Defending Democracy from its Christian Enemies: A Conversation with David Gushee and Kristin Kobes Du Mez APPROVED INT 100/201!

Friday, March 15, 2024
1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Robert C. Pew Grand Rapids Campus
Alumni, Community, Faculty, Staff, Students

Please join us at 1:00 pm on Friday, March 15 for a conversation and book talk with David P. Gushee and Kristin Kobes Du Mez! The conversation will focus on the premises presented in David's latest book with Eerdmans titled, Defending Democracy from Its Christian Enemies.

Doors open at 12:30 pm. A reception and book signing will follow the conversation. Light refreshments will be provided and books will be availble to purchase.

Sponsored by: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. and the Kaufman Interfaith Institute

About Defending Democracy:

American democracy is in danger. How do we protect it from authoritarian reactionary Christianity?

On January 6, 2021, hundreds of Americans stormed the Capitol to prevent the certification of their political opponent’s election. At the forefront were Christians claiming to act in the name of Jesus Christ and his supposed representative on earth, Donald Trump. How can this have happened?

David P. Gushee tackles the question in this timely work of Christian political ethics. Gushee calls us to preserve democratic norms, including constitutional government, the rule of law, and equal rights for all, even as many Christians take a reactionary and antidemocratic stance. Surveying global politics and modern history, he analyzes how Christians have discarded their commitment to democracy and bought into authoritarianism. He urges us to fight back by reviving our hard-won traditions of congregational democracy, dissident Black Christian politics, and covenantal theology./

Defending Democracy from Its Christian Enemies makes a robust case for a renewed commitment to democracy on the part of Christians—not by succumbing to secular liberalism, but by drawing on our own best traditions. Any concerned Christian will leave its pages with eyes wide open to the dangers of our current form of political engagement. Readers will gain insight into what democracy is truly meant to be and why Christians once supported it wholeheartedly—and should do so again.

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Location Information

Loosemore Auditorium
Richard M. DeVos Center, Building E
GVSU Pew Campus
301 Fulton St W.
Grand Rapids, MI 49504

Contact Information

Kaufman Interfaith Institute

[email protected]

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This event was added to the calendar by Liz English (englisel@gvsu.edu) on Wednesday, January 31, 2024 and was last updated on Thursday, February 8, 2024 at 3:14 p.m.

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