Journal of Church and State articles from January 2008

Journal of Church and State archives from January 2008

Church, state, and the presidential campaign of 2008.
January 1, 2008... I While history provides useful keys to the present, this year's presidential campaign offers much that is new. In contrast to the recent past, the January primaries brought huge crowds into the political arena. A large proportion of those...

Equal right and equal privilege: separating church and state in Vermont.
January 1, 2008... Vermont was going godless. That was what Aaron Cleveland was forced to conclude at the end of his 1808 mission a tour. Reporting back to the Connecticut Missionary Society, he wondered about the possible consequences of the law, passed the...

Exercising political influence, religion, democracy, and the Mexican 2006 presidential race.
January 1, 2008... In the last six years, Mexico has witnessed the growing influence of campaigns on the outcome of its presidential elections. Vincente Fox's campaign determined his July 2000 victory over his nearest opponent, the PRI's Francisco Labastida, who,...

Roman Catholicism and U.S. foreign policy - 1919-1935: a clash of policies.
January 1, 2008... The allied victory in World War I, coupled with the United States' rather quick defeat of Spain twenty years earlier, transformed. America from a satellite nation dependant upon Europe to an emerging world power. While it could be accurately...

Christianity and the common good: generating benevolence and pursuing the decent equilibrium in international fieldwork.
January 1, 2008... CHRISTIANITY AND THE COMMON GOOD One of Christianity's traditional loci has been establishing the common good. (1) There are, however, inherent challenges to sue a task. As a monotheistic religion proclaiming God's intercession in human...

A tug-of-war over Islam: religious faith, politics, and the Moroccan response to Islamist violence.
January 1, 2008... A visiting student from Italy was surprised two summers ago to learn of the religious responsibilities and prerogatives of the Moroccan monarchy. "This is very medieval, and I am afraid that I cannot understand this," he protested. I responded...

The Nation with the Soul of a Church.(Book review)
January 1, 2008... The Nation with the Soul of a Church. By Sidney E. Mead. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1975, 158pp. np. Like most of Mead's books, this one originated as lectures that became articles that then became a book. In this case, the...

American Gospel: God, the Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation.(Book review)
January 1, 2008... Editor's note: Periodically, a book in the genre of religion and state will generate such diversity of opinion that we feel compelled to offer more than one scholarly assessment. Jon Meacham's American Gospel is such a book. Because of the many...

American Gospel: God, the Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation.(Book review)
January 1, 2008... American Gospel: God, the Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation. By Jon Meacham. New York: Random House, 2006. 415 pp. $23.95 cloth, $15.95 paper. High marks should be given Jon Meacham, Managing Editor of Newsweek, for this...

Islam and Political Violence: Muslim Diaspora and Radicalism in the West.(Book review)
January 1, 2008... Islam and Political Violence: Muslim Diaspora and Radicalism in the West. By Shahram Akbarzadeh. London and New York: I. B. Tauris & Co., 2007. 288pp. $85.00. Islam and Political Violence is a collection of essays about the elevated state...

Religion and Politics in the International System Today.(Book review)
January 1, 2008... Religion and Politics in the International System Today. By Eric O. Hanson. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006. 345 pp. $28.99. This book takes on an ambitious task: it seeks to analyze the role of religion in the post-Cold War...

Political Theologies: Public Religions in a Post-Secular World.(Book review)
January 1, 2008... Political Theologies: Public Religions in a Post-Secular World. Edited by Hent de Vries and Lawrence E. Sullivan. New York: Fordham University Press, 2006. 796 pp. $90.00. In recent years, the study of religion in public life has been...

Prophetic Realism: Beyond Militarism and Pacifism in an Age of Terror.(Book review)
January 1, 2008... Prophetic Realism: Beyond Militarism and Pacifism in an Age of Terror. By Ronald H. Stone. New York: T & T Clark, 2005. 192 pp. $27.95. The great strength of this book is the clarity author Ronald Stone brings to the meaning, history, and...

Christ and Empire: From Paul to Postcolonial Times.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2008... Christ and Empire: From Paul to Postcolonial Times. By Joerg Rieger. Minneapolis, Minn.: Augsburg Fortress Press, 2007. 334pp. $20.00. Joerg Rieger's Christ. and, Empire: From Paul to Postcolonial Times is a sweeping analysis of the ways...

The Central Liberal Truth.(Book review)
January 1, 2008... The Central Liberal Truth. By Lawrence E. Harrison. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. 272 pp. np. The Central Liberal Truth derives its title from the comment by Alexis de Toequeville that "the importance of mores is a universal...

Is Religion Dangerous?(Book review)
January 1, 2008... Is Religion Dangerous? By Keith Ward. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2007. 206pp. $16.00. With the recent spate of books arguing that religion is bad and/or irrational, one ought to expect rejoinders. In this slim volume,...

The Stillborn God: Religion, Politics, and the Modern West.(Book review)
January 1, 2008... The Stillborn God: Religion, Politics, and the Modern West. By Mark Lilla. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2007. 334pp. $26.00. Mark Lilla's The Stillborn God is a welcome consideration of a question of utmost importance. What if, contrary to...

Economics in Christian Perspective: Theory, Policy, and Life Choices.(Book review)
January 1, 2008... Economics in Christian Perspective: Theory, Policy, and Life Choices. By Victor V. Claar and Robin j. Klay. Downer Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 2007. 254pp. $23.99. The place of economics--especially free market economics--in Christian...

The Teachings of Modern Roman Catholicism on Law, Politics, and Human Nature.(Book review)
January 1, 2008... The Teachings of Modern Roman Catholicism on Law, Politics, & Human Nature. Edited by John Witte, Jr. and Frank S. Alexander; introduction by Russell Hittinger. New York: Columbia University Press, 2007. 499 pp. np. John Witte, Jr. and...

The Regensburg Lecture.(Book review)
January 1, 2008... The Regensburg Lecture. By James v. Schall. South Bend, Ind.: St. Augustine's Press, 2007. 174 pp. $20.00. In this methodical yet compendious exposition of Pope Benedict XVI's 2006 lecture in Regensburg, Germany, James Schall elucidates...

Recovering Self-Evident Truths: Catholic Perspectives on American Law.(Book review)
January 1, 2008... Recovering Self-Evident Truths: Catholic Perspectives on American Law. Edited by Michael A. Scaperlanda and Teresa Stanton Collett. Washington, D. C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2007. 403 pp. np. This is a wonderful...

To Have and to Hold: Marrying and Its Documentation in Western Christendom, 400-1600.(Book review)
January 1, 2008... To Have and To Hold: Marrying and Its Documentation in Western Christendom, 400-1600. Edited by Philip L. Reynolds and John Witte, Jr. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007. 519 pp. $75.00. This collection of essays comes from an...

Religion and Politics in Post-Communist Romania.(Book review)
January 1, 2008... Religion and Politics in Post-Communist Romania. By Lavinia Stan and Lucian Turcescu. Oxford University Press, 2007. 270pp. 855.00. The blurb says it all: Religion and Politics in Post-Communist Romania is a "thoroughly researched and...

John Jewel and the English National Church: The Dilemmas of an Erastian Reformer.(Book review)
January 1, 2008... John Jewel and the English National Church: The Dilemmas of an Erastian Reformer. St. Andrews Studies in Reformation History. By Gary W. Jenkins. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 2006. viii + 293pp. $99.95. In this revisionist work, Gary W. Jenkins...

Culture and Redemption: Religion, the Secular, and American Literature.(Book review)
January 1, 2008... Culture and Redemption: Religion, the Secular, and American Literature. By Tracy Fessenden. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2007. 337pp. 835.00. A seeming absence motivates the illuminating readings in Tracy Fessenden's...

Lincoln and the American Manifesto.(Book review)
January 1, 2008... Lincoln and the American Manifesto. By Allen Jayne. Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 2007. 363 pp. $28.00. Quite a few scholars have emphasized the importance of Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence for Abraham Lincoln's...

The Divided States of America? What Liberals and Conservatives Are Missing in the God-and-Country Shouting Match.(Book review)
January 1, 2008... The Divided States of America? What Liberals and Conservatives are Missing in the God-and-Country Shouting Match. By Richard Land. Nashville, Tenn.: Thomas Nelson Publishing, 2007. 336 pp. $22.99. Richard Land focuses on an extremely...

Does God Belong in Public Schools?(Book review)
January 1, 2008... Does God Belong in the Public Schools? By Kent Greenawalt. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2005.261 pp. np. Greenawalt addresses four legal issues involving religion in the public schools: (1) whether devotional practices are...

Suing for America's Soul: John Whitehead, the Rutherford Institute, and Conservative Christians in the Courts.(Book review)
January 1, 2008... Suing for America's Soul: John Whitehead, The Rutherford Institute, and Conservative Christians in the Courts. By R. Jonathan Moore. Foreword by Martin E. Marry. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm B. Eerdsman Publishing Company, 2007. 214pp. $18.00. ...

W Stands for Women: How the George W. Bush Presidency Shaped a New Politics of Gender.(Book review)
January 1, 2008... W Stands for Women: How the George W. Bush Presidency Shaped a New Politics of Gender. Edited by Michaele L. Ferguson and Lori Jo Marso. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 2007. 290 pp. $79.95 cloth, $22.95 paper. This provocative set of...