"The Cross Before The Watching World" takes a realistic look at the rapidly disintegrating society and asks questions about moral collapse.

Where do Christians fit in a two-party political system? The partisan divide that is rending the nation is now tearing apart American churches. On one side are Christian Right activists and other conservatives who believe that a vote for a Democratic presidential candidate is a vote for abortion, sexual immorality, gender confusion, and the loss of religious liberty for Christians. On the other side are politically progressive Christians who are considering leaving the institutional church because of white evangelicalism’s alliance with a Republican Party that they believe is racist, hateful toward immigrants, scornful of the poor, and directly opposed to the principles that Jesus taught. Even while sharing the same pew, these two sides often see the views of the other as hopelessly wrongheaded—even evil. Is there a way to transcend this deep-seated division? The Politics of the Cross draws on history, policy analysis, and biblically grounded theology to show how Christians can protect the unborn, advocate for traditional marriage, promote racial justice, care for the poor, and, above all, honor the gospel by adopting a cross-centered ethic instead of the idolatrous politics of power, fear, or partisanship. As Daniel K. Williams illustrates, both the Republican and Democratic parties are rooted in Christian principles, but both have distorted those principles and mixed them with assumptions that are antithetical to biblical truth. Williams explains how Christians can renounce partisanship and pursue policies that show love for our neighbors to achieve a biblical vision of justice. Nuanced, detailed, and even-handed, The Politics of the Cross tackles the thorny issues that divide Christians politically and offers a path forward with innovative, biblically minded political approaches that might surprise Christians on both the left and the right.

We are living in a time when we desperately need to engage our culture with the only message that has any hope of transforming it. Yet, many Christians have pushed aside the cross in order to fight the world on its own terms and with its own strategies. Instead, Pastor Lutzer says, we must stand on biblical ground. This fight is not one against our fellow Americans, it's "against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." Let us not retreat or become silent, but let us remember where our true allegiance lies. This book reminds us that spiritual redemption, not political reformation, is at the heart of God's agenda. Only the church, not a political party, can bear God's message to a hurting world. And the world is watching us. Are we showing them Christ?

America's moral decline is not secret. An alarming number of moral and cultural problems have exploded in our country since 1960--a period when the standards of morality expressed in our laws and customs have been relaxed, abandoned, or judicially overruled. Conventional wisdom says laws cannot stem moral decline. Anyone who raises the prospect of legislation on the hot topics of our day - abortion, family issues, gay rights, euthanasia - encounters a host of objections: As long as I don't hurt anyone the government s should leave me alone." No one should force their morals on anyone else." You can't make people be good." Legislating morality violates the separation of church and state." 'Legislating Morality' answers those objections and advocates a moral base for America without sacrificing religious and cultural diversity. It debunks the myth that morality can't be legislated" and amply demonstrates how liberals, moderates, and conservatives alike exploit law to promote good and curtail evil. This book boldly challenges prevailing thinking about right and wrong and about our nation's moral future.

When Christ went into the wilderness for forty days, he was tempted by Satan in multiple ways. In the devil's third and final temptation, he offered Christ all the kingdoms of the world in exchange for one momentary compromise of values. Christ denied this temptation, and in so doing, he set an example for Christians of all ages thereafter to follow. The Third Temptation is an exploration of the political theology of the Bible, and especially the implications of Christ's response to the temptation in the wilderness. The book sketches an overarching narrative of a God who wants a relationship of direct authority over His people -- and His self-sacrificial quest to reclaim that power. Believers have an important role to play in advancing God's Kingdom on Earth, but that role cannot be fulfilled through the channels of government. The lesson of The Third Temptation is that the church cannot fulfill the gospel by means of the sword, and the government cannot carry out its God-given tasks by means of the cross. "Austin Rogers is a gifted writer whose magnificent prose, profound insights, rigorous logic and impeccable scholarship assure that The Third Temptation is destined to be a classic." --Lawrence W. Reed, author of "Was Jesus A Socialist?" "In an age when many Christians on both sides of the aisle see political power as the ultimate means to fulfill God's purposes on Earth, Austin's examination of why Jesus refused to accept political power when it was offered to him is an urgent call to reimagine the relationship between God and government and what it truly means to follow in the footsteps of Jesus." --Kevin Miller, director of "J.E.S.U.S.A." and "Hellbound?" "Rogers is exceedingly helpful for disciples to align their approach to politics with the Scriptures and the will of God for our lives." --D. Eric Schansberg, Professor at Indiana University Southeast and author of "Turn Neither to the Right nor to the Left: A Thinking Christian's Guide to Politics and Public Policy" "This is a work not to be ignored, as Christians of every political persuasion will be both challenged and invigorated by Rogers' analysis and policy proposals. No thoughtful reader will remain unchanged after reading this book!" --Doug Stuart, CEO, Libertarian Christian Institute

Globalisation and complex Europeanisation are two significant challenges currently influencing the restructure of the European nation-state, and redefining political power. For this volume, first-rate European scholars look at the consequences of these and other challenges faced by European societies. Contributions revisit traditional objects of political science – state sovereignty, civil society and citizenship – mixing sophisticated empirical analyses with methodological and conceptual innovations including field theory, multiple correspondence analysis, and the study of space sets. Combining qualitative and quantitative research techniques, and macro- and micro-levels, chapters have in common a contextual analysis of politics through scrutiny of configurations of groups, representations and perceptions. A transnational perspective is the common thread linking every study in this volume, which seeks to avoid methodological nationalism.

Political societies frequently regard philosophers as potential threats to morality and religion, and those who speak for politics often demand a defense of philosophy. This book will address philosophy as a mode of existence put into question.