Fisher’s academic explores politics and Christianity in his book • Current Publishing

Religion and politics are closely linked and since the United States has a Christian majority population, Christianity continues to play a major role in the country’s politics.

Miranda Zapor Cruz, a Fishers resident and professor of historical theology, has written a new book that explores how people of different Christian faiths bring their faith into their civic duty. “Faithful Politics: Ten Approaches to Christian Citizenship and Why it Matters” was published Aug. 20 by InterVarsity Press, a religious publisher.

Cruz, a professor at Indiana Wesleyan University, said the inspiration for the book came in part from questions her students have asked over the past decade.

“They express confusion and distress and are really worried about how to engage in politics or whether to engage in politics at all,” she said of the 18- to 22-year-olds. “They’re grappling with these political issues for the first time and all in such a fraught context where there’s so much distrust and name-calling and division. I see their fear of politics and those are kind of the people I had in mind when I wrote the book.”

Cruz is a Christian and said she was a college student herself when she became interested in the issue in the early 2000s.

“I’ve been very interested in how politicians use religious rhetoric and quote the Bible or use Christian phrases in general and how Christians respond to that,” she said. “So I’ve been paying attention to that for the last 20 years and trying to figure out what that relationship is. How do Christians or people of other faiths think about religion and politics? For me, that’s an academic thing, but it’s also personal because I struggle with that same tension.”

Cruz said politics in the United States has always been deeply influenced by religion, particularly Christianity, but in recent decades religion has become more political.

“That’s not just my impression. There’s all kinds of data on how Christians have aligned politically and the extent to which they – especially evangelical Christians – align with the Republican Party,” she said.

In her book, Cruz examines the historical and theological background of why different branches of Christianity approach politics in different ways. Although the book focuses on Christianity and politics, Cruz says readers who are not Christians will also gain an understanding of the issues.

“I think the tendency is to look at politics and see how Christianity influences politics and not understand what’s going on in the world or to look at Christians as some kind of monolithic group,” she said. “I think that someone who is not a Christian and reads the book will get a good understanding of how it can be that Christians actually have a pretty broad range of political views even though they hold the same core beliefs.”

“Faithful Politics” is a scholarly, nonpartisan look at the issue. Cruz said people who read advance copies told her they couldn’t see their own viewpoints.

“That was my goal,” she said. “I think most books about politics, and especially about religion and politics, are written by people who want to convince others that they have to think a certain way. I’m not trying to convince anyone to think a certain way about politics. I’m mostly trying to get people to think about politics.”

Cruz said she offers readers ideas about how to apply faith in politics, such as considering the common good and valuing a diverse society. She also distinguishes Christian nationalism from other Christian approaches.

“I explain why I don’t believe Christian nationalism is a good or faith-based path for Christians,” she said. “I think for many people – Christians and non-Christians – it’s framed as: If you’re a Christian and you want your faith to influence your political thinking, then that’s Christian nationalism. I break that down a little more – what is Christian nationalism, actually, and why is it a problem? What are the alternatives for Christians who believe their faith needs to influence their politics?”

For more information, visit ivpress.com/faithful-politics. Cruz’s book is also available on Amazon.