by Jorge Gomez • 4 minutes
There’s no denying that our country is in the midst of an intense cultural battle—one that isn’t just political or legal, but also spiritual. Amidst this fight for faith and freedom, many Americans are looking for inspiration and practical ways to make a difference.
People of faith—you and I included—aren’t meant to sit on the sidelines. All of us have a special role to play in getting our country back to its founding ideals and principles.
That’s the focus of two new, must-reads books by Dr. Stephen Presley and Dr. John Wilsey—scholars at First Liberty’s Center for Religion, Culture & Democracy (CRCD).
We had an opportunity to talk with Dr. Presley about his book. In this First Liberty Live! episode, he shares how every American can bring about cultural renewal:
Biblical Theology in the Life of the Early Church
In Biblical Theology in the Life of the Early Church, Dr. Presley—Senior Fellow for Religion and Public Life at the CRCD—talks about how the Bible can be the secret ingredient for changing the culture.
He goes back to the earliest years of the church, when the church was first emerging and finding its way in the Roman Empire. Christians back then didn’t have it easy. They lived in a pagan world where most people did not care about the Bible. But even then, these early Christians followed God’s Word, and ultimately they persuaded others to do the same and the church flourished.
Today, Christians are still part of the story and God is still working among us. Just like the early church, may we look to the teachings of the Bible to build our spiritual fortitude in the ongoing fight for faith and religious freedom.
Whether you’re a pastor, Christian leader or someone who’s passionate about bringing about cultural change, you’ll find Dr. Presley’s book highly valuable as you guide others to live out the story of the Bible like the early church.
Available for purchase on Christianbook.com >>
Religious Freedom: A Conservative Primer
In Religious Freedom: A Conservative Primer, Dr. Wilsey—Senior Fellow at the CRCD—addresses urgent questions about religious freedom in America.
How have conservatives historically understood the meaning of religious freedom? How do Americans who identify as conservative now think about religious freedom in this era? What are the differences between the historical and contemporary views and how do those differences shape fights about religious freedom today?
Writing for those concerned about threats to religious liberty, Dr. Wilsey draws on American history to explain how we can all rally around religious freedom to promote peace between church and state. With wisdom and insight, Wilsey charts a path forward for thinking about and maintaining a uniquely American tradition: harmony between the spirit of liberty and the spirit of religion.
“Written with a young audience in mind, Wilsey aims to equip the next generation with the intellectual heft—and the character—to preserve the core American principle of religious freedom that is under siege from elements on both the left and the right,” writes Deborah O’Malley, a fellow with the CRCD and an assistant professor at the University of Toledo.
“It is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand what kind of American character is necessary for the preservation of a free society,” O’Malley adds.
Available for purchase on Christianbook.com >>
Dive Deeper with the CRCD’s Monthly “Reading Wheel Review”
The CRCD’s Reading Wheel Review is an initiative designed to anchor sustained attention to books that truly matter, and to shape a substantive dialogue around them.
Every month, CRCD scholars and fellows select a book for review. Their analysis and evaluation are published online, which includes:
Books are at once a conduit for conveying complex and well-developed ideas and an artifact of the time and place from which they come. The book is an enduring piece of technology that has been one of the primary vehicles for shaping civilization.
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