Eerdmans

Good and Bad Ways to Think
about Religion and Politics
Robert Benne
Clear, useful guide to a subject too often characterized by confusion and loud rhetoric
Anger is what provoked Robert Benne to write this
book. “There is nothing greater than indignation to
stimulate a writer to write,” he says, “and my outrage
has been stirred mightily by reading so many wrongheaded
‘takes’ on how religion and politics ought to be
related.”
In this book Benne describes and analyzes the two
main bad ways of relating religion and politics —
“separationism” and “fusionism” — and offers a better
way that he calls “critical engagement.” He first explains
this approach in theoretical terms and then reflects on
the practical ways in which such convictions reach the
public sphere of policy. This better way derives in large
part from the Lutheran tradition, with a few tweaks
to adapt the tradition to deal with the new challenges
of our present situation.
“Robert Benne’s thoughtful take on the right relation between
religion and politics is both theologically perceptive and
politically shrewd. Our politics would be better if those active
in the public square followed his wise and balanced prescriptions.”
— James Nuechterlein
Senior Editor at Large, First Things
Robert Benne is Director of the Roanoke College
Center for Religion and Society and Jordan-Trexler
Professor of Religion Emeritus at Roanoke College,
Salem, Virginia. Among his other books are Reasonable
Ethics: A Christian Approach to Social, Political, and Economic
Concerns and Quality with Soul: How Six Premier Colleges
and Universities Keep Faith with Their Religious Traditions.
Of related interest
The Desecularization
of the World
Peter L. Berger
978-0-8028-6387-4
The Naked Public Square
Richard John Neuhaus
978-0-8028-0080-0
Liberty
Glenn Tinder
978-0-8028-0392-4
Religion & Society
August / 978-0-8028-6364-5
5½″ × 8½″ paperback
120 pages / $14.00 [£8.99]
10 www.eerdmans.com toll free 800 253 7521