The Soul of Politics: Beyond "Religious Right" and "Secular Left" (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Los Angeles. The whole nation watches transfixed as the City of Angels explodes into an orgy of violence and raging infernos of fire..." (more)
Key Phrases: prophetic spirituality, cultural breakdown, young gang members, Los Angeles, United States, South Africa (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The founding editor of Sojourners magazine, Wallis criticizes both liberals and conservatives and argues in favor of a progressive platform backed by an emphasis on spirituality.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

The founding editor of Sojourners magazine, Wallis criticizes both liberals and conservatives and argues in favor of a progressive platform backed by an emphasis on spirituality. (Publishers Weekly )

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Harvest Books (September 15, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0156003287
• ISBN-13: 978-0156003285
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #384,015 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

62 of 63 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Disgusted with politics? Give this book a try!, March 4, 2002

By	Kerry Walters (Lewisburg, PA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Have you ever bought an interesting-looking book, tucked it away on a shelf, finally gotten around to reading it a couple of years later, and then kicked yourself for waiting so long? That's how I felt when I at last read Jim Wallis' *Soul of Politics*. If it doesn't reinspire you to work for a better society, nothing will.

Wallis calls for what he calls a "prophetic politics of personal and social transformation," one that's built on the Judaeo-Christian insight that righteousness requires both individual and social responsibility. A contemporary re-application of this insight can help the secular left and the religious right learn from and complement one another and break free of the dysfunctional impasse they've reached. The left tends to overemphasize structural evil at the expense of individual responsibility; the right tends to overemphasize individual virtue while ignoring structural evil. But the prophetic politics--the politics with soul--Wallis advocates takes both into consideration. Individual responsibility to other individuals, to the community, to the environment, a call to action that "challenges the old while announcing the new" (p. 53), a spirit-filled replacement of unjust institutions that prevent humans from attaining maximal being: this is the heart of Wallis' message.

It's easy to become cynical and opt out of the political arena to cultivate one's own garden. But if Wallis is correct, such a withdrawal--if I may use an old-fashioned word that we perhaps ought to take seriously again--is a sin. To remain silent in the face of injustice is to acquiesce to it. Wallis' book gives us a good idea of how to go about healing the fragmentation of our society. The last third of the book deals with strategic details.

Read this book. Politics is too important to be left to the professional politicians.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Truly Outstanding.... a Mindchanger, September 23, 1998

By A Customer

This book was truly an eye-opener for me. From Wallis's evaluation of what the Old-Testament prophets REALLY spent most of their time addressing, to suggestions as to how we can help solve the challenging societal problems that we face... I just found this book amazing. The first book in years that I've wanted to buy by the caseload and distribute randomly to anybody who'll take a copy. Highly recommended.

17 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A different look at politcs, July 17, 2001

By	Joseph Valentine Dworak "JVD" (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Jim Wallis delivers and excellent work I was alerted to a few years ago. This book forces Christians, from both sides of the political spectrum to examine what they believe, and why they believe it. Especially pointed are the criticisms of how both sides have plans to deal with the poor, but both are off base in the extremes of what they are trying to accomplish. Jim Wallis lives to serve the less-fortunate, and it shows in his servant attitude as he wrote this book. I give Jim Wallis high marks for this book that challenges the status-quo.