Christianity and Liberal Society

Liberalism forms the dominant political ideology of the modern world. Despite its pervasive influence, this is the first book-length treatment of liberal political thought from a Christian theological perspective. Song discusses the different approaches to the subject of three twentieth-century theologians and draws out the implications for current political thought.

Liberalism forms the dominant political ideology of the modern world, but despite its pervasive influence, this is the first book-length treatment of liberal political thought from a Christian theological perspective. Song discusses the different aspects and interpretations of liberalism with reference to the critiques of three twentieth-century theologians: the American Protestant Reinhold Niebuhr on the liberal progressivist philosophy of history; the lesser-known Canadian George Grant on the threat of technology to fundamental liberal values, as articulated in the recent work of John Rawls; and the French Thomist Jacques Maritain on the defence of political pluralism. Further to this, Song explores the implications of this political theology for the issues in fundamental constitutional theory raised by a bill of rights and judicial review of legislation, and concludes with an account of the critical but supportive stance of liberalism Christian theology should take.