How should a Christian think about political engagement?

This introductory course is designed to give a basic answer to a complex problem. Bruce Ashford, Provost and Professor of Theology & Culture at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, will be the lecturer throughout the course. Each section is only meant to provide a way into the wider discussion about whether and how Christians should engage in politics.

Both the lectures and the Q&A were done in a Facebook Live event, and have been adapted to this course outline.

There will be reading assignments and discussion questions throughout the course that are designed to help each learner get the most out of the lectures.

Dr. Ashford has been teaching at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary since 2003 and became the provost in 2013.  His goal in teaching is to encourage his students to bear witness to the truth, goodness and beauty of the gospel and to work out its implications in all facets of their lives and in all dimensions of culture.

Ashford is the co-author of One Nation under God: A Christian Hope for American Politics (B&H, 2015), the author Every Square Inch: An Introduction to Cultural Engagement for Christians (Lexham, 2015), the author of Letters to an American Christian (B&H, 2018), and is the editor of Theology and Practice of Mission (B&H, 2011). He is a regular contributor for Fox News Opinion, and he has also been featured at NPR, the Heritage Foundation’s Daily Signal, and other outlets. Follow Ashford on Twitter or discover more of his resources on his blog, BruceAshford.net.

He is married to Lauren, with whom he has two daughters (Riley Noelle, Anna Katherine) and a son (John Paul Kuyper). He is an elder at The Summit Church (Raleigh-Durham, NC).

The present era is one which has attempted to achieve the historically unprecedented feat of severing the sacred order from the social order. As believers witness these efforts within Western culture, they are required to re-evaluate and reconstruct a theology and philosophy of political engagement. Watch the first installment below, and answer the questions that follow.

• What has been the result of trying to sever sacred order from social order?
• What are the good and the bad ways to bring religion into politics?

Is life valuable? How do we determine the value of life? Is life less valuable in a mother’s womb, or in a retirement home? What about if it has a certain color skin, or is from somewhere that we are not? Do these forms of life make someone less than a person, and therefore expendable?

These are some of  the questions surrounding the topic of “life” in the political arena. In this lecture Bruce Ashford attempts to give us some introductory considerations for how to think Christianly about this issue.

Watch the lecture, read the chapter from Letters to an American Christian, and then interact with the questions below.

• As Christians, can we passionately advocate for unborn lives while ignoring the cries of black lives and immigrant lives?
• What is the tension between loving illegal immigrants and tightening our borders and immigration policies?

How should we navigate the loss of Christian political influence in America? This is the question of the hour. As highlighted earlier, the answer for many has been to withdraw from public life and politics. Others have given themselves to short-term political activism under the impression that fixing the current political situation would save America. Yet still others who engage in the political process from a place of anger and fear.

If all of these are poor responses to eroding Christian influence in politics, then what is the way forward? In this lecture Bruce Ashford attempts to give us some introductory considerations for how to think Christianly about this issue.

Watch the lecture, read the chapter from Letters to an American Christian, and then interact with the questions below.

• Where are we most likely to pick up false narratives about our wold, country, neighbors?
• What are some ways that we can de-center ourselves to enact positive change in our current political climate?
• How can we “make Christianity interesting” again?

This series of short lectures with Q&A is designed to jump-start biblically informed political engagement on the part of every Christian. But this course, like the course textbook, is only a brief overview of the complex issues facing believers who engage with the secular world around them. If you’ve enjoyed this short course and would like to continue your study of politics and culture, the courses below will continue to expand your horizons.