Kenan Senior Fellow Luke Bretherton talks Democracy and Christianity on WRAL
By David Crabtree, WRAL anchor/reporter
Raleigh, N.C. — What does a Brit know about American politics? If that Brit is Luke Bretherton, the answer is quite a lot.
Bretherton teaches ethics at Duke Divinity School and has recently published Christ and the Common Life, Political Theology and the Case for Democracy.
At a time when many in churches think democracy is either unable or unwilling to address issues such as climate change or are joining authoritarian movements, his book examines why democracy is a key way Christians should understand the command to love their neighbor and explores why democratic politics is a vital way to faithfully struggle for justice.
Through Bretherton’s analysis of debates concerning race, class, economics, the environment, interfaith relations and other topics, he develops an innovative political theology of democracy as a way through which Christians can speak and act faithfully within the contemporary context and, at the same time, pursue a just and compassionate common life with others who don’t share their beliefs and practices.