The Church in the Public
A Politics of Engagement for a Cruel and Indifferent Age
- Ethics, Culture & Social Issues
- Publisher: Fortress Press (Augsburg Fortress)
- Published: 2022
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Publisher's Description
How should the church relate to the public sphere? The body politic? The state? The economic order? The natural world? For too many Christians and churches, being "in the world but not of it" has resulted in either a theocratic impulse to seize the reins of secular power or a quietistic retreat from the world and its material concerns. The Church in the Public shows how this dualism has corrupted the church's social witness and allowed neoliberal and neocolonial ideas to assert control of public and political life. Dualism has rendered the church not only indifferent to but also complicitous with the state's bio- and power-politics. Because of this outdated framework of the church's political theology, the church has been reluctant to engage in challenging structural and systemic injustice in this world. But rather than counseling despair or making a case for Christendom, Ilsup Ahn argues for a public church, one that collaborates and cooperates with other public actors and entities in the promotion of a just social order. The book traces this "third way" back to the apostolic age and offers practical approaches for enacting it today. Central to this vision is the analogy of the rhizome--that strange, unique form of life that lives underground, grows horizontally, and is capable of regeneration. The Church in the Public draws on this image to develop a political theology for engaging the world, identifying with the oppressed, and binding up the broken.
Endorsements (2)
“In this fresh take on public and political theology, Ilsup Ahn offers a proposal for the formation of a church that is historically aware, present in the current moment, and committed to alleviating suffering ‘in a cruel and indifferent age.’ Insisting that a church that seeks to be relevant and transformative must reckon with the histories and impact of colonialism and neoliberalism, Ahn pushes the boundaries of the church’s sense of its presence and mission in the public. By proposing a church invested in building the coalitions necessary to dismantle oppressive structures, Ahn’s efforts renew the Great Commission as both eschatological hope and present agenda for the essential work of justice-making in the world today. This volume invites the reader to deep theological considerations of what it means to be (and create) a public church, while also providing a blueprint for relationship building toward effective and transformational public action.”
“Ahn’s book is a clarion call for churches to carry out their mission by engaging in rhizomatic politics for the least among us. Challenging traditional notions of church and state, it offers fresh insights for political organizing to combat cynicism, inertia, and pessimism. A prophetic text for our critical time!”
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