Christianity, Politics, and the Predicament of Evil by Bradley B. Burroughs

Abstract

Reviewed by: Christianity, Politics, and the Predicament of Evil by Bradley B. Burroughs Robert Benne Christianity, Politics, and the Predicament of Evil. By Bradley B. Burroughs. Lanham: Lexington Books/Fortress Academic, 2019. 249 pp. This dense and wide-ranging book by a young Methodist theological ethicist, Bradley Burroughs, is a reworking of a doctoral thesis done at Candler School of Theology at Emory University. But what a thesis! He incorporates a huge body of historical and contemporary theological ethics in order to make his case for a "constructive theological ethic of politics" (xii). He seeks to articulate a Christian notion of politics as they ought to be, not as they currently are. After surveying what an ideal politics would look like in the biblical City of God, he shows how that ideal is limited and corroded by the "predicament of evil" in this world. Given that predicament, Burroughs then examines the ecclesial politics developed by Stanley Hauerwas, which he calls "soulcraft." In contrast to that sort of politics, the author draws on the approach to worldly politics worked out by Reinhold Niebuhr, which he calls "statecraft." In the final part of the book he attempts to develop a theological ethics of politics that constructively relates the two contrasting approaches. That is the main outline of the challenging project. However, that bare outline does not do justice to the enormous amount of [End Page 463] theological literature that he employs. The Christian writers he draws upon are great in number, as are his bibliographical references. His argument is extensive and highly textured. However, this reviewer has serious questions about one of his choices of theologians. In trying to engage the worldly theological ethics of Niebuhr, why would he pick Stanley Hauerwas as a supplier of ecclesial political virtue? Hauerwas, along with his mentor, John Howard Yoder, developed a neo-sectarian ecclesial ethic that emphasizes non-violence and non-coercion. That sort of ethic makes it an unlikely partner for engaging Niebuhrian realism. Why would he not choose a theological ethic that could more positively and creatively engage worldly political ethics? Any number of Reformed, Catholic, or Lutheran theologians could provide something more amenable to engagement with political realism. For example, I have attempted to show—from a Lutheran perspective—how a broader Christian moral and intellectual tradition can critically engage the political sphere. In Good and Bad Ways to Think about Religion and Politics (Eerdmans, 2010), I show how well-formed Christian individuals and voluntary associations critically engage political ideologies and policies. In this complex process Christian values play a crucial role, but many other factors such as self-interest, different theories of justice, social location, and loyalty to one's peer group also shape such engagement. Burrough's attempt in Part III to relate soulcraft and statecraft, is rather unsatisfying, partly because of his choice of Hauerwas as the main supplier of soulcraft. He is aware that such reliance on theological ethics of the Hauerwasian sort has been sharply criticized for "concentrating exclusively on the negative service that the church offers to the state by confronting its pretensions, effectively renouncing the notion that Christians should contribute positively to the state's political life" (222). Yet he commends, rightly, I believe, the prophetic nature of such an approach. But more is needed: a larger Christian vision that has a more positive thrust. Because he does not supply that vision in Part III, he takes up few concrete issues. The one he deals with in some detail involves his sharp criticism of George W. Bush's decision to go to war against Iraq. He mentions other justice issues but is rather silent on those that concern large numbers of Christians, for example, [End Page 464] religious liberty and the protection of human life at its beginning and end. Nevertheless, this is an impressive effort to discern how Christians might live faithful political lives. It will be fruitful reading for seminarians and doctoral students. Robert Benne Institute of Lutheran Theology Brookings, South Dakota Copyright © 2020 Johns Hopkins University Press and Lutheran Quarterly, Inc.