Review:

Jesus for president

Jesus for President is clearly written into a context of growing disillusionment both with politics and Christianity in America. It is a remarkable book, a combination of Bible narrative, history, politics, testimony and prophecy. It is also beautiful in its production (though its style will grate with some), written in a scrapbook format, heavy on images, perhaps more conducive to dipping into than reading in long sittings.

Despite the very affable and accessible style, don’t underestimate the punch it packs. Described as ‘A book to provoke the Christian political imagination’, it is a call to remember that the kingdom of God stands in opposition to the kingdoms of this world.

Perhaps it will not convince the sceptical – it is not a sufficiently robust polemic against Christian collusion with power – but what it can do is inspire those who are already increasingly uncomfortable with Christian politics and practice to rediscover the subversive call of the gospel of grace in a world dominated by the survival of the fittest.

Ultimately, what we are offered is not a manifesto for change, but rather an alternative biblical framework within which to think, and a series of stories and questions to provoke.

It is aimed at a generation of young Christian radicals, and that is a strength but also a weakness. This is a movement which needs to be endorsed and valued by the more established church (rather than critiqued to the point of alienation), to help to ground what they are doing in the rich historical tradition of radical Christian faith.

High: The potential to capture the imagination of young evangelicals to challenge the complacency and compromise within western Christianity.

Low: It lacks a sufficiently robust critique to challenge the sceptic.

Reviewed by Rev Mark Fletcher, an Anglican priest working in a Fresh Expression church in Islington, London.

Published by: Zondervan
Price: £9.99
ISBN: 9780310278429