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Faith & Politics after Christendom: The Church as a Movement for Anarchy

Reviewed by Alun Brookfield.

I’d have bought this book for the subtitle alone! But I also got it because I’d read the previous volumes in Paternoster’s After Christendom series and found them helpful in understanding the context in which we minister in the early 21st century and in trying to imagine what the church will eventually become as 1500 years of Christendom becomes merely a historical subject rather than a present reality.

Whereas the earlier books by Stuart Murray seemed to suggest that the most likely scenario was a church on the margins of society (as it was pre-Christendom), Bartley argues now in this volume that this may not be the withdrawal option which many have taken it to be. He argues for a very active engagement, which shies away from the close identification of the state with the church which was typical of Christendom, but also wants to avoid the complete marginalisation of the church by the state. Rather Bartley attempts to steer a course between the two extremes.

Certainly he is in favour of our getting fully, properly and unreservedly out of bed with the government. Only thus, he believes, can we begin to have a genuinely effective voice in challenging injustice, shaking institutions and undermining some of the central and mistaken values on which our present culture is built. To take government handouts in order to keep our churches open compromises us and weakens our right to speak for the poor, the marginalised, the exploited and the disadvantaged.

This is disturbing stuff, especially when so many churches are in decline and are likely to close without help from government (i.e. non-church-going taxpayers!). But it needs to be said and read, so I recommend this book as a must-read for anyone near the beginning of their ministry, and anyone who wants to revitalise their ministry. As Christendom fades into the past, it’s a time to dream new dreams - this book might give you nightmares, but read it anyway!