Wayward Christian Soldiers: Freeing the Gospel from Political Captivity [Hardcover]

Charles Marsh (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 11, 2007

In Wayward Christian Soldiers, leading evangelical theologian Charles Marsh offers a powerful indictment of the political activism of evangelical Christian leaders and churches in the United States. With emphasis on repentance and renewal, this important work advises Christians how to understand past mistakes and to avoid making them in the future.
Over the past several years, Marsh observes, American evangelicals have achieved more political power than at any time in their history. But access and influence have come at a cost to their witness in the world and the integrity of their message. The author offers a sobering contrast between the contemporary evangelical elite, which forms the core of the Republican Party, and the historic Christian tradition of respect for the mystery of God and appreciation for human fallibility. The author shows that the most prominent voices in American evangelicalism have arrogantly redefined Christianity on the basis of partisan politics rather than scripture and tradition. The role of politics in distorting the Christian message can be seen most dramatically in the invasion of Iraq, he argues: Some 87% of American evangelicals supported going to war, while every single evangelical church outside the United States opposed it. The Jesus who storms into Baghdad behind the wheel of a Humvee, Marsh points out, is not the Jesus of the Gospel. Indeed, not since the nazification of the German church under Hitler has the political misuse of Christianity led to such catastrophic global consequences.
Is there an alternative? This book proposes that the renewal of American churches requires a season of concentrated attention to faith's essential affirmations--a time of hospitality, peacemaking, and contemplative prayer. Offering an authentic Christian alternative to the narcissistic piety of popular evangelicalism, Wayward Christian Soldiers represents a unique entry into the increasingly pivotal debate over the role of faith in American politics.

"With Wayward Christian Soldiers, Charles Marsh again shows that he is one of the most astute observers of evangelicalism today."
--Jim Wallis, author of God's Politics

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Marsh (University of Virginia; The Beloved Community) enters the religion-and-politics fray in this provocative, and even prophetic, manifesto. In Marsh’s view, American evangelicals have sold their birthright to Republican politics, wholly abandoning the Gospel’s call for justice, peace, and mercy by supporting the war in Iraq. Evangelical leaders do not invite people to peace and reconciliation, but rather offer "base and sinful thoughts disguised as moral values." Franklin Graham comes in for special attack: his call for the conversion of the Islamic world to Christianity is "a chilling example of messianic ego unleashed on the world stage." What is Marsh’s solution? First, he calls the church to a season of silence, in which it will learn to be still and listen for Jesus, rather than contributing to the noisy political chatter that pervades our age. Second, noting the overwhelming extent to which evangelicals outside of America have decried the war, Marsh bids his fellow American Christians to become part of a truly global church, where the convictions of Christians in other places may be allowed to check the jingoism and imperialism Marsh finds in American churches. Marsh’s lively prose makes a brisk read. His gauntlet-throwing will anger some readers and inspire others.

Review

"A thoughtful, well-written jeremiad that ultimately calls us to a season of reflection and repentance, so that we can rededicate ourselves to being the "peculiar people" of Christ."--Sojourners Magazine

"With Wayward Christian Soldiers, Charles Marsh again shows that he is one of the most astute observers of evangelicalism today. This is a passionate critique of how evangelical faith in America has been compromised by the political captivity of the gospel. His case study of evangelical support for the war in Iraq in the face of almost universal opposition from the transnational church is one of the best I've seen. And his call for the church to refocus on the basics of faith - repentance, prayer, and peacemaking - is a very welcome one. This is a book that will help us move past partisan religious politics to recover the Good News of Jesus." --Jim Wallis, author of God's Politics and president of Sojourners/Call to Renewal

"'Wayward Christian Soldiers' is not only a provocative and stimulating call for change, it's a learning experience. Marsh is expert at providing the context needed to fully appreciate the ideas he is expressing, and this is especially important considering what's happening in the Christian world now."--Charleston Post and Courier

"This is a well-thought-out treatise about the danger of letting a desire to fit in get in the way of righteous-ness."--The Hartford Courant

"With the passion of a believer and the reason of a scholar, Charles Marsh has produced a brilliant manifesto for reclaiming Christianity from the Christian right. He is that most effective of critics, an 'inside agitator,' relentless in cataloguing the trespasses of his co-religionists against the 'truth' they profess." --Diane McWhorter, author of Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama: The Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution

"Wayward Christian Soldiers is a brave, unsettling tract for the times. From the heart of the evangelical world comes a prophet in the tradition of Barth and Bonhoeffer to confront his fellow Christians with the bracing Word of God. Charles Marsh directs his prophetic critique at his fellow evangelical Christians who have compromised their own convictions for the sake of political influence. But his words challenge all Christians to return to the fiery center of their faith in a God who challenges every political agenda and who calls Christians back to their most ancient tasks as people of peace and reconciliation." --The Very Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd III, Dean of Washington National Cathedral

"Provoking and confessing, making fascinating historical and global connections, Wayward Christian Soldiers is essential reading for American evangelicals and anyone concerned about faith and politics. Marsh is a public theologian for our time." --Mark R. Gornik, author of To Live in Peace: Biblical Faith and the Changing Inner City and Dean of City Seminary in New York

"Resisting despair, Marsh hopes that his book might inspire some of his fellow believers to repent of their recent ways -- to 'take stock of the whole colossal wreck of the evangelical witness' and then try to rebuild a more authentic Christianity in its place." --The New Republic

"Marsh calls for repentance, patient waiting for grace, and a period of serious reflection in American Evangelicalism. He exemplifies a growing strand in the Evangelical weave." --Times Literary Supplement Online

"Marsh's elegant proposal develops and updates his January 2006 New York Times editorial of the same title. A Harvard Divinity School graduate, professor of religion at the University of Virginia, and committed evangelical, Marsh, in his fifth book, writes with authority and passion. He cites the Old and New Testaments as well as theologians and saints, and he is an astute observer of American political and religious culture." --ForeWord

"Marsh enters the religion-and-politics fray in this provocative, and even prophetic, manifesto...[his] lively prose makes a brisk read. His gauntlet-throwing will anger some readers, and inspire others."--PW's Religion BookLine

"'Wayward Christian Soldiers' is not only a provocative and stimulating call for change, it's a learning experience. Marsh is expert at providing the context needed to fully appreciate the ideas he is expressing, and this is especially important considering what's happening in the Christian world now."--Charleston Post and Courier

"A strong, effective style conveys his charge that evangelical support for Bush uncritically identified American nationalism and the Iraq war with Christian truth." --Journal of Religion

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (June 11, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195307208
• ISBN-13: 978-0195307207
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,440,990 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Charles Marsh is professor of religious studies at the University of Virginia and director of the Project on Lived Theology. He was born in Alabama and spent most of his childhood years in Mississippi. Marsh is the author of six books, including the forthcoming "Welcoming Justice: God's Movement Toward Beloved Community", which he co-authored with John M. Perkins, the civil rights activist and pastor. His book "God's Long Summer: Stories of Faith and Civil Rights", won the 1998 Grawemeyer Award in Religion. He is currently writing a biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor and theologian executed by the Gestapo in 1945. Marsh was a recipient of a 2009 Guggenheim Fellowship.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finding Our Way Back, November 30, 2007

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Paul R. Waibel "Paul R. Waibel" (Clinton, MS) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: Wayward Christian Soldiers: Freeing the Gospel from Political Captivity (Hardcover)

White, middle-class evangelicals in America have in recent years so confused the gospel with a particular brand of neo-conservative political ideology, that they have exalted patriotism to the level of idolatry, and seriously complicated the life and work of the ecumenical church worldwide, i.e., the Body of Christ. Charles Marsh offers a very readable analysis of the danger inherent in baptizing a political agenda. At the same time, he offers a Bible-based alternative lifestyle for thinking Christians who are seeking to remain faithful to their first love in an evermore confusing, postmodern world. This brief narrative by a much respected Christian scholar is highly recommended.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, if a bit heavy on the theology, November 25, 2007

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Charles P. Hobbs (Los Angeles, CA, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wayward Christian Soldiers: Freeing the Gospel from Political Captivity (Hardcover)

"But if I accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, do I also have to support George W. Bush?"

That was an honest, non-sarcastic question asked by a German woman to the author's father, a pastor who had just finished a service in Berlin.

Why would anyone ask a question like that? Could it be that the right-wing in the United States has so co-opted Christianity that the basic message of the religion has been distorted?

Indeed, American evangelical Christianity has become indistinguishable from American right-wing politics in the minds of many people around the world. It's also not in line with other forms of the religion practiced around the world. The author spends a lot of time talking about the rest of the world's (and his own) opposition to the Iraq War, and comparing the goals of Global Christianity with those of American evangelicalism.
How does supporting the Iraq War reconcile with "loving one's enemies" and "turning the other cheek"? American Christianity, after decades of noisy politics, needs to learn to "be still and know", and listen to the rest of the world.

Marsh does discuss President George W. Bush's religious conversions and attitudes, although he does warn that "The president doesn't owe the American public a word about his private spiritual life". The book is occasionaly slow-going; familiarity with the ideas of theologians such as Karl Barth, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Fredrich Schleiermacher would be helpful.

Randall Balmer's _Thy Kingdom Come_ is similar in theme to this book, but of a somewhat different political bent (more left-leaning) and more specific as to what he (Ballmer) thinks the American Evangelical movement should pay attention to.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars urgent meditations on true christianity, December 27, 2007

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southern reader (atlanta) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wayward Christian Soldiers: Freeing the Gospel from Political Captivity (Hardcover)

This book, like any good book, challenges the reader to think. Marsh makes us examine our concepts of "just war," and urges us to move past cultural preconditions, take the teachings of Jesus seriously, and dare to apply them to the issues of contemporary society. He makes clear to us that he writes as an "evangelical," but not as one who is willing to lay aside the Sermon on the Mount for political expediency. Not everyone will agree with Marsh's perspective of the war in Iraq, but everyone will be forced to answer the disturbing question: "how does this pre-emptive war, which includes the ignoring of most Christian's opposition to the war, enhance the church's mission in the world?" Assuming that Christians understand that the mission is one of representing the living Christ in the world, the question becomes more than an academic exercise; it embraces the Christian community and nudges it back to the fundamentals of the faith, and points emphatically to the Sermon on the Mount. Furthermore, some will object to naming some "Christian celebrities" who became significant proponents of a pre-emptive war. However, honesty states that when a "Christian celebrity" move outside his/her original ministry, and moves into the political arena, affirming such a war and justifying the president's decision, that celebrity cannot plead immunity from reasonable criticism. Marsh does not write a philippic, but his analysis of "war preachers" is candid and well documented. It is imperative to note that the thrust of the book is very positive, calling on the Christian community to be freed from captivity to ideologues that would use the community for political aggrandizement. Marsh takes the reader through a litany of theological concepts and Scriptural principles, and encourages the church to focus on the wonder of worship, the discipline of discipleship, and the mission of the church to be the body of Christ in the world. The writer is essentially crying out for the "church to be the church," the church has defined by the New Testament and not by a thirst for political power.