The Ballot and the Bible

A Book Review

Kaitlyn Schiess has written an excellent look at the way politics and the Bible have intersected in American politics. The Ballot and the Bible explores how religion has been used to influence politics, similar to how Jesus and John Wayne and The Making of Biblical Womanhood by Kristen Kobes du Mez and Beth Allison Barr.

The book begins with the Puritans laying the groundwork for much of American biblical interpretation and thought. I believe the influence of the Puritans still influences much of our public discourse as we see those influences, even within those who reject the idea of God. The subsequent chapters deal with how the Bible has been used throughout the history of the United States, showing how different viewpoints and ideologies used the same Bible to advance their cause. Topics include the American Revolution, chattel slavery, the social Gospel, Civil Rights, the place of the market economy in evangelical interpretation, eschatological ideologies using fear as a motivator, and the use of faith by more contemporary presidents.

Schiess does good work showing ways that political ideology often colors our biblical hermeneutical lenses. She shines a light upon the subtle ways that interpretive lens has become the very ideal of orthodoxy for some. The book has points which will make any reader uncomfortable in a good way. For it is in the discomfort of realizations that we may have allowed things other than genuine attempts to understand God to color our biblical claims. The final chapter gives practical frameworks for recognizing how politics has shaped theological intent so that we can build out more deeply theologies of politics in which the theological drives our political choices rather than the other way round. Using an exegetical look at Jeremiah 29 and the idea of exile, Schiess reminds us that “we will be more faithful readers of Scripture if we understand how the church in our immediate context has read it. We also will be more faithful readers of Scripture if we understand that our contemporary reading are not universal or neutral but conditioned by our time and place.” (emphasis mine from Chapter 10)

The Ballot and the Bible does do an excellent job of showing how extremes often keep us from seeing a better way of interpretation of the theology of politics. Those of us in the Wesleyan traditions would do well to read this and find a renewed emphasis of our via media (middle way) of interpretation. In an increasingly post-Christian society the middle way may be one path to tell better stories of who God is. In that path we may also find a better way to shape our political imagination such that we are one to new moves and ways to impact humanity outside of our current polarized milieu.

#TheBallotandtheBible

The Ballot and the Bible releases August 22nd so you still have time to pre-order.