My Top 5 Books on Christians in Politics

Picks from Stephen Mansfield, author of ‘The Faith of Barack Obama.’

The tireless lobbying and coalition building of evangelical politician William Wilberforce led ultimately to the abolition of British slavery in 1833. Pollock’s classic brilliantly portrays Wilberforce as the soul of Christian statecraft, the heroic champion of a biblical cause in an unforgiving age.

First published in the 1980s, Schaeffer’s classic is a declaration of Christian intent in the face of encroaching statism. Even if it had not been updated for the 21st century, it would still be a vital expression of activist biblical faith and righteous principles confronting secular culture.

Walter Judd was a medical missionary to China in the 1930s, a U.S. congressman in the 1940s, an anticommunist activist in the 1950s, and a leading conservative elder statesman until his death in 1994. As someone who endeavored always to serve biblical truth, he has much to teach Christians in the political sphere today.

Schlossberg gave us a timeless exposition of the biblical worldview in conflict with the false gods of Western culture. From the secular religion of politics to the secular religion of modern psychology, idols fall in this book like Dagon at the threshold of his temple.

This is just what we need: a seasoned theologian expounding biblical truth to inform our political thinking. Although we might disagree with Grudem on some issues, he sharpens us for the battles of our time.

Related Elsewhere:

Wilberforce: God’s Statesman, A Christian Manifesto, Missionary for Freedom, Idols for Destruction and Politics According to the Bible are available from Christianbook.com, Amazon.com, and other retailers.

Previous Top 5 lists have featured consumerism, TV & Movies, hell, heaven, technology, forgiveness, dating, poetry, C.S. Lewis, the historical Jesus, family ministry, the problem of evil, biographies of theologians, orphans, prayer, doubt, community, sports, and parenting.

Christianity Today has more music, movies, books, and other media reviews.

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The CT archives are a rich treasure of biblical wisdom and insight from our past. Some things we would say differently today, and some stances we've changed. But overall, we're amazed at how relevant so much of this content is. We trust that you'll find it a helpful resource.

Christianity Today January, 2012

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