Toward an Evangelical Public Policy: Political Strategies for the Health of the Nation, edited by Ronald J. Sider and the late Diane Knippers, has just published been published (Baker Book Company, 381 pp., $24.99). The two editors have been co-chairs of the National Association of Evangelicals' project "Toward an Evangelical Framework for Public Engagement."

The introduction conveys a sense of destiny as it notes the increasing percentage of evangelicals among voters in the U.S., the election of evangelicals as presidents on several continents (sometimes unfortunately, as in the case of Rios Montt in Guatemala), and the declining numbers and influence of mainline Protestantism.

It is an important book, one that should be widely read by evangelicals, moderates, and all concerned people, since it is a serious venture at engaging contemporary issues in a reflective way, resisting the temptation to engage in direct propaganda about specific proposals and even acknowledging that "evangelicals do not have the kind of sustained, theologically grounded reflection on social and political issues that shapes some other Christian traditions" (9).

David Gushee and Dennis Hollinger remind us that evangelicalism is historically contingent, a development that occurred only because of the "drift" of the churches from the classic and vital Christian faith (121). Being a reform movement, they go on to say, it is the one that is really orthodox. Still they acknowledge that its complex history has led at times to fragmentation, truncation, or disorientation.

Appropriately, then, the volume gets a running historical start. Several contributors note that evangelicals were involved in ambitious political campaigns (especially for temperance) early in the 20th century, then entered a period of passivity and withdrawal after the fundamentalist-modernist controversies over evolution and biblical criticism, and only at mid-century undertook the steady task of participating in democratic politics. The rise of the "neo-evangelical" movement is marked by the founding of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) in 1942, the evangelistic campaigns of Billy Graham, the founding of Christianity Today, and the "Christianized Republicanism" of the Eisenhower era (24). The neo-evangelicals, it is noted, generally tried to distance themselves from the anti-Catholicism, anti-Semitism, and crusading anti-Communism of some other conservatives.

A frank survey of statements by the NAE reveals that it expressed reservations about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (used more recently by evangelicals to protest violations of religious freedom around the world); supported the Bricker Amendment to keep any treaty from taking precedence over the Constitution; responded with silence to the Brown v. Board of Education school desegregation decision (1954), the Civil Rights Act (1963), and the Voting Rights Act (1964); and condemned the burning of draft cards as "the new treason." While the NAE once opposed state aid to religious schools, desegregation and a series of court decisions regulating public education led to encouragement of "Christian day schools" and more recently support for vouchers and "charitable choice."

Two authors remind us of the complex origins of the rise of the televangelists (49, 92-93, 346 nn. 26-27). For decades the Federal Communications Commission required stations to devote time to religious programming, and the National Council of Churches was the organization they usually turned to. But then stations began charging for time, creating a new opportunity for the televangelists with their broad audience and their impassioned fundraising appeals. This is a chapter in cultural history that deserves extended research.

The recent past, of course, has been shaped by the rise of the Christian Right. Two contributors mention the influence of Francis Schaeffer's A Christian Manifesto (1981), with its attack on "secular humanism" and its call for civil disobedience against the trends of the time (26, 51). Many organizations are listed (27-28), but on the political scene the New Religious Right has been represented chiefly by Jerry Falwell's Moral Majority and Pat Robertson's Christian Coalition. A number of evangelicals have expressed the fear that they would become captive to the Republican Party, and of course there have been groups like Evangelicals for Social Action and the Sojourners Community that have made the difference clear.

Several contributors acknowledge that evangelicals have much to learn from others.

One potential source, mentioned several times, is the Catholic tradition, with its respect for the common good, its concern for the dignity of and participation by all people, and its principle of subsidiarity, which sees the role of government to be to help other agencies do their work more effectively, sometimes by staying out of their affairs, sometimes by intervening to get them back on track. Glen Stassen adds the important point that Catholic political thought seeks the well-being of society as a whole and uses a respectful "public language" that can be understood and embraced by non-Christians (107, 109; cf. also 332).

Looking in a different direction on the theological spectrum, several articles mention the writings of John Howard Yoder and the tradition of the Anabaptists and other peace churches. Glen Stassen sets Yoder in dialogue with the just war tradition and argues that just war properly understood, as "just peacemaking," may be "the most effective way to implement Jesus' way of peace and justice in a sinful world" (298).

Gushee and Hollinger sketch the contours of an evangelical ethic, drawing upon a number of traditions and thinkers. Nicholas Wolterstorff looks at the theological foundations of an evangelical political philosophy, offering a complex treatment of Romans 13 (including its background in the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings) and engages in an instructive debate with Yoder over the nature and role of "the powers." Ronald J. Sider explores biblical language about justice and righteousness; he emphasizes the requirement to share with the needy, since "the common good of the community outweighed unrestricted economic freedom" (176), and interprets the Sabbatical Year to mean that all persons and all families ought to have access to resources and the opportunity to share in production (181). Paul Marshall calls attention to the biblical language of offenses against the powerless "crying out" — and God as the one who hears that outcry (312-15). Clive Calver and Galen Carey of World Relief devote a whole chapter to "caring for the vulnerable," calling attention, as Sider also does, to the task set out for the ruler (Ps. 72:4): to "defend the cause of the poor, offer deliverance to the needy, and crush the oppressor" (190, 237). They call specifically for economic diversity in both schools and neighborhoods (233, 242) and set the goal of eliminating absolute poverty in the U.S. Scott Rodin's chapter on stewardship offers a wide-ranging reminder that we are never the ultimate owners of creation, that ownership leads all too readily to control and then denial to others, and that the Bible not only is full of pronouncements against the rich but closely links the realm of God with the poor.

In ways like these the volume is in harmony with many voices in the mainstream of Protestant and Catholic Christianity.

But there are also other tones of voice. Joseph Loconte of the Heritage Foundation complains that Christianity has never been "under greater assault" than today, that the faith-based agenda has been "crippled in the Congress and lambasted in the press," and that American history is being taught not as a struggle to live out our high principles but as "a sorry tale of broken promises" (195-96). He evokes the double bind that traditional ideals are "now under sustained attack" and there will be "continued cultural breakdown absent faith commitment" (198).

Tom Minnery and Glenn T. Stanton of Focus on the Family deplore the relativism about sex and marriage that make cohabitation the fastest-growing family form, never-married parenthood the fastest growing form of single-parent family, and seek to broaden marriage to include same-sex relationships. These are rejected as contrary to the image of God and the nature of reproduction, denying a child access to a father and a mother, and making adult fulfillment the purpose of marriage.

Don Browning is mentioned by several authors. Founder of the Religion, Culture, and Family Project, he was a vocal critic of the Presbyterian study paper, "Living Faithfully with Families in Transition," several years ago. Our readers will recall that one faction in the debate emphasized the traditional family as normative, while another looked at the actual shape of the family, past and present, and at the economic pressures that face single-parent families in particular. That Presbyterian debate, which was finally resolved after a year's deferral and further study, is probably an accurate reflection of the tensions that are widespread in the thinking of the churches and of society at large.

Paul Marshall of Freedom House discusses a number of issues involving human rights — whether they are universal or simply an invention of Western culture; to what extent "negative" civil and political rights should be supplemented by "positive" economic, social, and cultural rights; whether rights tend to obscure responsibilities; to what extent they can be effectively embodied in law and in international treaties; and, of course, the danger that they will be used as "trumps," claimed for every cause with the hope of overriding all other considerations.

There are few surprises when it comes to current lines of division between evangelicals and mainline Christians and their political alignments. What we already know tends to be confirmed. While several chapters lay out the biblical and doctrinal bases for social concern, there is no tone of outrage over the impacts of a globalized economy, the use of diplomacy and military force to protect and extend it, and the lack of effective measures to safeguard labor and the environment. Indeed, several conservative organizations are represented among the contributors to this volume. Outrage is directed toward sexual irregularities, indifference to the sanctity of human life, and religious persecution, obviously an important issue to mission organizations engaged in vigorous evangelism everywhere in the world.

It is no surprise, then, that these differences are reflected in party affiliations. A concluding chapter comments that the Democrats have been strong on social justice and weak on sexual morality, often because of a "secularist, libertarian approach to individual freedom issues"; the Republicans have promoted personal responsibility and respect for human life, but have often been insensitive to environmental stewardship, influenced by a business orientation that seeks lower taxes and reduced regulation (331, 339-40). And this says nothing about the significant issues of church and state that have been raised by evangelicals and the Republican Party.