audiobook A Secular Faith: Why Christianity Favors the Separation of Church and State by D. G. Hart in History

Review

10 of 15 people found the following review helpful. Anachronistic with disastrous applicationsBy the frenchmanThis book is an extended; and laborious (for the reader); discourse that asserts Christians ought to live “double lives”. If you are looking for a well-researched book attempting to bolster a “2-Kingdom” view similar to the likes of Michael Horton; R. Scott Clark; and David Van Drunen; you will get a book articulating the paradigm with a transparency the aforementioned lack as Hart attempts to baptize bifurcated Christian living as if it were obedience. For this transparency; Hart is to be commended.For Hart; Christian faith must be relegated to the private life and should not be “worn on the sleeve”. Any breakdown of the privatized faith silo may result in confusion of the two kingdoms (at best); or actual harm to others (at worst; and more likely). Outside of formal worship settings and your home-made bunker; faith is dangerous. It’s in these settings that damage control can be used most effectively.As Hart reasons: The love of God; tenacity about worship; defensiveness about sacred rites; aversion to false religion - all are parts of genuine faith that make it impractical if not damaging for public life. (pg 13)Throughout the pages of the book; Hart crafts an American history where faith has regularly “intruded” upon the secular realm and argues that we should; instead of integrating faith throughout our lives; hyphenate our faith. So we need not be concerned about public policy. On its face; that sounds not terribly wrong. We don’t want the Church writing policies; do we? Of course; talking about public policy is not limited to paving roads: what about infanticide? Hart never takes the time to ponder what a Christian must do when the “secular” intrudes upon the “sacred”.Hart fails to distinguish Church from faithful Christian witness as well. Piety is typically equated to external forms of worship in the Lord’s Day setting. Completely absent is the notion of faithful witness in relationship to “two kingdoms.” John the Baptist addressed Herod’s unlawful marriage (by Jewish standards). One ponders why an obvious New Testament scenario like this was absent from the book. Did John the Baptist die needlessly? He was a preacher of the kingdom; so one would expect that the man who paved the way for Jesus’ ministry would have been included. Unfortunately; the preacher of the kingdom didn’t meet Hart’s primary concern.The logic Hart employs is strained. On the one hand; we don’t live in a theocracy; and we should not try to impose one. I’m not sure how many Evangelicals are actually trying to do this. Who is the target these arrows are aimed at? There’s no clear target; so the reader is left wondering if Hart sleeps with a flashlight worried the bogeyman is lurking beneath his bed. As a result; Hart envisions a secular kingdom based on his understanding of particular passages of Scripture to keep the theocratic bogeyman at bay. Ironically; by basing his contrivances on Scripture; he unwittingly affirms a strange form of theocracy. A hyphenated one.In conclusion:I recommend the book to readers desiring to see the errors of “radical” two kingdom views. Hart fails to provide citations in the book; although he offers a word on the sources he used at the end. The book reads like a reconstructionist history loaded with anachronism. Perhaps including citations would have curbed this strong tendency. The result is helpful; however; since it tends to demonstrate that Hart’s two kingdoms view is a private one where he attempts to reconstruct history to agree with him while imposing it on the rest of us. To this end; we are thankful for the transparency; but also ask that Hart keep his hyphenated theocracy to himself.8 of 13 people found the following review helpful. Desperately needed; wonderfully clearBy Anne RiceWe need this book right now. The arguments in America of 2007 over church and state are approaching delirium. We need Hart's well informed; well documented and decisive approach to the question. This is one of the best books I've seen on the issue; and one that is especially meaningful for Christians. Also recommended: the works of the great historian Mark Noll. --- anneobrienrice@mac.com22 of 23 people found the following review helpful. An Interesting ApproachBy M. C. AndwoodOriginal; thought-provoking and oftentimes controversial; Darryl Hart's book; A Secular Faith: Why Christianity Favors the Separation of Church and State; presents a new perspective of the proper boundaries of the Christian Church in the political arena of the United States of America. Hart ardently supports the strict separation of church and state and he presents this much-debated topic as a study of the negative effects of American politics on the Christian religion; rather than the negative influence of religion on politics. Offering a rebuttal to those conservative Christians who believe the secularization of American society heralds its downfall; Hart declares that this secularization is saving Christianity from being misemployed and trivialized by supporting political agendas.Hart assumes that Christianity is an apolitical faith whose realm of authority only concerns the personal and private matters of salvation for Christians. Christianity has no role in political machinations and its public advocacy is not necessary for moral or good government. Reiterating the Augustinian conceptualization of the City of God and the City of Man; Hart argues that politics should focus on the material and physical world and the church should focus solely on the spiritual Kingdom that is to come. Christianity; he posits; relates only to the spiritual realm and therefore cannot inform the organization of society; such as the endorsement of a certain polity; or sanction government programs; such as social-welfare reform. Christians; he believes; are called to live perpetually hyphenated lives in which they constantly struggle with their identities and responsibilities as Christians and as citizens. However; Hart makes a distinction between the individual social action that Jesus asks of his followers and official church support of political social justice programs that seemingly destroys the transcendent quality of Christianity. The book contains nine chapters; each analyzing a facet of the relationship between church and state in American history. Hart provides thorough historical context; illustrates the various interpretations of each issue and proposes his argument in comparison to previous opinions. Hart discredits the supposition that the fundamental ideas of liberty and rights in American democracy were rooted in Christianity; specifically New England Puritanism and Calvinism. He maintains that Christian denominations had no political motives and that religious principles were not integral to the basis of American government though they had a definite influence on society. He denounces the revivalist movements for their blatant endorsement of democracy that crossed the line between the responsibilities of church and state. In his analysis of more recent examples; Hart discusses parochial education controversies and criticizes the compassionate conservative movement for tying Christian duty with political activism; thus replacing the church's higher spiritual duties with the more mundane and ultimately less important matters of the material world. Since his opinions counter the social teachings of numerous Protestant denominations as well as the social doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church; Hart admits that his ideas are more suggestions than assertions. Therefore; he does not defend the theological basis for his suggestions; since other Christian denominations base their counter-arguments on different doctrine. Though unorthodox; Hart's new perspective is strong enough to contend with the previously established views of church and state and worth serious consideration.