“This issue of FrontLine will try to help you think through some of the questions. David de Bruyn (who is a South African pastor) opens by addressing the question of whether pastors should address political issues. Michael Riley asks whether it is ever permissible to opt for the lesser of two evils when making political choices.
The passing of John M. Perkins last Friday marked the loss of a man who not only shaped me from a distance but whom I also had the privilege of meeting a few times over the years. He was a civil rights activist, a preacher, a community developer, an evangelist, and a discipler and developer of Christian leaders, among many other things. Historian and Theologian Charles Marsh from the University of Virginia has called him the most influential African-American leader since Martin Luther King.
“The biblical claim that humanity is made as the imago Dei—the image of God—is not merely a sectarian doctrine; it is the most stable philosophical anchor for human dignity ever articulated.
“How do we resist the temptation of ecumenism yet love our neighbour? How can we biblically distinguish between church unity and civil cooperation, not mistaking engagement in an earthly sphere for endorsement in religious belief?” - Cripplegate
Also…
The United States in particular has always had a moralizing streak that was destined to take on an international bent. This should come as no surprise for a nation founded by the Puritans. - Providence
“the ‘consequentialist’ or ‘utilitarian’ approach (e.g. of Jeremy Bentham or John Stuart Mill), views the morality of a decision or action, based upon the anticipated result of that decision or action. It seeks to quantify the ‘highest good, for the greatest number,’ thereby reducing all ethical considerations to a ‘pleasure/pain’ calculus.” - Common Good
“Partisan … advance Christian ends with extrabiblical, and sometimes unbiblical, methods. Silent churches rightly reject the partisan model but embrace a kind of quietism, resulting in silence on political issues about which Christians really do need moral and scriptural guidance.” - TGC
“With a Biden administration and a Democrat–controlled Congress, conservatives will need to do plenty of yelling ‘stop!’ in the coming months….However, economic support for families is one area where social conservatives can and should find common ground with Democrats.” - Public Discourse
“An explainer on how the belief differs from other forms of nationalism, patriotism, and Christianity.” - C.Today
“The reader will learn much to his or her benefit about Aquinas from Krom. Still, I left the book not wholly convinced that a moral, economic, and political philosophy and theology of the virtues can do the work he hopes it can—that of providing practical guidance in and engaging with a confused world.” - Public Discourse
