WITNESS IN THE PUBLIC SQUARE

by JAMES W. SKILLEN in Vol. 1 No. 1-2 / Fall 2015

DOI: https://doi.org/10.35285/ucc1.1-2.2015.art10



This article aims to encourage Christians to respond with vigor to Christ’s call to follow him in whole-life discipleship. Life in the public square, which includes the responsibilities of citizenship and government, is one of the arenas in which our love of God and love of neighbors must be exhibited. With biblical and historical arguments, the author emphasizes two principles of justice that obligate governments and citizens. The first is “structural pluralism,” which requires constitutional recognition and protection of the diversity of God’s creatures and the diversity of human responsibilities and organizations. The second is “confessional pluralism,” rooted in God’s patience and mercy in this age, made manifest in the rain and sunshine that falls on the just and unjust alike. One of the implications for political life is that all citizens should be treated with equal justice without discrimination due to their faith.

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Other Articles in
Vol. 1 No. 1-2 / Fall 2015

Martyreō and Cognates in the New Testament: Some Notes by DONALD A. CARSON
Witness in the Theology of Hebrews by DAVID G. PETERSON
The Martyrdom of Polycarp by GERALD BRAY
Jan Hus: A Reformation before the Reformation by DANIEL BERGÈSE
The Forerunners of the Reformation by PETER A. LILLBACK
Pierre Viret’s Consolation for the Persecuted Huguenots by REBEKAH A. SHEATS
A Teachable Death: Doctrine and Death in Marten Micron’s Martyrology by HERMAN J. SELDERHUIS
The Guanabara Confession of Faith by Alderi S. Matos
The Captivity Epistles of the English Reformation by PHILIP E. HUGHES
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Post-Christian Confession in Secular Context by LEONARDO DE CHIRICO
Persecution of Christians Today by THOMAS SCHIRRMACHER
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