Review

Goodness & State

The Good of Politics: A Biblical, Historical, and Contemporary Introduction
by James W. Skillen
Engaging Culture Series
Baker Academic, 2014
(214 pages, $22.99, paperback)

reviewed by J. Daryl Charles

What does the Christian view of reality have to offer in terms of justice and the responsibilities of human governance? Is there a "Christian distinctive" as it relates to statecraft, political activity, and citizenship? And to what extent can one speak of Christianity as a dynamic shaper of human civilization? These questions are at the heart of James W. Skillen's The Good of Politics, written under the conviction that the foundations of Christian social and political engagement must be renewed in every generation.

Skillen is a seasoned writer who has thought deeply about the contours of an authentically Christian understanding of politics. Founder and former president of the Center for Public Justice in Washington, D.C., he has for decades written incisively on the role of government, the character of justice, Christian political activity, and the need for a principled pluralist arrangement in our cultural context.

The present volume is constructed around his concern with several perennial questions: How do politics, religion, and morality interact in the broader public sphere? What is the purpose of government, and how should it properly exercise its responsibilities? Does Christianity have anything to say about political life and the ordering of society, and if so, what? And finally, what—if any—political responsibility does Christian faith urge upon those who profess the lordship of Christ? Skillen addresses these matters winsomely and in conversation with theology, history, and politics.

Overarching Realities & Ongoing Developments

Governing Skillen's understanding of politics are several overarching theological realities from the biblical narrative that circumscribe political reality. Chief among these are Christ's cosmic rule, his acknowledgment and limitation of the sphere of political authority, and the distinctiveness of human existence in the created order, based on our creation in the imago Dei. For Skillen, the divine image discloses the nature of our responsibilities and stewardship; politics and governance are but one aspect of this stewardship in light of the broader creation mandate.

With these pre-conditions for Christian participation in political activity established, Skillen rehearses noteworthy historical developments from Constantine to the early-modern period. These include important shifts in the fourth century that followed the unprecedented persecutions of the Diocletian era, the fracture of Christendom between East and West, the implications of the "two-swords" doctrine emanating from the "papal revolution" of the late eleventh century onward, and the remarkable intellectual, social-cultural, and politico-economic progress that is on display during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. For Skillen, the emphasis in Thomistic thought on the ordering of society for the common good is noteworthy, underscoring the importance of law, justice, and political life; hence, the significance and refinement of the natural law—a reflection of eternal law—as a guide in matters of justice.

The late-medieval fracture of the synthesis of religion and culture, Skillen
believes, was well underway for centuries, and in many respects the Protestant Reformation might be viewed as a "climax" to developments that had been unfolding. In time, with the deepening of confessional divisions, and the religious wars that ensued in the seventeenth century, Christendom was giving way to a newer order of sovereign states. Several developments in the period from the Reformation to the modern era, in retrospect for Skillen, are politically significant. These include the "priesthood" of the believer and a broadening of the notion of Christian vocatio; the commitment of the "radical reformers" to separation and hence their rejection of a "Christian" molding of society; the Calvinist appropriation of "covenant" as a partial model of socio-political arrangement; and a differentiation of various communities within society in a way that would inhibit (as per Locke and others) tyrannical government.

Neither Fusion nor Separation

In light of Skillen's exegesis, where do we "post-moderns" begin in terms of a Christian orientation toward politics? What sort of political community do we envision if the "common good" is to be a goal in an increasingly "shrinking" world? And what about the knotty problem of coercive force? Will there be geopolitical conflicts emanating from competing versions of ultimate reality that result in human degradation and thus require some form of mediating justice?

In the end, Skillen is persuaded that a Christian outlook cannot be reduced either to supporting politics or opposing it, but rather must reflect the wider conviction of the redemption of all things (John 1:1–3; Col. 1:16–20; Heb. 1:2–3). Neither fusion with the world nor separation from it is acceptable as the Christian position. Politics and political activity are a natural part of human culture, even when they do not define the ultimate meaning of our lives.

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