Powers, People and Politics
I’m a fan of N.T. Wright (or at least as much of a fan as a Gen-Xer can be), and I was fine that he brought along his buddy, Michael Bird, to explore what Christian engagement in the political realm should look like.
Jesus and the Powers (1) is a rather short book for such a such a large and complex topic. The authors proclaim that the book only has one objective: “To say that, in an age of ascending autocracies, in a time of fear and fragmentation, amid carnage and crisis, Jesus is King, and Jesus’ kingdom remains the object of the Church’s witness and work.” (2). Yet, the vast majority of the book seeks to explain the nuanced and somewhat mysterious relationship between King Jesus and the current operating ‘powers’ and how, considering this, the church should be engaging in politics.
It seems to me that the primary motivation for writing this book was to address the author’s concerns about the unhealthy extremes of ‘left’ and ‘right’ politics in western democracies. I arrived at this conclusion for a few different reasons:
First, although the title of the book includes the word ‘powers’ in it, they do not, in my view, do a sufficiently in-depth look at what the powers are and how they function in relation to King Jesus in this current age. In particular, the concept of Jesus ‘reconciling the powers’ (which had been previously described as human leaders, political systems, and angelic beings) brings up more questions and creates lack of clarity as it relates to divine rule and earthly governance. This issue was highlighted in several online book reviews (3), so I won’t belabour the point in this blog. Suffice it to say, Woodward (4), would likely have some interesting pushback or tweaks to Wright and Bird’s handling of the powers.
Second, throughout the middle of the book (pages 113-121) the authors bring up the question of whether Christians should exercise civil disobedience to the point of violence. They propose this complex question and dip their toes in an answer over the next 7 pages. LiVecche (5) would likely want to broaden and deepen their answer several times over.
Third, the authors spend a significant amount of ink at the end of their book critiquing Christian Nationalism (extreme right) and Civic Totalism (extreme left) and conclude their book by making their case for a liberal democracy. This is likely the most important part of the book as it spells out the implications of their theology and political theory in a real-world way. It would appropriately offend both right and left extremes in a healthy way and I suspect both Hicks (6) and Mounk (7) would align themselves with the author’s assertion that liberalism/liberal democracy is the best political option on the table in the already-but-not-fully-realized Kingdom of God on earth.
Because the book spends the majority of its time in the realm of ideas, theology and theory, it was a nice ‘breath of fresh air’ when the authors gave some pragmatic ideas for social/political engagement on page 89. If there’s a brilliance to this book, it’s that it provides a relatively accessible theological framework for Christians who are doing practical political acts in service of others–providing an important ‘why’ behind the their actions.
Like many of Wrights other books, Jesus and the Powers is filled with a smattering of other issues that Wright cares about—and his not-too-subtle critique of dispensationalism and rapture-focussed Christianity that characterizes much of the American evangelical church might turn off the very readers (on the right) that need to digest the content of this book.
As I start to approach my word limit, I am conscious of the fact that this reads more like a book review than it should. So, a few personal thoughts:
1. I was surprised—but not surprised—to see the Christian University near my house (and where my two children are attending) used as an example of Civic Totalism. Surprised that it was mentioned in a book by a UK and Australian author, but not surprised because the pressure to ‘fall in line’ with current public opinion on social matters is increasingly felt for Canadian Christians. If a Christian school cannot award Law degrees because they hold to a historic view of human sexuality (which was the lawsuit against the University that the authors reference), how long until they cannot award any degrees in any discipline?
2. At times I was frustrated by the book addressing significant and complex issues and then not really doing the topic justice. One such example is when they state: “God is the maker of heaven and earth, who raises up kings and empires…” (8) and I want to ask, “Really? Every leader is God’s chosen one?” Are we not going to explore more fully and nuance more carefully Divine sovereignty and human responsibility and important ways we might understand how those intersect with each other? How does a leaders appointment fit within the sovereign/predestined verses God’s preferential/permissivee will? This was just one of several issues that was only superficially addressed, but (on the other hand) the simplicity also made the book readable. So, I find myself with a bit of a love/hate relationship in this regard.
3. The clarion call to the church (encapsulated by a quote from Tim Keller on page 173) to be a community that is teaching Jesus followers to be people of both conviction and empathy is a deep passion for me and one that I delight to see any time it is recommended to God’s people in this polarized culture that we live in.
In conclusion, I found this book easy to read and yet at times felt that the easy reading sacrificed some necessary depth in the important matters that the book was seeking to address. In the end, if helps pull a few folks from the far left and far right into a more healthy ‘middle ground’ it will be well worth the price of publication!
(1) N.T. Wright and Michael F. Bird, Jesus and the Powers: Christian Political Witness in an Age of Totalitarian Terror and Dysfunctional Democracies (London: SPCK Publishing, 2024).
(2) N.T. Wright and Michael F. Bird, Jesus and the Powers: Christian Political Witness in an Age of Totalitarian Terror and Dysfunctional Democracies (London: SPCK Publishing, 2024) xiii.
(3) https://libertarianchristians.com/2024/04/19/book-review-jesus-powers/
(4) J.R. Woodward, The Scandal of Leadership: Unmasking the Powers of Domination in the Church (Wyoming, USA: 100 Movements Publishing, 2023).
(5) Marc LiVecche, The Good Kill: Just War and Moral Injury, 1st ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2021).
(6) Stephen Ronald Craig Hicks, Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault, Expanded edition (Redland Bay, QLD: Connor Court Publishing Pty, 2019).
(7) Yascha Mounk, The Identity Trap: A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time (NY: Penguin Press, 2023).
(8) N.T. Wright and Michael F. Bird, Jesus and the Powers: Christian Political Witness in an Age of Totalitarian Terror and Dysfunctional Democracies (London: SPCK Publishing, 2024) 151.
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Scott Dickie
9 responses to “Powers, People and Politics”
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Scott, you mentioned Wright’s not-so-subtle critique of dispensationalism. His argument against, directly or indirectly, not only here but in his other works (is it the way he argues…like, the tenor / tone he sets?), probably does close some of the ears that probably need to hear what Wright has to say. I thought about my references to Thomas Kidd’s book in my previous post about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Kidd treats dispensationalism quite critically, particularly the way their eschatology influences American evangelicals and their view of modern-day Israel (without them even knowing it). I wonder if Kidd also excluded a portion of his audience who — like you said about Wright — “need to digest the content of (his) book” too.
Hi Travis,
Good clarifying question! Truthfully, I wasn’t meaning to suggest that Wright’s writing tone unnecessarily distances some people from his ideas. I actually find him to be fairly measured in his writing, although I think it’s hard for scholarly intellectuals to not come across as a bit arrogant at times. Perhaps Wright could be rightfully accused of being a bit trite or simplistic in his summary of the dispensationalist belief, but I don’t think his writing is necessarily inflammatory. More to the point: I believe many Evangelicals in North America our age and older were dogmatically taught a certain eschatology as divine truth. Our denomination (The Christian and Missionary Alliance) even had pre-millennialism in our statement of faith into the late 1990’s. It seems the previous Bible teachers/Pastors, so convinced of their quite new version of end times (maybe 200 years old now?), neglected to inform the church that there are other viable was of interpreting the end of this age and our transition into the eternal age. Consequently, anyone who does not fit the ‘correct’ pre-trib, pre-millennial box are immediately suspect and not worthy of serious consideration. Is that a fair assessment of the 60+ crowd that fills up your churches down south? Or is it more localized than ‘North America’?
Hi Scott,
Thanks for bringing in the other authors we have read. I was looking at Dr. LiVecche’s magazine Providence Magazine and they write (about themselves)…Founded in 2015, Providence examines global statecraft with Christian Realism. We are inspired by Christianity & Crisis, the journal Protestant theologian Reinhold Niebuhr founded in 1941 to argue for the moral and geopolitical imperative of American leadership against totalitarian aggression. We believe American Christians have a special duty to interpret America’s vocation in the world today. We seek to uplift the best of historic Christian political theology, to foster wider conversation about spirituality in politics, and to create a community of serious Christian public thinkers serving America and the world.
While I have skirted the topic of Political Theology for years, Wright and Bird ignite in me a need to read their other works.
There is an excellent review of the book, “Jesus and the Powers (NT Wright and Michael Bird) Review” by Joel Wentz. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndDQDWLNuoo
While Wentz also agrees that there are portions that rush along. He is quick to remind readers that the book is the tip of the iceberg to deeper and longer writings of the authors. He strongly suggests that for those who want more background and discussion to go to the author’s previous works (which are liberally referenced).
I should do that.
Again nice post.
Shalom.
Thanks for this link and resource Russell…I’ll take a look and see what other books Wentz is suggesting. LiVecche certainly has some of the better philosophical thinking around at least some areas that Wright’s book addresses, but I know it’s not as easy read either…thus the dilemma: adequately address a complex topic and become generally unreadable…or keep it accessible to most people and miss a thorough examination!
I appreciate how you dug into aspects of the book that I didn’t see (which is the beauty of this program, and the way we interact in these blogs). You referenced so many points that I instinctively was feeling as I read this book, and yet couldn’t quite put my finger on it, like you did.
Thanks for such a thoughtful critique. You have an exceptional mind Scott!
Scott,
I agree with John. You are quite the deep thinker and help us rise all the more to ‘think better’. Your “book review” was helpful. Maybe I should read your post first on the books that are difficult. (kidding) Your reference to Tim Keller’s quote made me think as to what made Keller so highly regarded. I believe he crossed so many divides but did not sacrifice the mission. The church does stand in the tension of navigating empathy and conviction in these divisive times.
I agree with you, Esther–Tim Keller was able to cross a lot of divides (or bridge them) precisely because he had BOTH empathy and convictions. With only empathy we adjust to accommodate others (and lose truth), and with only convictions we offend and violate others (and lose people). Keller’s brilliance was that his non-reactionary engagement and genuine empathy kept people in the room when he (humbly) shared his perspective (convictions). Someone smarter than me should examine his life and ministry as a seminar on how to effectively engage our current culture! He was one of the better ones at it.
Scott I learn a lot from how you review a book. I still struggle at times to find the nuances. I tend to lean into, “I can find something good and to learn from this” but you have a knack to honest critique the book. Now that you’ve said these things, I am finding myself agreeing with your assessment. Thank you!
Scott, now you’re just showing off saying this was a “short” book! 🙂 I found it long enough thankyouverymuch.
I was super impressed with how you pulled in so much from our other readings and how those authors might respond! I did not make all those connections. You pulled out all kinds of things that I either didn’t think of at all or had a brief thought about only to have it quickly escape from my brain. Thank you for all you point out about this book.