A CCL Open Night discussion about how to speak about Jesus in the public square

1. Christian voices
in the public square
How much is too much?
Monday 2 April 2012
CCL Open Night

3. ‘CHRISTIAN VOICES’:
 in Advocacy
… in the formal sphere of politics and
parliamentary deliberation about law
 in Commentary
in the sphere of „civil society‟
 in Evangelism

5. SOME SLOGANS …
 „separate church and state‟
 „separate religion and politics‟
 „don‟t impose your values/beliefs on me‟
 „get your religion off my body‟
 „religion poisons everything‟

6. ‘HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH?’
‘anything’ ‘no such thing’
‘programmatic secularism’ ‘theonomy’
‘doctrinaire secularism’ ‘theocracy’
… both totalitarian

7. Secular vs. Secularism
 … originally used by Christians for „this age‟
 … but now changed to mean „non-religious‟
Volf: secularism „a set of related values and truth-
claims partly inherited selectively from the tradition,
partly generated by the marketplace, and partly
drawn from the hard sciences. The marketplace
enthrones personal preference as the paramount
value, and the hard sciences offer explanations using
inner-worldy causalities as the only truth.‟

8. ‘WE’RE ALL LIBERALS NOW’
(programmatic secularism) liberalism (theonomy)
(1) freedom for each person to live in accordance with
his or her own interpretation of life
(or lack of it)
(2) the state‟s neutrality with respect to all such
perspectives on life (Volf)

9. ‘WE’RE ALL LIBERALS NOW’
‘procedural secularism’
„seeks to allow all faith perspectives equal access to
the public realm but claims to confer no political
privilege on any.‟ (Chaplin)

10. THE CHRISTIAN CASE FOR LIBERALISM
a) The King called Christ

11. a) The King called Christ
Roles of king and saviour “were combined
uniquely by Christ and that it is thereafter
impossible for anyone else to hold both
offices. Their reunion awaits the coming of
Christ again. Therefore, a separation of the
two is an eschatological sign that
acknowledges the fallibility of human beings
and the need for the division of power.”
- David Fergusson

12. a) The King
called Christ
Differentiated authority:
The Church only has
authority to state the Word of
God in its teaching and
preaching. It points to the
future kingdom of Christ, and
to the way that kingdom
impacts the present.

13. a) The King
called Christ
Differentiated authority:
The State only has authority
to rule the present, with laws,
judgments and sentences. It
defends what is right in this
age, but is passing away,
and must never think that it
will somehow trump the
kingdom to come.

14. b) The Spirit of the King

15. “Those who live according to the sinful nature
have their minds set on what that nature desires;
but those who live in accordance with the Spirit
have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.
The mind of the sinful person is death, but the
mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the
sinful mind is hostile to God.
It does not submit to God‟s law,
nor can it do so.”
- Romans 8:5-7

16. “The person without the Spirit does not accept
the things that come from the Spirit of God, for
they are foolishness to him, and he cannot
understand them, because they are spiritually
discerned.”
- 1 Corinthians 2:14

17. “Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law,
or by believing what you heard?”
- Galatians 3:1-2

18. … regulations that:
“lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence”
- Colossians 2:23

20. … BUT HOW?
‘procedural secularism’
‘reasonable pluralism’:
find ‘neutral common ground’
‘justificatory liberalism’:
the search for ‘public’ reasons

21. Tenets of justificatory liberalism:
 Law is coercive
 „Public reasons‟ needed for law
 „strictly religious‟ reasons not public („reasons that
derive exclusively from some particular religious
perspective‟, R. Talisse)
… here is where we get the idea of „imposing beliefs‟

22. ‘justificatory liberalism’:
‘exclusive’ vs ‘inclusive’
only mention reasons religious origins OK,
that make sense to all but add reasons for all
The slogans are gag-rules arising from justificatory
liberalism: you’ve failed the ‘public reason’ test

23. “Conscience votes have the potential to undermine
one of the defining principles of secular liberal
democracy: the separation of religion and politics…
When it comes to the issues of gay marriage,
euthanasia and abortion, [religion] functions as a
Trojan horse carrying sectional religious duties into
the party and the public office of the politician,
robbing them of the capacity to represent a general
electorate.”
Ryan Walter, 29/11/11, SMH.

24. CRITICS OF JUSTIFICATORY LIBERALISM:
a) Assumes „common ground‟ can be found
b) Disenfranchises deeply religious citizens
c) Privileges an atheistic style of discourse
- veiling real reasons
- living dissonantly
d) Conformist: excludes radical and
unexpected
e) Demands a 'right voice', rather respectful
reciprocity
f) Is illiberal!

25. AN ALTERNATIVE LIBERALISM?
agonistic reciprocity
‘critical tolerance’
noisy pluralism
… but always oriented to serve moral purpose of the state:
‘common good’
Volf: ‘gifts’ of ‘wisdom’

26. WHY SO MESSY?

27. WHY SO MESSY?
a) A shared
natural
environment

28. WHY SO MESSY?
a) A shared
natural
environment
b) ‘Objects of
love’

30. Talking God
by Jonathon Chaplin
www.theosthinktank.co.uk

31. Francis J Beckwith,
Politics for Christians:
Statecraft as Soulcraft
InterVarsity Press, 2011.

32. Miroslav Volf,
A Public Faith:
How followers of
Christ should serve
the common good
Brazos Press, Baker
Publishing Group, 2011.

34. Thank you for joining us.
www.ccl.moore.edu.au for
more information