Dr. Miranda Zapor Cruz
Writing at the Intersection of Kingdom and Country
Coming August 20, 2024!
Pre-Order today from IVP Academic or Amazon.
Christians who seek to relate their faith to politics have always encountered tensions. Instead of easy answers and simple checklists, we need tools to help us thoughtfully navigate the complexities of Christian faithfulness in an increasingly diverse and polarized society.
In this book, Miranda Zapor Cruz guides readers in forming a vision of citizenship that brings Christian convictions into political engagement while avoiding common pitfalls. Cruz provides a measured, nonpartisan overview of different ways Christians have approached political participation. These ten views represent a range of theological approaches to the relationship between the kingdom of God and the country, including Anabaptist, social gospel, principled pluralist, and Christian nationalist. Cruz describes strengths and weaknesses of each view, with a focus on Christian faithfulness.
In the United States, Cruz argues, Christians who share very similar faith convictions can arrive at different political conclusions. There are, however, principles from Scripture and theology that should inform our thinking and remind us that our ultimate citizenship is in the kingdom of God. Faithful Politics helps us learn from Christians of the past as we discern how to be salt and light in our own time and place.
Meet Dr. Miranda Zapor Cruz
When we affirm Jesus Christ as Lord, we declare that our citizenship is in Heaven and we pray for the Kingdom of God to come. But we are also citizens and residents of countries, with governments and laws that intersect with and diverge from the priorities and values of the Kingdom. Sometimes the intersection of the Kingdom and Country feels more like a collision. Sometimes the divergence of Kingdom and Country feels more like an explosion. And as we navigate Kingdom and Country, we find conflict, confusion, and occasional moments of clarity.
The nature of our calling as Christians is to be in the world, but not of the world, to seek the Shalom of our cities without conforming to them. But how? What is the relationship between Kingdom and Country, and how can we seek the Kingdom of God first while also engaging with politics and culture and society? How can we have Christ alone as our Lord, while also pledging allegiance to the flag or joining political parties?
I’ve been fascinated by these questions for decades. From reading St. Augustine and Abraham Lincoln at Whitworth University, to studying the minor prophets and religious nationalism at Princeton Theological Seminary, to earning a PhD in Religion, Politics, and Society at Baylor University, to teaching theology and church history at Indiana Wesleyan University — At every step the intersection of Kingdom and Country keeps me thinking, writing, speaking, and recommitting my life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.