Myth of a Christian Nation
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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 by the political right (and some by the political left) and exposes how this is harming the church’s unique calling to build the kingdom of God. In the course of his argument, Dr. Boyd challenges some of the most deeply held convictions of evangelical Christians in America—for example, that America is, or ever was, a “Christian nation” or that Christians ought to be trying to take America back for God. Dr. Boyd doesn’t totally grasp the early Christian understanding of the doctrine of the “two kingdoms,” and we would disagree with some of the statements he makes. However, we find it quite refreshing to hear an evangelical pastor boldly proclaim that trying to impose Christianity on non-believers through the power of government is not the way of Christ. 224 pp. Hardcover. Christianity Today: Boyd's intervention into the discussion is welcome. He is bold, passionate, and discerning, while still attempting to be charitable. Boyd doesn't pull punches, denouncing the nationalistic “idolatry” of American evangelicalism, which often fuses the cross and the flag. Boyd also calls without apology for a renewed Christian commitment to nonviolence, citing the Anabaptist refrains of John Howard Yoder, Stanley Hauerwas, and Lee Camp. But Boyd's claims can’t be dismissed as mere ranting of a Christian leftist. Rather, one senses that his are the expressions of a pastor’s broken heart which, every once in a while, bubbles over into a kind of restrained, low-boil anger.” |
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Myth of a Christian Nation
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