Is the Good Book Good Enough?

Evangelical Perspectives on Public Policy

Contributions by Mark R. Amstutz, Timothy J. Barnett, Francis J. Beckwith, Zachary R. Calo, Ron Kirkemo, Jacob Lenerville, Ruth Melkonian-Hoover, Stephen V. Monsma, Eric Patterson, Jeffrey J. Polet, Noah J. Toly, Jennifer E. Walsh Edited by David K. Ryden

Publication date:

18 December 2010

Length of book:

300 pages

Publisher

Lexington Books

ISBN-13: 9780739150597

The political emergence of evangelical Christians has been a signal development in America in the past quarter century. And while their voting tendencies have been closely scrutinized, their participation in the policy debates of the day has not. They continue to be caricatured as anti-intellectual Bible thumpers whose views are devoid of reason, logic, or empirical evidence. They're seen as lemmings, following the cues of Dobson and Robertson and marching in lock step with the Republican party on the "culture wars" issues of abortion, gay rights, and guns.
Is The Good Book Good Enough? remedies the neglect of this highly influential group, which makes up as much as a third of the American public. It offers a carefully nuanced and comprehensive portrait of evangelical attitudes on a wide range of policies and their theological underpinnings. Each essay applies an evangelical lens to a contemporary issue - environmentalism, immigration, family and same-sex marriage, race relations, global human rights, foreign policy and national security, social welfare and poverty, and economic policy. The result thoroughly enriches our understanding of evangelicalism as a prism through which many view a wide range of policy debates.

1 Introduction:The Evolving Policy Agenda of Evangelical Christians
2 Section I. Engaging America: Evangelical Approaches to Domestic Policy Questions
3 1. Evangelicals and the Environment: From Political Realism to a Politics of Freedom
4 2. Evangelicals and Poverty
5 3. To Do Justly and Love Mercy: Using Scripture to Guide Criminal Justice Policy
6 4. Enlightened Economics and Free Markets
7 5. Better Late Than Never? Evangelicals and Comprehensive: Immigration Reform
8 Section II. Engaging the World: Evangelical Views on Global Issues
9 6. The Roots of Evangelical Humanitarianism and International Political Advocacy
10 7. Evangelicals and Foreign Policy in an Era of Conflict
11 8. "The New Internationals": Human Rights and American Evangelicalism
12 9. Evangelicals, Pakistan, and the war in Afghanistan: Scriptural Resources for National Security Issues
13 Section III. Engaging Culture: Counterforce or Capitulation?
14 10. Love Rightly Understood: Reflections on the Substance, Style, and Sprit of Evangelical Activism and (Same-Sex) Marriage Policy
15 11. Evangelicals and the Elusive Goal of Racial Reconciliation: The Role of Culture, Politics, and Public Policy
16 12. Politics, Evangelicals, and the Unavoidability of Metaphysics
17 13. The Good Book As Policy Guide: Characteristics, Critiques, and Contributions of Evangelical Public Policy Participation

David Ryden's edited volume makes a very strong contribution at both a descriptive and normative level. Scholars and citizens concerned to discover a fair description of the current state of evangelical public policy engagement will find a state of the art depiction within these pages. Meanwhile, scholars, activists, and others who are looking for fresh thinking about how evangelical theological and ethical convictions should inform public policy views on a wide range of issues will also find considerable help in this book. Especially important are chapters on neglected issues such as financial reform, criminal justice reform, and the war in Afghanistan. I highly recommend this very important book.