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80 books match the query 'Christianity and politics' and 2 start with b

cover of Between Jesus and the Market: The Emotions that Matter in Right-Wing America

Between Jesus and the Market

The Emotions that Matter in Right-Wing America

Linda Kintz

Duke University Press, 1997

Between Jesus and the Market looks at the appeal of the Christian right-wing movement in contemporary American politics and culture. In her discussions of books and videotapes that are widely distributed by the Christian right but little known by mainstream Americans, Linda Kintz makes explicit the crucial need to understand the psychological makeup of born-again Christians as well as the sociopolitical dynamics involved in their cause. She focuses on the role of religious women in right-wing Christianity and asks, for example, why so many women are attracted to what is often seen as an antiwoman philosophy. The result, a telling analysis of the complexity and appeal of the "emotions that matter" to many Americans, highlights how these emotions now determine public policy in ways that are increasingly dangerous for those outside familiarity’s circle.
With texts from such organizations as the Christian Coalition, the Heritage Foundation, and Concerned Women for America, and writings by Elizabeth Dole, Newt Gingrich, Pat Robertson, and Rush Limbaugh, Kintz traces the usefulness of this activism for the secular claim that conservative political economy is, in fact, simply an expression of the deepest and most admirable elements of human nature itself. The discussion of Limbaugh shows how he draws on the skepticism of contemporary culture to create a sense of absolute truth within his own media performance—its truth guaranteed by the market. Kintz also describes how conservative interpretations of the Holy Scriptures, the U.S. Constitution, and the Declaration of Independence have been used to challenge causes such as feminism, women’s reproductive rights, and gay and lesbian rights. In addition to critiquing the intellectual and political left for underestimating the power of right-wing grassroots organizing, corporate interests, and postmodern media sophistication, Between Jesus and the Market discusses the proliferation of militia groups, Christian entrepreneurship, and the explosive growth and "selling" of the Promise Keepers.
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cover of Bold Conscience: Luther to Shakespeare to Milton

Bold Conscience

Luther to Shakespeare to Milton

Joshua R. Held

University of Alabama Press, 2023

Traces how conscience—inner moral conviction—came to shape public life, fueling martyrdom, free speech, and political revolts

Bold Conscience: Luther to Shakespeare to Milton is a sweeping, original study of how conscience became one of the most powerful ideas in early modern England. Tracing the emergence of what Joshua R. Held calls the “bold conscience,” the book shows how inner moral conviction moved from the realm of private guilt to public action, fueling debates about authority, obedience, free speech, and resistance. By placing conscience at the center of literary, religious, and political conflict, Bold Conscience reveals a vital intellectual throughline linking the Reformation to the birth of modern ideas of liberty and toleration.

The book unfolds chronologically, beginning with Martin Luther and Henry VIII and moving through Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Henry VIII, John Donne’s court sermons, and John Milton’s polemical and poetic works, including Areopagitica and Paradise Lost. Each chapter combines close literary reading with historical and theological analysis, showing how conscience operates across genres—drama, sermon, pamphlet, and epic poetry. Joshua R. Held is a distinguished scholar of early modern literature whose work bridges literary criticism, intellectual history, and religious studies, bringing clarity and narrative energy to complex debates.

Bold Conscience will appeal to scholars and students of early modern literature, Shakespeare, Milton, and Reformation history, as well as readers interested in the origins of religious freedom and political dissent. It will also engage anyone concerned with how moral conviction shapes public life then and now.

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