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Description edit
Arguing from Scripture and history, Dr. Boyd makes a compelling case that whenever the church gets too close to any political or national ideology, it is disastrous for the church and harmful to society. Dr. Boyd contends that the American Evangelical Church has allowed itself to be co-opted... read more
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Summary edit
Pushes back against conservative Christianities accusation that the left is rewriting history, and insists that it's actually the conservatives that have rewritten history by making the founding fathers out to be people who thought like them. It does a great job at debunking the idea that... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)
Quotes edit
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“When kingdom of God citizens aspire to acquire Caesar's authority to accomplish 'the good,' we sell our kingdom birthright for a bowl of worldly porridge.”
- Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
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Laws, enforced by the sword, control behavior but cannot change hearts.
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The lesson of history, a lesson the Devil has known all along, is this: The best way to defeat the kingdom of God is to empower the church to rule the kingdom of the world — for then it becomes the kingdom of the world! The best way to get people to lay down the cross is to hand them the sword!
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By God’s design, people are not to be won over to his kingdom primarily by our clever arguments, scary religious tracts, impressive programs, or our sheer insistence that they are going to hell unless they share our theological opinions. No, they are to be won over by the way in which we replicate Calvary to them. They are to see and experience the reality of the coming kingdom in us.
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Hence, in the name of winning the world for Jesus Christ, the church often became the main obstacle to believing in Jesus Christ.
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Minimally, this recognition implies that we can never assume that any particular nation—including our own—is always, or even usually, aligned with God.
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The kingdom of God advances by people lovingly placing themselves under others, in service to others, at cost to themselves. This “coming under” doesn’t mean that followers of Jesus conform to other people’s wishes, but it does mean that we always interact with others with their best interests in mind.
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In fact, a kingdom-of-God citizen could (and should) argue that the Christian version of the kingdom of the world was actually the worst version the world has ever seen. For this was the version of the kingdom of the world that did the most harm to the kingdom of God. Not only did it torture and kill, as versions of the kingdom of the world frequently do—it did this under the banner of Christ. If violence and oppression are demonic, violence and oppression “in the name of Jesus” is far more so.
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We evangelicals may be divorced and remarried several times; we may be as greedy and as unconcerned about the poor and as gluttonous as others in our culture; we may be as prone to gossip and slander and as blindly prejudiced as others in our culture; we may be more self-righteous and as rude as others in our culture—we may even lack love more than others in the culture. These sins are among the most frequently mentioned sins in the Bible. But at least we’re not gay!
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The kingdom of the world is centrally concerned with what people do; the kingdom of God is centrally concerned with how people are and what they can become. The kingdom of the world is characterized by judgment; the kingdom of God is characterized by outrageous, even scandalous, grace.
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The kingdom of God is not a Christian version of the kingdom of the world. It is, rather, a holy alternative to all versions of the kingdom of the world, and everything hangs on kingdom people appreciating this uniqueness and preserving this holiness.
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First Sentence edit
Like many evangelical pastors in the months before the 2004 election, I felt pressure from a number of right-wing political and religious sources, as well as from some people in my own congregation, to "shepherd my flock" into voting for "the right candidate" and "the right position."
Table of Contents edit
Introduction
1. The Kingdom of the Sword
2. The Kingdom of the Cross
3. Keeping the Kingdom Holy
4. From Resident Aliens to Conquering Warlords
5. Taking Back America for God
6. The Myth of a Christian Nation
7. When Chief Sinners Become Moral Guardians
8. One Nation Under God?
9. Christians and Violence: Confronting the Tough Questions
Acknowledgments
Notes
Authors & Contributors edit
- Gregory A. Boyd (Author)
First Edition edit
Original Language: English
Publisher: Zonderva
Country: USA
Publication Date: 2005
ISBN: 0310267307
Page Count: 207
Publisher: Zonderva
Country: USA
Publication Date: 2005
ISBN: 0310267307
Page Count: 207
Classification edit
- Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
- Dewey: 322.10973
Notes for Parents edit
Reading Level: Young AdultsThis is an important book to be read by young Christians, because it helps to get rid of the unhealthy idea that the notion of a "Christian nation" with "Christian ideals" needs to be fearfully protected, and frees the Church to again focus on love.
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