Summary and Rationale: It has recently become popular to look back to the period of the Reformation not merely for theological guidance, but for political guidance--at the very least, for a fuller understanding of how modern politics was birthed, but also in many cases, for valuable resources for our own political engagement. Specifically, some have suggested that the early Reformed pioneered for us a bifurcation between “the civil kingdom” and “the spiritual kingdom” and ascribed different authorities to each--natural law and Scripture, respectively.  This narrative, however, overlooks that there were in fact several rival ways of construing the relationship between these two kingdoms in the sixteenth century, and of construing the authority of Scripture in each of them.  The strand to which these modern “Two Kingdoms” advocates appeal, I argue, is one that preeminent Anglican theologian Richard Hooker compellingly criticized in the 1590s as a betrayal of the Reformation and a practical impossibility.

By tracing the travails of the sixteenth-century doctrine of Christian liberty, in its relation to law (ecclesiastical and civil, divine and natural) and Biblical authority, culminating in the doctrine’s collapse into legalism in the English Puritans, I hope to set the stage for Hooker’s magisterial engagement with these themes.  Hooker, I will suggest, provides a far more satisfying treatment of the relation of divine, natural, and human law than any of his predecessors, and thus a rich, subtle, and supple account of the operation of Biblical and human authority in civil and ecclesiastical affairs.  Along the way, I suggest, he points us toward both a more liberating concept of law, and a promising model for Christian political engagement.

Current Status (10/14/11): research proposal and chapter outline approved, two chapter drafts written; working on draft of chapter four: "The Freedom of a Christian Commonwealth."

Associated projects--1) Drafting a paper for the American Academy of Religion conference (11/19): "Natural Law and Which Two Kingdoms?"  2) Revising a paper entitled "Sola Scriptura in the Public Square: Insights of Richard Hooker" for publication in a volume edited by Angus Paddison and Neil Messer, The Bible: Culture, Community, and Society (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, forthcoming 2013). 

See a longer summary of the proposal here. 

See related posts here.

Summary and Rationale: One of the most original and significant movements in nineteenth-century American theology was the Mercersburg Theology, which mediated both the theological riches of the orthodox response to Hegel and Schleiermacher in Germany and the Oxford Movement in England to an American Reformed context.  The provincialism and dogmatism of most American theologians of their time ensured that it got a limited hearing then and has received little attention since.  However, the Mercersburg theologians--John W. Nevin, Philip Schaff, and their disciples--have received renewed attention in recent years, particular among Reformed Christians looking for ecclesiological and sacramental resources in their tradition.  However, many of their writings remain difficult to access, and none have received the benefit of a proper critical edition that introduces the material adequately to scholars and laymen alike.

Thankfully, with the help of several fellow Mercersburg enthusiasts, I’ve assembled a first-rate team of historical and theological scholars to remedy that.  Starting later this year, and continuing on into 2015, Wipf and Stock Publishers will be printing 13 volumes of newly edited and annotated writings by the Mercersburg theologians.  The scholars currently contributing in some fashion include David Bains, Lee Barrett, Jonathan Bonomo, Adam Borneman, Pat Carey, Linden DeBie, William B. Evans, Michael Farley, Stephen R. Graham, Arie J. Griffioen, Sam Hamstra, Jr., D.G. Hart, E. Brooks Holifield, Michael Horton, David Layman, Peter J. Leithart, Rich Lusk, Keith Mathison, Nick Needham, Mark Noll, Augustine Thompson, Ted Trost, and Charles Yrigoyen.  

I will be serving as the General Editor of the project.

Current Status (4/19/11):

--volume editors for all thirteen volumes have been lined up

--volume 1: The Mystical Presence and the Doctrine of the Reformed Church on the Lord's Supper, edited by Linden DeBie and with a foreword by Mark Noll, is being prepared for the final stage--copy-editing.

--Second and third volumes are in process, to be published next year
--a web-site serving as a platform for the project and a database of Mercersburg-related material is under construction and set for launch in the next month

Summary and Rationale: 

At the recent meeting of the Society for the Study of Christian Ethics, the President of the society, Robert Song, expressed his conviction that if we as ethicists were really serious about how ordinary people lived their lives, and about helping ordinary people therefore to understand what Christian ethics is all about, we needed to meet people where they are.  And where they are nowadays, by and large, is Wikipedia--not academic journals, or the Dictionary of Christian Ethics.  This being the case, we have a professional responsibility to overcome our snobbishness and seek to ensure that the basic facts about Christian ethics--its history and important concepts, what is has to say about a host of contemporary issues--be communicated on Wikipedia clearly, accurately, and fully.  Unfortunately, this is currently not the case, and the few articles there are on the subject are often woefully inadequate.  

At the recent meeting, I was commissioned to recruit postgraduate students and other young scholars to undertake this important service, and to coordinate their efforts over the coming couple years.  (If anyone reading this is interested in participating, please contact me.)

Current Status (10/14/11): Just getting started.  Basic strategy mapped out, preparing to start recruiting subject area coordinators.

Summary and Rationale: Formerly titled “Servants of God” and Followers of Christ: A New Reading of Romans 13.  Since at least the Reformation, Romans 13 has come to be the text for political theology, appealed to by rebels and absolutists alike to establish or delimit the legitimacy of political authority.  Abstracted from its context and read for such a purpose, the passage has come to mean both much more and much less than it was originally intended, as focus has shifted from the ethics of the Christian community to the ethics of the magistrate.  This is deeply unfortunate, as the original context of the passage between Romans 12 and Romans 13:8-14, the context that gives it its core meaning and clarity, has been almost uniformly ignored by interpreters for centuries.  Even in the renewed attention to the passage among New Testament scholars in the past fifty years, no one has seemed to convincingly integrate the various new insights that have come to light, and few if any ethicists and more popular writers seem to have appropriated the fruits of this scholarship.

In this project, then (a much-expanded version of a lengthy paper I wrote in 2009--see the Writings page), I will endeavour first to trace the history of the passage’s interpretation, focusing particularly on its ubiquitous use and abuse in the Reformation and its significance in modern debates.  I will then summarize the basic interpretive options for the passage and how each situates (or fails to situate) the passage in its historical, theological, and literary context.  Then I will undertake a detailed structual analysis and exegesis of the passage in its context, synthesizing and adding to the insights of recent scholarship.  Finally I will make a stab at how this reading might contribute to Christian political ethics.  My core argument shall be that the context of the passage compels Christians to understand the Christian recognition and submission to political authority as a specification of the law of love, the imitation of Christ as living sacrifices.  Such a reading, I believe, fundamentally challenges both the postures of the rebel and the absolutist, and provides creative insights for political theology as a whole.  

At the Society of Biblical Literature Int'l Conference in London (7/7), I presented a paper called "'Servants of God' and Followers of Christ: Reading Romans 13 in Context," which was well-received.

Current status (10/14/11): research perhaps 50% complete, writing 25% complete; on the back burner again as I focus on thesis-related work.

See related posts here.

Summary and Rationale: Since writing a paper on the theory of private property in the Roman Catholic tradition last spring (see the Writings page), I’ve been doing ongoing research and writing on theological approaches to the problem of private property--that is to say, the questions of how, by whom, and for what ends private property is justified.  My initial research focused on Aquinas, Leo XIII, and Hilaire Belloc, while subsequent work has taken me of course to Locke, forward to modern political philosopher Jeremy Waldron, and back to the medieval Franciscans.  If time allows, I hope this to eventually issue in some publishable writing on two levels--one a more historical and theoretical analysis of theological approaches to the problem, and the other a more practical and Scriptural reflection on what these ambiguities mean for Christians today, particularly in light of the conservative Christian conviction that private property is a “sacred institution” established directly by God.  The second of these opportunities has appeared in the form of a chapter ("The Privation of Property: Property Rights, Capitalism, and the Christian Tradition") accepted for inclusion within a book to be published by University Press of America next year, Render Unto God: Christianity and Capitalism Reconsidered.   

I have been posted frequently on issues related to this topic here and hopefully will continue to do so I work out some of these reflections.

Current Status (10/14/11): Book chapter submitted; further research on hold for the moment as I focus on thesis-related work. 

See related posts here.