Two evangelical Christian authors with divergent political views will discuss their new book, Left, Right & Christ: Evangelical Faith in Politics (Russell Media, Oct.) in a forum at James Chapel, Union Theological Seminary, 3041 Broadway (at 121st St.) in New York City on Thursday, October 6, at 7:00 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Lisa Sharon Harper, director of mobilizing at Sojourners, a progressive evangelical organization that advocates social justice, and D.C. Innes, associate professor politics at The King’s College, will discuss the book in a conversation moderated by Kirsten Powers of Fox News and The Daily Beast. A panel discussion will follow with Jim Wallis (God’s Politics), president and CEO of Sojourners, and Richard Land (The Divided States of America), president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Asked why it is important to have this discussion now, Innes said, “[We] have an incumbent president whose Christianity comes from the left and several candidates in the GOP who are quite public about their faith expressed from the right, like Rick Perry, Michelle Bachmann, and the undeclared but ever-present Sarah Palin. The old evangelical-right leaders--people like Jerry Falwell and James Dobson--are leaving the stage, and today’s young generation is looking for answers from the timeless truth of Scripture.”
Added Harper, “Our current political climate is deeply polarized and vitriolic in its tone. It is tempting for followers of Jesus to simply follow their party lines in these confusing days. We wrote this book to offer a resource to the church as it wrestles through the issues. We also wrote it for the sake of politicians and the press who often pigeonhole evangelicals into one political party and ideology. We hope this book demonstrates that evangelical is not a political party.”
Copies of Left, Right & Christ will be available for purchase, and the authors will sign books.
