Faith in Politics: Religion and Liberal Democracy

Dr. McGraw masterfully relates a gripping yet academically persuasive narrative of how Christian movements interacted with the emerging liberal order in Europe, arguing against the commonly held belief that these movements were always harmful to liberalism and democracy. While remaining accurate about failures of Christian participation in liberal orders (Austria), he presents persuasive counter-examples in both Catholic (Germany) and Protestant (the Netherlands) contexts. But beyond this merely historical survey, he uses these empirical resources to marshal a critique of arguments favoring an exclusively "public reason" and outlines a rough sketch of some normative rules of Christian engagement in liberal democratic orders. In all, the book is rigorously researched and a must-read for anyone interested in having a more complete view of how faith and politics have interacted and should interact.