The Bible and the Ballot: Using Scripture in Political Decisions
Digital Logos Edition
Overview
Christians affirm the Bible as our standard of faith and practice. We turn to it to hear God’s voice. But what relevance does the Bible have for the contentious public policy issues we face today? Although the Bible does not always speak explicitly to modern issues, it does give us guiding principles as we think about how we might vote or act as political figures ourselves.
The Bible and the Ballot demonstrates the proper use of Scripture in contemporary political discussions. Christians regularly invoke the Bible to support their positions on many controversial political topics—gay marriage, poverty, war, religious liberty, immigration, the environment, taxes, etc.—and this book will help facilitate those conversations. Tremper Longman provides a hermeneutical approach to using the Bible in this manner, then proceeds topic by topic, citing important Scriptures to be taken into consideration in each case and offering an evangelical interpretation.
Longman is careful to suggest levels of confidence in interpretation and acknowledges that often there are a range of possible applications. Each chapter includes questions to provoke further thought in individuals’ minds or for group discussion.
The Bible and the Ballot is a ready guide to understanding the Bible on issues that American Christians face today as we live within a pluralistic society.
- Demonstrates the proper use of Scripture in contemporary political discussions
- Helps facilitate conversations about current political issues
- Cites important Scriptures to be taken into consideration in each case
Top Highlights
“America today is not a Christian nation either by its founding or by its present constitution” (Page 2)
“First, we should not take the case law as necessarily communicating what we might call God’s creation or Edenic ideal” (Page 47)
“Case laws are applications of the general ethical principles expressed in the Ten Commandments” (Page 31)
“does not always and in every case mandate God’s ideal ethic” (Page 45)
“In the final analysis, then, while Christians should keep upholding the sanctity of life and protesting abortion as an infringement on that sanctity, we should not put our trust in the law, but in our powers of persuasion to the gospel and to obedience. And, in the meantime, there may be wisdom in making abortion rare and safe.” (Pages 152–153)
- Title: The Bible and the Ballot: Using Scripture in Political Decisions
- Author: Tremper Longman III
- Publisher: Eerdmans
- Publication Date: 2020
- Pages: 304
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Topic: Politics & Government
Tremper Longman III serves as Distinguished Scholar and Professor Emeritus of Biblical Studies at Westmont College. He has written over 35 books, including commentaries on Genesis, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Daniel, Nahum, and Revelation. His books have been translated into 18 different languages. In addition, as a Hebrew scholar, he is one of the main translators of the popular New Living Translation, and has served as a consultant on other popular Bible translations, including The Message, the New Century Version, the Christian Standard Bible, and the Common Bible. He has also edited and contributed to a number of study Bibles and Bible dictionaries, most recently The Baker Illustrated Bible Dictionary.
He earned his BA from Ohio Wesleyan University, his MDiv from Westminster Theological Seminary, and both his MPhil and PhD from Yale University. Dr. Longman and his wife, Alice, have three sons and eight grandchildren.