Rather Than Virtue: Three Theses on Sanctification in Calvin 4. The Rule of Law Rather Than Conscience: Five Theses on Natural Law in Calvin Conclusion: Calvin, Karl Barth, and the Message of Reconciliation
