Reimagining Biblical Politics - by Michael J Rhodes (Paperback)

About the Book

Invites Christians to rediscover the startling, strange, beautiful, and often-neglected world of biblical politics and to imagine together how the Bible might transform our political witness in the world.

Book Synopsis

The Bible calls us to live as disciples of Jesus in every area of our lives, including politics. But how do we live as faithful political disciples when politics has become so toxic?

Too often, Scripture's political witness is reduced to a few verses to defend our partisan political team. For some, political neutrality is the gold standard in congregational life. But if God's people refuse to pursue political discipleship, someone--or something--will disciple our politics for us.

Rather than rehashing America's current political context or attempting to offer a blueprint for contemporary political practice, this book invites readers from across the political spectrum to rediscover the startling, strange, beautiful, and often-neglected world of biblical politics and imagine how the Bible might transform our political witness. Each chapter offers a snapshot of a different biblical text or figure--such as Esther, the Torah, Jeremiah, Paul, the midwives of Exodus, and Jesus--and explores how they offer us a vision of political discipleship. To help us imagine how we might move from Scripture to political action, the author includes stories of faithful political discipleship from around the world and throughout church history.

With a foreword by Carmen Joy Imes, Reimagining Biblical Politics empowers us to practice faithful political discipleship in our churches, neighborhoods, and communities.

About the Author

Michael J. Rhodes (PhD, Trinity College / University of Aberdeen) is lecturer in Old Testament at Carey Baptist College in Auckland, Aotearoa / New Zealand. He publishes in the areas of biblical studies, economic ethics, justice, and discipleship and is the author of several books, including Just Discipleship, Formative Feasting, and Practicing the King's Economy (with Robby Holt and Brian Fikkert). Rhodes (an ordained EPC pastor) and his family currently live in South Auckland, where they are part of an intentional community engaged in Christian community development.