Political Thought (Reclaiming the Christian Intellectual Tradition) [eBook]

A Student’s Guide

Politics affect everyone everywhere. Yet most people do not know how to communicate or think methodically (much less unemotionally) about the issues at hand. What we need is for our thinking to be grounded in the basic framework of order, freedom, justice, and equality.

Award-winning professor Hunter Baker helps political amateurs gain a foundational understanding of the subject and encourages seasoned political observers to find a fresh perspective in this book. Learn how to fruitfully consider and discuss politics, and gain a greater capacity for evaluating political proposals and the claims that go with them.

Hunter Baker (PhD, Baylor University; JD, University of Houston) is associate dean of arts and sciences at Union University and has written for a wide variety of publications including Christianity Today and the Journal of Law and Religion. Baker is also the winner of the 2011 Michael Novak Award for his research on the relationship between religion, economic freedom, and the virtuous society.

David S. Dockery (PhD, University of Texas) has been president of Union University in Jackson, Tennessee, since 1995. He is a much sought-after speaker and lecturer, a consulting editor for Christianity Today, and the author or editor of more than twenty-five books, including Southern Baptist Consensus and Renewal.

“Political Thought is a wonderful introduction to the study of politics. Hunter Baker writes as a true teacher, offering not only rigor and clarity but also a personal touch. He shows his reader that the study of political thought is not just an abstract exercise for dreary academics, but an application of practical reason to the question of how we are to live together in freedom and order to advance the common good. While introducing the student to the greatest political philosophers in history, Professor Baker takes great care in showing the indelible marks these thinkers have left on our civilization, and how they, for good or ill, have shaped the way Christians should critically assess their place in civil society and its political institutions.”
—Francis J. Beckwith, Professor of Philosophy and Church-State Studies, Baylor University; author of Defending Life: A Moral and Legal Case Against Abortion Choice

“What is the purpose of politics? How should we order our lives together? In lively and engaging prose, Hunter Baker surveys the answers that great thinkers have given to these enduring questions. His book is an excellent, accessible introduction to the fundamental themes of political discourse—and to why these matter for the rising generation.”
—George H. Nash, author, The Conservative Intellectual Movement in America Since 1945

“Hunter Baker provides an accessible and insightful primer on the various streams of thought and action at play in American public life. A notable merit of Baker’s work is that it examines clear alternatives while at the same time doing justice to the dynamic variety in and between different schools of thought. Baker paints a clear and compelling picture of the political landscape and in so doing provides a valuable service both for those learning about politics for the first time and for those seeking a refresher and a summary of political thought.”
—Jordan J. Ballor, Research Fellow, Acton Institute for the Study of Religion & Liberty; author, Ecumenical Babel