Carl Trueman, Francis Schaeffer, and the Two Gates of Christian Civic Engagement
“Carl Trueman’s point has merit. It is essential for Christians to not simply become an arm of those vying for political power. On the other hand, Christian congregations must remember that they stand in a long line of saints who took civic duty seriously.” - Providence
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I definitely lean more toward Trueman’s attitude on that topic. Schaeffer doesn’t seem to have had our situation in mind: a point where the evangelical cultural resistance has very little of values and principles driving it anymore. It’s almost completely caught up in the pursuit of power… or just caught up in reflexive tribalism with no strategic pursuit of anything, really.
So that makes this a particularly bad time for Schaeffer’s nod to “appropriate” levels of civil disobedience. Neither conservatism nor evangelicalism seem to have any compass for “appropriateness” these days.
This fall they will apparently flock again in large numbers through the gate the new right has opened. (See the Providence article on C.S. Lewis, sheep, and gates.)
Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.
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