Reimagining Biblical Politics: What Scripture Says About Public Life and Why It Matters

The Bible Has More to Say About Politics Than You've Been Told

The Bible calls us to live as disciples of Jesus in every area of our lives--including politics. But how do we live as faithful political disciples when politics has become so toxic?

Too often, Scripture's political witness is reduced to a few verses to defend our partisan political team. For some, political neutrality is the gold standard in congregational life. But if God's people refuse to pursue political discipleship, someone--or something--will disciple our politics for us.

In Reimagining Biblical Politics, readers will

● explore Scripture's political vision throughout the biblical text;
● encounter biblical texts or figures--such as Esther, the Torah, Jeremiah, Paul, the midwives of Exodus, and Jesus--as models of faithful political discipleship; and
● learn from stories of courageous political witness throughout church history and around the world.

Reimagining Biblical Politics isn't another rehash of America's current political context or a blueprint for contemporary political practice. Instead, it invites readers from across the political spectrum to rediscover the startling, strange, beautiful, and often-neglected world of biblical politics. Each chapter offers a snapshot of a different biblical text or figure and explores how it offers a vision of political discipleship for today.

With a foreword by Carmen Joy Imes, this book helps us reimagine how the Bible might transform our political witness and empowers us to practice faithful political discipleship in our churches, neighborhoods, and communities.

Michael J. Rhodes (PhD, Trinity College / University of Aberdeen) is lecturer in Old Testament at Carey Baptist College in Aotearoa New Zealand. He is the author of several books, including Reimagining Biblical Politics, Just Discipleship, Formative Feasting, and Practicing the King's Economy (with Robby Holt and Brian Fikkert). Rhodes (an ordained EPC pastor) and his family currently live in South Auckland, where they are part of an intentional community engaged in Christian community development.