Political Engagement as Biblical Mandate

A collection of essays that looks at the infusion of public debate and religious arguments with particular focus on American public forum. With the current climate of argument as to the maturing of our culture into a post-Christian secularism and the increase in religious and ideological diversity, the free expression of religious ideas in public debate exacerbates civic tension and undermines a society's ability to solve its most urgent problems. This book seeks to make the case that religiously informed thought has played and can continue to play a constructive role in the public forum over domestic and international issues that are weighted with moral content.

"A genuine manifesto! But one charged with and rooted in the words of Scripture, calling the church to a renewed faithfulness in its commitment to the well-being of the human community. Hanson's passionate convictions are matched by his openness to other views. Like the prophets of old, he sets forth a strong critique of our inattention to the sociopolitical world, but that critique is on the way to an imaginative and biblical vision of the way it should and can be. Some readers may find themselves uncomfortable at times, but that is the reason they should keep reading." --Patrick D. Miller, Princeton Theological Seminary

Prof Paul Hanson has taught at Harvard since 1971. His research interest are Hebrew prophecy, biblical theology, Jewish literature of the Second Temple Period and the religion of the ancient cultures of Mesopotamia and Egypt.