In this provocateive book, a prominent theologian and a leading Christian editor speak to all Christians who have grown mistrustful of the church's involvement in "religio-political power-plays" and are seeking the way home. Robert E. Webber and Rodney Clapp examine the dilemma so many Christians face—what to do if you are an enthusiast for neither the New Right nor the Old Left but still take seriously the church's social and political responsibility. 'People of the Truth' offers a biblical solution to this perplexing question.

The authors show how American Christians have come to depend on the nation, rather than the church, as their primary instrument of social change and communal influence. They call for teh church to move beyond the "dead end" of civil religion to affirm the authentic role of the worshiping community in effecting social change. "The church should dare to lay down its life," the authors write, "to give up its ill-begotten political leverage; to turn aside from success and stop counting heads (or dollars); to stand at the side of forgotten poor and oppressed; to be a sign and a witness of humanity's insufficiency and God's all-sufficiency."

Drawing upon the works of many esteemed theologians and historians, the authors trace the growth of Christianity and offer a fresh apporach to the history of the church in the world. They reveal how the church's "identity and vision" have become confused, how they can be recovered, and how Christians—by living out their "distinctive story" as a worshiping community—can heal society's ills.

'People of the Truth' provides concrete examples of how the church, by realigning itself with its Christ-centered mandate, can effectively respond to such urgent problems as poverty, drug abuse, violence, pornography, AIDS, and the ever-present threat of nuclear war. Here is at once a summons and a guide for the church to become in fact what it has always been ideally: "the only people charged with proclaiming this Christ . . . a people of the truth."

Author - Robert E. Webber
Author - Rodney Clapp

"Put this on your list of books that must be read."

Vernon Grounds, President, Evangelicals for Social Action


"Right on target . . . a fresh new perspective based upon a classic, biblical point of view."

William H. Willimon, Professor of the Practice of Christian Ministry, Duke University


"Combines profound theological commitments with rich insights drawn from a remarkable range of literature. . . . This book [is] a positive pleasure to read."

Stanley Hauerwas, author of 'Against the Nations'


"Evangelical Christian writing at its most attractive—now prophetic and challenging, now profoundly challenging, always good natured, always loyal to Jesus the Christ."

James WM. McClendon, Jr., professor of theology, Church Divinity School of the Pacific and Graduate Theological Union


"This eminently readable book sketches a new role for the church in American society. . . . Church, worship, and social responsibility are linked by a 'depth theology' which must speak to evangelicals and Catholics alike."

Mark Searle, professor of theology, University of Notre Dame


"Their arguments deserve a wide hearing. A powerful call for the church to break with ideological alignments and be the church."

Donald G. Bloesch, author of 'Freedom for Obedience'

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