On God and Democracy: Engaging Bretherton’s Christ and the Common Life

In this article I try to introduce the overall structure of Bretherton’s book Christ and the Common Life by showing how each chapter displays how talk of God and talk of politics are mutually constitutive. In particular I try to show how Bretherton’s ‘case studies’ are arranged to develop his constructive thesis. My paper was not meant to be critical, though I raise the question of whether Bretherton’s project is not a very sophisticated form of Constantinianism—a question that very much asks Bretherton to make clear for whom he has written this extremely impressive book.

Duke Scholars

Author Stanley M. Hauerwas Divinity School