Christianity and Democracy in Global Context 

Editor, Christianity and Democracy in Global Context (Boulder, CO/San Francisco: Westview Press, 1993)
Description

In the past, Christianity has had both positive and negative influences on democracy. Christian churches have served as benevolent agents of welfare and catalysts of political reform. But they have also served as belligerent allies of repression and censors of human rights. Christian theology has helped to cultivate democratic ideas of equality, liberty, and responsibility. But it has also helped to perpetuate repressive ideas of statism, elitism, and chauvinism. In the future, Christian attitudes and actions concerning democracy will face a formidable challenge - both from inside and outside of the Christian community. From inside, new liberation and ecumenical movements will continue to challenge Christianity to lend greater aid to the poor and the oppressed and greater support to the cause of political reform and renewal. From outside, the collapse of socialist ideologies, the emergence of Islam, and the growing secularization of the West will challenge Christianity to develop a more coherent and consistent teaching on democratic law and politics. This collection brings together leading politicians, clerics, and academics of a variety of political positions and Christian persuasions to debate what Christianity has contributed in the past and what it should contribute in the future to the shape of democratic government around the world. It is a crucial contribution to current thought on religion and politics.
​Table of Contents
  • Foreword – Jimmy Carter
  • Catholicism and democracy: conflict, change, and collaboration – J. Bryan Hehir
  • Christianity and democracy in Europe – Wolfgang Huber
  • Christianity and democracy in Europe: the Christian democratic movement – Roberto Papini
  • "In common together": Christianity and democracy in America – Jean Bethke Elshtain
  • Toward a contemporary Christian democratic politics in the United States – James W. Skillen
  • A new order of religious freedom – Richard John Neuhaus
  • A feminist perspective: Christianity, democracy, and feminist theology – Rebecca S. Chopp
  • The promise of democracy: theological reflections on universality and liminality – Jon P. Gunnemann
  • Christianity and the Spanish conquest of the Americas – Luis E. Lugo
  • Democracy and Christianity in Latin America – Marcos McGrath
  • Christian democracy, liberation theology, the Catholic Right, and democracy in Latin America – Paul E. Sigmund
  • Unmasking the powers: Christianity, authority, and desacralization in modern African politics – Kwame Bediako
  • The Christian churches and democracy in contemporary Africa – Richard Joseph
  • From revolution to reconstruction: the South Africa imperative – Charles Villa-Vicencio
  • An African Christian in search of democracy – John S. Pobee
  • The challenge of Christianity and democracy in the Soviet Union – Harold J. Berman
  • Is Christianity a help or hindrance to Indian democracy? – M. Thomas Thangaraj
  • Postscript: to be human is to be free – Desmond M. Tutu
Reviews

“A comprehensive treatment of the relationship between Christian values and the foundations of democracy by scholars from many nations and diverse religious traditions.  This highly readable and valuable book broadens our understanding of perhaps the most critical social issue of our time.”
-- A. James Reichley, author of Religion in American Public Life