Political Church: The Local Assembly As Embassy of Christ's Rule

The church is political.

Theologians have been debating this claim for years. Liberationists, Anabaptists, Augustinians, neo-Calvinists, Radical Orthodox, and others continue to discuss the matter. What do we mean by politics and the political? What are the limits of the church's political reach? What is the nature of the church as an institution? How do we establish these claims theologically?

Jonathan Leeman sets out to address these questions in this Studies in Christian Doctrine and Scripture volume. Drawing on covenant theology and the "new institutionalism" in political science, Leeman critiques political liberalism and explores how the biblical canon informs an account of the local church as an embassyof Christ's kingdom. Political Church heralds a new era in political theology.

Studies in Christian Doctrine and Scripture, edited by Daniel J. Treier and Kevin J. Vanhoozer, promotes evangelical contributions to systematic theology,seeking fresh understanding of Christian doctrine through creatively faithful engagement with Scripture in dialogue with church.

Jonathan Leeman (PhD, University of Wales) is the editorial director for 9Marks, an organization that produces church leadership resources in Washington, DC. He is the author of The Church and the Surprising Offense of God's Love and Church Membership: How the World Knows Who Represents Jesus, as well as the editor of The Underestimated Gospel. He is also an occasional lecturer at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and an adjunct teacher for The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. After earning undergraduate and graduate degrees in political science, Leeman began his career in journalism working as an editor for an international economics magazine. Since his call to ministry, he has earned an MDiv and a PhD in theology and worked as an interim pastor. He currently serves as an elder at Capitol Hill Baptist Church and lives with his wife and four daughters in a suburb of Washington, D.C.

Kevin J. Vanhoozer (PhD, Cambridge University) is Research Professor of Systematic Theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. He is the author of many works, including First Theology, The Drama of Doctrine and is coauthor with Daniel Treier of Theology and the Mirror of Scripture.

Daniel J. Treier (1972-2025) (PhD, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) was Blanchard Professor of Theology at Wheaton College. He was a founding editor of the Studies in Christian Doctrine and Scripture series. He coedited and wrote numerous books, including Virtue and the Voice of God and Introducing Theological Interpretation of Scripture.