Jesus and Justice: Evangelicals, Race, and American Politics

Description

This timely book investigates the increasing visibility and influence of evangelical Christians in recent American politics with a focus on racial justice. Peter Goodwin Heltzel considers four evangelical social movements: Focus on the Family, the National Association of Evangelicals, Christian Community Development Association, and Sojourners. The political motives and actions of evangelical groups are founded upon their conceptions of Jesus Christ, Heltzel contends. He traces the roots of contemporary evangelical politics to the prophetic black Christianity tradition of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the socially engaged evangelical tradition of Carl F. H. Henry. Heltzel shows that the basic tenets of King’s and Henry’s theologies have led their evangelical heirs toward a prophetic evangelicalism in a shade of blue green—blue symbolizing the tragedy of black suffering in the Americas, and green symbolizing the hope of a prophetic evangelical engagement with poverty, AIDS, and the environment. This fresh theological understanding of evangelical political groups shines new light on the ways evangelicals shape and are shaped by broader American culture. CONTENTS FOREWORD ACKNOWLEDGMENTS INTRODUCTION PART I. EVANGELICAL HISTORY 1. THE LION IS ROARING 2. REVIVAL, RACE, AND REFORM: THE ROOTS OF MODERN EVANGELICAL POLITICS 3. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.’S THEOLOGY OF THE CROSS 4. CARL F. H. HENRY’S UNEASY CONSCIENCE PART II. EVANGELICAL POLITICS 5. FOCUS ON THE FAMILY: NURTURING AND DEFENDING THE FAMILY 6. NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF EVANGELICALS: FOR THE HEALTH OF THE NATION 7. THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION: A QUIET REVOLUTION 8. SOJOURNERS: THE GREAT AWAKENING 9. EVANGELICAL POLITICS IN A SHADE OF BLUE GREEN NOTES INDEX