How the Nations Rage: Rethinking Faith and Politics in a Divided Age by Jonathan Leeman

How the Nations Rage: Rethinking Faith and Politics in a Divided Age Reviews

• 
  Noel Adams

  A lack of gospel precision has led us to equate co-belligerents in political causes with joint-heirs of the gospel. That idea has had serious consequences. Not everyone who is pro-life is a believer. Not everyone who voted for Hillary is an unbeliever. 'Co-belligerent' and 'Joint-heir' are NOT synonyms.
  
  Finally, a book I can whole-heartedly recommend on how to engage. While Leeman doesn't explicitly make the co-belligerent vs. joint-heir argument, he does say this:
  "But notice the stakes here: unless you are ready to deny or remove church membership to someone for his or her party membership, a pastor or church generally should not endorse or denounce one party or another or candidates from said party. When a church does, it effectively ties the name of Jesus to that party and subverts the mission of the church to being a branch of that party. Non-Christians will begin to view that church as a lobbying wing of a party and Christians as political operatives for that party. Talk about undermining the Gospel!" (149)
  
  Leeman, who holds a doctorate in political theology and is an elder at Capitol Hill Baptist Church, writes the first book on God and politics that I didn't find either wooden or flimsy. By explaining the way God covenantally relates to both the believer and the unbeliever, he offers solid wisdom for where to go from here. And it is now on my required reading list for my kids' government credit.
• 
  Samuel G. Parkison

  A clear, balanced, flat-footed proposal. Consistently Christian in every way. If it were in the hands of every member of every evangelical church in America, nothing but good would come of it.
• 
  Carissa Carns

  Really great book for thinking through the Christian's relationship with politics. Would recommend for really anyone living in the U.S.
  
  “There is more political power in the gospel and in being the church than there is in electing a president, installing a Supreme Court justice, or even changing a constitution.”
  
  "Governments serve gods. This is true of every government in every place ever since God gave governments to the world. The judge judging, the voter voting, the president presiding, all of them work for their gods. No citizen or officeholder is religiously indifferent or neutral."
  
  “Before and after America, there was and will be the church. The nation is an experiment. The church is a certainty.”
• 
  Brian

  This is a difficult book to review. Others have written more lengthy and detailed reviews, so I will limit comments to brief observations: (1) Leeman understands and communicates the complexity of politics for believers, especially in our day. He does not identify with any one political party but critiques both right and left for different reasons. This book helpfully avoid partisan politics. (2) I like the "not...but" structure of the chapters (Public Square: Not Neutral, but a Battleground of Gods; Bible: Not Case Law, but a Constitution; Christians: Not Cultural Warriors, but Ambassadors; etc.). (3) I appreciate the emphasis on gospel clarity and the centrality of the local church. (4) One of the most helpful features of the book are the numerous real-life illustrations of ordinary Christians making a "political" difference through engagement, love, friendship, and service in local communities. This was inspiring to read. (5) I find Leeman's humor to be cheesy and his general writing style lacking in elegance and fluidity. That made the book laborious to read. (6) That critique aside, I do think this is a book I'll recommend to others, especially fellow leaders in my church, as we try to navigate the complex and divisive political climate in which we live. Overall, I'd give the book 4 stars for content, and 3 for writing style—so, 3.5 stars.
• 
  Joan

  I had difficulty consistently comprehending this book. I began reading with great interest but soon became bogged down. The author's writing style just did not resonate with my logic encrusted brain. I found he was not concise and I sometimes lost track of what he was trying to communicate. For example, while writing about maintaining unity in the church when we differ on what the Bible says about an issue, he has us go off to think about the pastor's job description. (Loc 1437-1481/4319) Near the end of that section he writes, “I suspect you are beginning to feel how jumbled and complicated this topic is.” (Loc 1492/4319) Yes.
  
  I do have some major concepts from the book. This is an era of testiness in politics. We see confusion and conflict among Christians too. Leeman's first goal for this book is for us to rethink politics from a biblical perspective. He includes other goals as well but I think his first goal is the major one.
  
  Leeman writes that we cannot separate politics and religion. All of life is political and religious. Politics cannot be religiously neutral since every human worships God or a god. “Politics serves worship. Governments serve gods.” (Loc 660/4319) Behind every action is a worldview and behind that worldview is a god. The public square, he writes, “is a battleground of gods.” (Loc 693/4319) We can and must separate church and state, however. They “possess distinct God-given authorities with distinct jurisdictions.” (Loc 887/4319)
  
  We might look to the Bible to inform us on political issues. Leeman writes, “...the Bible does not tell us what to do on trade policy, carbon dioxide emissions, and public education. But it does tell us that whatever we do in these domains will be measured by the principles of righteousness and justice explicitly established in the Bible.” (Loc 1525/4319) We live out those principles through our local congregation. That requires God-given wisdom. Even Leeman notes that different political viewpoints and various Christians have differing views of what justice is. (Loc 3478/4319)
  
  Leeman writes, “...when the Bible isn't explicit and clear, let's leave room for Christian freedom.” (Loc 1709/4319) A great, even if often repeated, suggestion. Leeman notes how easy it is to misread the Bible. (Loc 1721/4319) He gives some principles on how to read the Bible politically but notes it is complicated. (Loc 1732/4319)
  
  At one point, Leeman writes that his concern is “to help you know how to have the conversation and think through different topics for yourself.” (Loc 2074/4319) At another point, “The bottom line here is that Christians need good judgment and wisdom.” (Loc 3122/4319) But how do we really help Christians develop that good judgment and wisdom?
  
  The topic of this book is not an easy one and I felt this book is not an easy one to read and digest. In the end, all I know for sure that this is a complex topic. Progress would require thinking through issues, something very hard to get politically adamant Christians to do.
  
  Food for thought: “If there is hope for the nation, it's through the witness and work of churches.” (Loc 4075/4319)
  
  I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.
• 
  Katie

  Across my lifetime, I have been pretty messed up by politics within the church. I've been in churches where the American flag is at the front and patriotic songs are sung during worship and sermons told me to vote Republican or else stand in God's judgment. I've gone to the exact opposite extreme in which I no longer salute the flag and feel like a little crazy anarchist when anyone would ask my political thoughts during the 2016 election. I live in a slight anxiety of condemnation from people who find out my political views are left-leaning.
  
  This book was a breath of fresh air to my politically panicky self.
  
  It discussed how churches are to be embassies of the kingdom of heaven, and how the ideals of justice and mercy should be first played out within the local church. It spoke to how both sides of the political spectrum can have good qualities, but that whenever these qualities replace a focus on God, they become idols. It spoke of how, whatever your political leaning, a follower of Christ must seek the Spirit's guidance to discern which vote is best or what actions should be taken to "love your neighbor, share the gospel, and do justice".
  
  Probably my biggest take away was the call to live graciously with others in your local church, even if they hold diametrically opposing political views. In the embassy of heaven, we are all seeking to serve the King and to live life with a view of eternity and a high view of God.
• 
  Guilherme Smee

  Eu simplesmente odeio livros que te enganam com o título. Este livro não tem nada a ver com tratar do assunto "por que se enfurecem as nações". É um livro sobre cristandade. Sobre uma religião que costuma se autoproclamar a única religião possível do mundo e sobre um país que costuma se autoproclamar o único possível do mundo. E os outros são esquecidos. É um livro de auto-ajuda às avessas. Isso porque ele ensina cristãos que não são cristãos a serem cristãos. E estadunidenses que não são estadunidenses a serem estadunidenses. O que não é muito difícil de se encontrar por aí. Pessoas que só são religiosas e patriotas da boca pra fora, mas em suas ações são uma desgraça. Se você estava esperando que esse livro explicasse por que as nações se enfurecem, vai se enfurecer também como eu. Porque as únicas nações que esse livro trata são a cristã e a estadunidense, as únicas que parecem importar no mundo, alé, é claro, da conjunção das duas, segundo o autor do livro. Péssimo.
• 
  Ashley

  Up until recently I've preferred to avoid politics. The topic is intimidating - I feel overwhelmed by all that I don't know. How can I make informed decisions on economic policies without a degree? Also I spent a good chunk of my childhood overseas and came back with a much more global identity and an ignorance of all but the major events of the US political landscape.
  
  I feel this tension between what we hope we can do in the world through government, while also conceding to the the reality that perfection is not something we will be able to achieve in this life. How do you hold both of these truths as you engage in politics?
  
  This book does a terrific job of exploring that. I was encouraged on multiple fronts. I came away more determined to do my part in government-making (pursuing justice) with an open-handedness that recognizes who is ultimately in control.
• 
  Kent

  Exceeded my expectations; not the same-old, same-old. Explains, among other things, how we can separate church and state but not religion and politics, why the separation of church and state is rigged against formal religion, how politics starts in the church, how to discern which political issues the church should directly address, what the respective spheres of authority are for the government and the church, why the mission of the church isn't to transform the city or redeem the culture, and what exactly justice is.
• 
  Kenoa Gallion

  Challenging, complex, and concise. Plenty of real life examples that make this book practical as well.
• 
  Andrea

  I would give this book 3.5. It's helpful in several areas, but I found it too basic and its arguments sometimes weak and contradictory.
  
  A lot of the early material in the book is review for me, but is a great starting place for anyone as they think about how to interact with our culture politically. The author argues that we all worship a god, whether it's a god with a little "g" or a god with a big "G." Despite claims to the contrary, no one is neutral in their beliefs.
  
  He goes on to argue that "the public square is inevitably slanted toward the secularist and materialist" because their gods come in unnoticed while the God of the organized church is explicit. He writes, "the separation of the church and state applies only to those who believe in organized church; hence the separation of church and state politically rigs the system against Christians." The gods of rights, equality and freedom become like trojan horses (we bring them in but since there is no agreement on how they are defined, they run amuck). We need to particularly be careful to not idolize freedom over justice.
  
  While we can't separate politics and religion (as all people are religious in the sense that they all worship some sort of god), we must separate church and state. Church and state are distinct authorities with distinct jurisdictions. The Bible is the book by which all political activity will be judged (for christians and non christians). In the absence of a new heart which desires to do God's will, God establishes government for the immediate purpose of justice, peace and order so that everyone should benefit. Government cannot change hearts, which is why God has authorized them to use force. The author argues that when the government drives outside of its lanes, or requires sin inside its lanes, you have no moral obligation to obey.
  
  While the government acts to preserve justice, at the same time, "the larger purpose is to help the church's redemptive purposes - it builds a stage for the story of redemption...States play a preservative role in and of themselves, but they exist to serve the larger redemptive purposes of salvation. " The author writes that "the work of government is a prerequisite to redemption" in that it is a platform for sustaining human life so that people may seek God. So the governments job is to preserve justice and to maintain an environment where the church can do its work.
  
  All that being said, the author consistently emphasizes the primary role of the church. He says, "We need to invest our political hopes first and foremost in our churches" and that "real political action starts in the teaching ministry of the church." We first need to be people of righteousness and justice and then do acts consistent with those characteristics. "As christians we should be the first to stop self-justifying and first to self-indict when necessary." Being around other believers who may not come to the same conclusions we do should drive us to be more like Christ as we interact with them and our world. The author writes, "Inside the local church is where a christian politics becomes complicated, authentic, credible, not ideologically enslaved, real." We should never give the impression that whatever is happening politically is of more importance than the gospel.
  
  I appreciated a lot of the points the author makes and his emphasis on the church.
  
  One of the big complaints I have about the book is that it doesn't really change anything. Most christians are going to agree with his main premises while most unbelievers are not. And, at the same time, Christians are going to disagree with his sub points. It doesn't really help bridge the gap between either believers and unbelievers on the main points, or between believers and other believers on the sub points.
  
  One of his main points is that justice is the main goal, but that wisdom has to be employed to determine how to apply biblical principles to maintain justice. Most believers would agree with that, but we are still going to come to some drastically different conclusions. Leeman acknowledges this, but it felt like he did more to describe and demonstrate the problem than to solve it. He shows that you can basically make a biblical argument for both sides of an issue so I guess there really is no solution. It was kind of frustrating for the subject matter to be so dependent on nuance. You could argue this, but then you would have to account for that, and then you would have to acknowledge the other thing and then someone else could say this and that wouldn't necessarily trump that so...you're both wrong...and you're both right. Who's more right? Whose argument is more based on scripture? The whole thing starts up again.
  
  Leeman writes that some issues have a straight line from a biblical principle to public policy and some have a jagged line that involves stringing together multiple biblical principles to come to a conclusion. But how do you even agree on which issues have straight lines and which have jagged ones? There are Christians who believe abortion is ok (which the majority of Christians believe to be a straight line issue) and that disagreement is repeated over innumerable issues. At the end of the discussion, it seems like it's all subjective which I hate because there is absolute truth...but how do we reach it/agree on it?
  
  So maybe it's not the author's fault that it comes across as so subjective considering the nature of the issue, but I felt at times that he was being subjective even while he was trying to give examples for demonstrating subjective vs. objective arguments. Some of his arguments seemed pretty weak and easily contradicted. Sometimes it seemed like it was just a matter of semantics.
  
  Overall, even though a lot of this seemed like review of things I already have processed or seemed like it wasn't really conclusively solving anything, I give it lots of credit for providing a wide variety of principles by which to think about politics, government, culture and interacting with the world around us. I would consider this a primer for the Christian and politics and recommend it to any Christian who wants to think biblically about politics. It's definitely worth reading to provide a good foundation and introduce some new ways of thinking about things. At the very least, you get a great picture of how a Christian processes his responsibility in his country as a "principled pragmatist" which is helpful as we all do the same. There's a clear presentation of the gospel, too, which always earns points from me.
  
• 
  Matt Galyon | readsandcoffee

  This was a helpful introduction to the intersection of Christian faith and politics. As the subtitle says, the main purpose of How the Nations Rage is to help the reader rethink faith and politics in our divided age. For the Christian, Leeman emphasizes who we are (identity in Christ) before what we do. I found this to be a helpful lens to view political engagement, as determining what we do before rightly seeing who we are oftentimes leads us astray. I'd highly recommend this to believers who are seeking to be engaged in political discussion but need a starting point, as well as those who have been engaged with the political process for some time.
• 
  Adrienne

  No way to give this book more than 5 stars? I am a Christ follower and read this book after being encouraged to by my church leadership and found it so helpful in creating in me a more Christ-centered lens through which to view my nation and politics. Though I do lean to one side of the aisle, my politics are not my true identity and this little book helped crystallize that even further for me. Interestingly enough I finished this book during our national Coronavirus events and it helped me gain some new holy calm. Read this brothers and sisters. Your identity ought to be in Christ and not your politics no matter what side you are on. Our common ground and platform is Jesus and from there we can advance the gospel.
• 
  Jeremy Mueller

  Leeman’s book, How the Nations Rage, asserts that the governments of this world are fundamentally raging against God’s divine order based on an examination of Psalm 2. Due to this reality, Leeman insightfully admonishes and encourages Christians to exercise “politics of a new creation by offering peace and mercy.” This book is especially relevant today as we consider the deep divide in our nation over politics. This impacts not just individuals but the church as well.
• 
  Trent Thompson

  I read this with my wonderfully tenacious book club.
  The book provides a framework for thinking about politics that upholds nuance, resists over-simplification, and, most importantly, begins with the premises that “our entire lives are fundamentally political because our entire lives are measured in relation to King Jesus and his claim on our whole person.” I recommend this read, especially in a small group. We had riveting discussions week after week. And we never yelled at one another.
• 
  Barry

  There is a great deal of wisdom in this book.
  Since I prefer reading to writing, I will offer the TGC review rather than writing my own:
  
  https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/re...
• 
  Matt

  I want all of my American brothers and sisters to read this book.
• 
  Matthew Rushing

  Absolutely the best book I’ve read on Christians and politics. It’s a must read for any American believer.
• 
  Evan

  Clear and levelheaded. This book actually changed my opinions. Nice.
• 
  Sam Knecht

  Leeman’s book will help any person interested in politics (Christian or not) rethink the foundations of the public square. How the Nations Rage will also help the Christian disenchanted with politics to rethink their basic allegiances (nation, family, work, church, etc.).
  
  Everyone pursuing certain political goals is serving their god or gods: the god of self-expression, the god of tradition, the God of the Bible, the god of privacy, etc. And the sooner we are honest about our foundational gods and values, the sooner we can work together to pursue true justice. Leeman calls Christians to be “principled pragmatists” in the public square—within the bounds of Christ-like morality and biblical principles, putting forth whatever pragmatic arguments work to persuade fellow citizens towards true justice.
  
  Inside the church, however, is where the world should first see heavenly justice on display. The church of Jesus Christ, the gathering of this King’s followers, should be the first place swords are beaten into plowshares, widows and orphans are advocated for, ethnic and class dividing walls are broken down, and the gospel’s justice is made visible. This book helped me see that Christians ought not to speak with political certainty where the Bible leaves room for wisdom. I’ve been guilty of this, and doing so actually divides the church where the Bible does not.
  
  Take these ideas and this personal application. Then explore them further in Leeman’s book.
• 
  Sarah Darok

  Amazing book.
  
• 
  Josh

  Such a helpful guide for our troublesome political climate. Leeman is very good at helping me understand how to love my country as a citizen of a truer, better country and kingdom.
• 
  Kent

  Listened to this audio just after finishing reading the book. (See my review of this book under the hardcover edition.) Helped me grasp better some of the concepts.
• 
  Kelton Zacharias

  Top contender for book of the year.
• 
  Alex Rea

  Timely and pragmatic. Leeman doesn’t simply bemoan the current state of affairs but proposes a way forward, particularly one that is gospel-centered.