ERS&P Vol. 3, No. 2

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Contents : The Evangelical Review of Society and Politics Vol. 3, No. 2

THE EVANGELICAL REVIEW OF SOCIETY AND POLITICS
VOL. 3, NO. 2, NOVEMBER 2009

Editorial: Looking Back Over Three Years of ERSP
Calvin L. Smith

ERSP FORUM

Paul Alexander, Peter Dixon, Brian Edgar, Thomas Simpson and Derek Tidball, “Evangelicals and War.”

ABSTRACT
The aim of the ERSP Forum is to provide an arena that allows Evangelical scholars to express their views without the constraints and cumbersome nature of debates normally carried out in academic journals. Contributors are therefore invited to comment briefly on a given topic and do not see the responses of their fellow contributors prior to publication. In this edition, the Editors of ERSP asked contributors to respond to the following question: "Commenting both as an Evangelical and a scholar within your particular academic discipline, what are your views on war?

ARTICLES

Stephen M. Vantassel (King's Evangelical Divinity School), “Pacifism and the Bible: Some Unresolved Questions.”

KEY WORDS
Pacifism. Biblical Theology. War. Non-Resistance. Violence.

ABSTRACT
This paper raises several biblical questions challenging the pacifists' contention that their view has more biblical support. The questions, paraphrased here, include, "Does the New Testament condemn war?", "Should the Old Testament narrative and characters contribute to our understanding of war?", "Can war fit within the command to love our neighbor?", "Is war evil?", "Have we misunderstood Christ?" and "How passive should Christians be?" Thus, rather than offer a critique of pacifism based on non-biblical arguments, this paper highlights areas where pacifism arguably appears problematic in light of the totality of biblical revelation.

G.J. Clarke, Andrew J.B. Cameron, and, Michael P. Jensen, “Towards a Christian understanding of the concept of Human 'community', with special reference to the praxis of a non-government human services delivery organisation.”

KEY WORDS
Community. Biblical Model of Care. Welfare. Social Services. Anglican.

ABSTRACT
This paper attempts to develop a coherent Christian understanding of an approach to the concept of community that will inform program and service development and delivery for a major Christian urban mission and community care organisation. It begins not with theories of community but with a biblical theology of community which forms the basis for synthetic theological and cultural conclusions. These, in turn, guide a series of statements which, taken together, are intended to provide decision-making principles for the care organisation, in this case, Anglicare Sydney.

David Cowan, “In Defence of the George W. Bush Christian Right Influence in American Presidential Politics since Nixon.”

KEY WORDS
Christian Right. America. Public Theology. God Strategy. Values Debate.

ABSTRACT
This article examines the recent literature critical of the purported Christian Right influence upon the administration of George W. Bush from 2000 to 2008. Critics condemn the way the movement organized and manipulated to secure political influence, even to the point of implying a Christian conspiracy to make America "holy", with Bush on a "mission from God". The article looks at the specific claims against Bush and puts this in historical context, concluding Bush was connecting to a broader conservative concern over values in America today. In this respect, he was no different than any other president in his approach because presidential candidates better at reaching the Christian base have met with more electoral success.

BOOK REVIEWS

Vinoth Ramachandra, Subverting Global Myths: Theology and the Public Issues Shaping Our World.
Reviewed by Chan-Woong Shin.

Carl Schmitt, Political Theology II: The Myth of the Closure of Any Political Theology.
Reviewed by Amos Yong.

Peter Goodwin Heltzel, Jesus & Justice: Evangelicals, Race and American Politics.
Reviewed by Timothy Lim Teck Ngern.

M.D. Daniel, Christians at the Border: Immigration, the Church, and the Bible.
Reviewed by Emmanuel Sule.

Andrew Sloane, At Home in a Strange Land: Using the Old Testament in Christian Ethics.
Reviewed by Stephen M. Vantassel.

Kenneth G. C. Newport and Crawford Gribben (eds), Expecting the End: Millennialism in Social and Historical Context.
Reviewed by Geoffrey Troughton.

ERS&P Vol. 1, No. 1, (February, 2007)

ERS&P Vol. 1, No. 2, (October, 2007)

ERS&P Vol. 2, No. 1, (March, 2008)

ERS&P Vol. 2, No. 2, (October, 2008)

ERS&P Vol. 3, No. 1, (February, 2009)