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Power Politics and Moral Order
Three Generations of Christian Realism—A Reader
Edited by Eric D. Patterson and Robert J. Joustra
Imprint: Cascade Books
Eric D. Patterson is executive vice president of the Religious Freedom Institute in Washington, DC, scholar-at-large at Regent University (USA), and a fellow of Georgetown University’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs. He has written or edited fifteen books, including Christianity and Power Politics Today (2008), The Christian Realists (2003), and Just American Wars: Ethical Dilemmas in U.S. Military History (2018).
Robert J. Joustra is Associate Professor of Politics & International Studies, and founding-Director of the Centre for Christian Scholarship at Redeemer University. He is author, co-author, and co-editor of seven books, including Modern Papal Diplomacy and Social Teaching in World Affairs (2019) and more recently Calvinism for a Secular Age (2022).
“An indispensable introduction to twentieth- and twenty-first-century Christian realism in international relations. Well-selected excerpts include familiar voices and new, showing development among thinkers over time. . . . The volume implicitly argues for Christian realism as a diverse, ecumenical, international, and contextual approach to politics. Essential reading in a world facing multiple threats and disruptions on the global stage.”
—Debra Erickson, coeditor of Jean Bethke Elshtain: Politics, Ethics, and Society
“An invaluable and overdue resource, this anthology will be a vital point of reference for scholars of Christian realism. There is a deep wisdom at work in this masterfully compiled collection of essays.”
—Cian O’Driscoll, Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs, ANU
“What has the faith of forgiveness and reconciliation to do with the cold realities of power that dominate geopolitics? Joustra and Patterson’s volume traces a tradition of Christian political thought that studies the realities of power with clear eyes and a faithful commitment to order and neighborly love. What emerges is not denominational or partisan doctrine but a plurality of voices forming a compelling vision of international relations that is at once sober and hopeful.”
—Joshua Hastey, Regent University
“Power Politics and Moral Order is the definitive reader on Christian realism. From Butterfield and Niebuhr to Elshtain and Weigle, the work includes a wide array of Christian realists addressing a host of topics. Edited by two contemporary and prominent Christian realists, Eric D. Patterson and Robert J. Joustra, the book is required reading for every student of international relations and those involved in making foreign policy.”
—Mark David Hall, George Fox University
“For anyone interested in coming to a better understanding of Christian realism as manifested in foreign-policy circles—whether a scholar, student, policy maker, or the average reader—Patterson and Joustra’s volume is essential reading. Providing historical context and conceptual elaboration about Christian realism, the volume includes key readings from each generation, including works by greats such as Reinhold Niebuhr, Kenneth Thompson, Paul Ramsey, George Weigel, Jean Elshtain, and others.”
—Gregory J. Moore, Colorado Christian University