Christianity and Identity: Public Theology, Authoritarianism, and Democracy - Paperback

by Scott Ronald Paeth (Author)

This volume offers a public theology of democratic participation that confronts the temptation to autocracy to which much of the church has succumbed. Grounding a vision of democratic pluralism within the core of the Christian understanding of God, Christ, and the kingdom of God it argues that Christian identity creates a responsibility to stand against the rising authoritarianism of American society.



The question of identity is at the heart of Christian theology: Who are we? Who is God? Where do we belong? This volume offers an account of Christian identity in the context of the rise of Christian nationalism and the threat that this ideology poses to democratic society. It demonstrates how the very real threats posed by Donald Trump, Q-Anon, and the tech-right are rooted in the church's failure to offer a compelling account of what it means to be and to belong as Christian, and how our identity is defined fundamentally by the life, death, and teaching of Jesus Christ.

Author Biography

Scott Ronald Paeth is Professor of Religious Studies and Peace, Justice, and Conflict Studies at DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois. He is the author or editor of nine books, including Exodus Church and Civil Society: Public Theology in the Work of Jürgen Moltmann, Public Thelogy: Essays in Honor of Max Stackhouse, The Niebuhr Brothers for Armchair Theologians, and Shaping Public Theology: Selections from the Writings of Max Stackhouse.