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OverviewDo Christianity and modern liberal democracy share a common moral vision, or are they opposed and even hostile to each other? In Christian Faith and Modern Democracy, Robert Kraynak challenges the commonly accepted view that Christianity is inherently compatible with modern democratic society. Contrary to conventional wisdom, Kraynak argues that there is no necessary connection between Christianity and any form of government and that, in many important respects, Christianity is weakened by its close alliance with contemporary versions of democracy and human rights. Christian Faith and Modern Democracy was written, in part, to convince secular intellectuals that modern democracy needs God. But it was also written in response to the new consensus about politics that has emerged among Christian believers. Almost all churches and theologians now think that the form of government most compatible with Christianity is democracy and that the historic opposition of the Christian tradition to democracy and to various forms of liberalism was a mistake. What caused Christians to change their view of political authority and to embrace liberal democracy? Were they wise to change their view? This provocative book attempts to answer these questions by reexamining the relationship between democracy and Christianity through the lens of St. Augustine’s distinction between the city of God and the earthly city, applied to the conditions of the modern age. Kraynak argues that St. Augustine’s teaching provides the basis for a Christian theory of constitutional government and permits a variety of legitimate forms of government, including constitutional democracy. Yet, unlike contemporary Christian doctrines, it does so without embracing the subversive premises of liberalism that have threatened to turn the Christian faith into little more than a mirror image of the modern world. Sure to spark controversy among secular intellectuals and Christian believers alike, this insightful volume is an outstanding work of political philosophy with a firm foundation in theology. Full Product DetailsAuthor: Robert P. KraynakPublisher: University of Notre Dame Press Imprint: University of Notre Dame Press Dimensions: Width: 15.20cm , Height: 2.90cm , Length: 22.90cm Weight: 0.708kg ISBN: 9780268022655ISBN 10: 0268022658 Pages: 352 Publication Date: 21 October 2001 Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate , Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly Format: Hardback Publisher's Status: Active Availability: In Print  This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us. Table of ContentsReviewsKraynak brings a much-needed sense of prudence and political sobriety to Christian political discourse. ...Kraynak has written an impressive book. Christian Faith and Modern Democracy raises a series of tough questions about the relationship of Christianity and liberal democracy that no one who thinks seriously about these matters can afford to ignore. Kraynak's book promises to play an essential role in this debate for the foreseeable future. --Modern Age, Vol. 46 No. 1 & 2, Winter Spring 2004 It is the great virtue of Robert P. Kraynak's Christian Faith and Modern Democracy to question the assumptions of both sides in the culture war. Kraynak strongly supports those who advocate a greater role for the church in American public life. He powerfully defends the view that liberalism is incapable of vindicating the human dignity on which liberal rights are based. --First Things Kraynak brings a much-needed sense of prudence and political sobriety to Christian political discourse. ...Kraynak has written an impressive book. Christian Faith and Modern Democracy raises a series of tough questions about the relationship of Christianity and liberal democracy that no one who thinks seriously about these matters can afford to ignore. Kraynak's book promises to play an essential role in this debate for the foreseeable future. --Modern Age, Vol. 46 No. 1 & 2, Winter Spring 2004 .. . careful and broad-ranging scholarship, and, more significantly, ... clear and provocative argument about the relationship between Christianity and politics. --Christian Scholar's Review, Spring 2004, Vol. 33 No. 3 [R]eadable and learned, often trenchant.... --ARC: The Journal of the Faculty of Religious Studies at McGill University, 2003 In Christian Faith and Modern Democracy, Robert Kraynak offers a bold and at times controversial analysis of the relationship between the church and the modern democratic state. For many... the restatement of Augustine's doctrine of the two cities... will at least encourage debate--and thought. --Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, August 2003, Vol. XV No. 1/2 This is a masterful work and, at the very least, a necessary corrective to a contemporary Christian tendency to blindly endorse anything that can be labeled democratic. This book should be required reading for students (let alone teachers) of politics and is heartily recommended for the educated reading public. --Markets & Morality, Vol. 6 No. 1 Kraynak skillfully dismantled the illusory neutrality of liberalism. The book serves as a welcome reminder that a robust social pluralism is incompatible with the totalizing and homogenizing force of the modern welfare state. --The Intercolliagate Review, Fall 2002 Author InformationRobert P. Kraynak is professor of political science and director of the Center for Free Western Civilization at Colgate University. He is the co-editor of In Defense of Human Dignity, also published by the University of Notre Dame Press. Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |
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