The Political Meaning of Christianity: An Interpretation

Over the years I've frequently used Glenn Tinder's Political Thinking in my Social and Political Philosophy classes. Though evident to a discerning reader of that work, the somewhat muted Christian convictions of this MIT political science professor peal like church bells in The Political Meaning of Christianity: an Introduction (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, c. 1989). Tinder makes "a personal statement,"... Read Full Review

Glenn Tinder's The Political Meaning of Christianity is what Reinhold Niebuhr might have written fifty years after The Nature and Destiny of Man (sic). Tinder gives us an astute analyis of the human condition, individually and socially, exalted through the destiny God gives us, and fallen through the exaltation we give ourselves. His chapters on "prophetic hope" as it works for social transformation and spirituality... Read Full Review

Glen Tinder is probably best known for his seminal Atlantic article"Can We be Good Without God?". The Political Meaning of Christianityexplores many of these same ideas in greater detail, examining, for example, the importance of Love in the political system (a novel idea.) I strongly recommend this book for both Christians and non-Christians wrestling with the importance of the transcendant in our political system. Kris... Read Full Review