Jesus and the Powers

Christian Political Witness in an Age of Totalitarian Terror and Dysfunctional Democracies

By: N. T. Wright, Michael F. Bird

Narrated by: James Langton

An urgent call for Christians everywhere to explore the nature of the kingdom amid the political upheaval of our day.

Should Christians be politically withdrawn, avoiding participation in politics to maintain their prophetic voice and to keep from being used as political pawns? Or should Christians be actively involved, seeking to utilize political systems to control the levers of power?

In Jesus and the Powers, N. T. Wright and Michael F. Bird call Christians everywhere to discern the nature of Christian witness in fractured political environments. In an age of ascending autocracies, in a time of fear and fragmentation, amid carnage and crises, Jesus is king, and Jesus’s kingdom remains the object of the church's witness and work.

Part political theology, part biblical overview, and part church history, this book argues that building for Jesus's kingdom requires confronting empire in all its forms. This approach should orient Christians toward a form of political engagement that contributes to free democratic societies and vigorously opposes political schemes based on autocracy and nationalism. Throughout, Wright and Bird reflect on the relevance of this kingdom-oriented approach to current events, including the Russian-Ukraine conflict, the China-Taiwan tension, political turmoil in the USA, UK, and Australia, and the problem of Christian nationalism.

A look at how history repeats itself.

An Christian intellectual looks at politics from a historical viewpoint and warns people about the implications of how autocratic governments cannot be trusted.

Read it for the last chapter!

I have read a lot of NTW. This was an excellent tag-team dealing with ideas that religions & governments would like their people to ignore. Friends, don’t ignore this book & find yourself on the losing side of Life!

timely and powerful

clearly organized and articulated--this book helps me think through/make sense of the chaos I'm witnessing in my country today.

Excellent biblically sound treatise on Christianity and politics

Excellent biblically sound treatise on Christianity and politics and how to treat where a Christian can or should be a part of the political word without doing harm and without apathy

Definitely worth a read/listen!.

I especially like that the authors noted that neither have lived under a totalitarian government, or other authoritarian government. And how they explained that how they lived or suffered under such a government that some of the reviews may be different.

I also enjoy the inclusion of quotations from people who were outside of the traditional western viewpoint. I would’ve loved to have actually heard more of these.