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Recent scholarship on The Prince interprets the classic work in the context of Machiavelli's sixteenth-century Italy, but this scholarship neglects the source on which the moral and political world of the sixteenth century was based, the Christian Bible. In this study of The Prince, William Parsons plumbs Machiavelli's allusions to the Bible, along with his statements on the church,and shows that Machiavelli was a careful reader of the Bible and an astute observer of the church. Machiavelli's teaching in The Prince, Parsons contends, might be instructively compared with that of the church's teacher, Jesus Christ. Parsons undertakes what recent interpreters of The Prince have not done: contrast Machiavelli's advice with the teachings of Christ. The result is a new reading of The Prince, revealing in Machiavelli's political thought a systematic critique of the teachings of the New Testament and its model for human life, Christ. In this study of the one of greatest works on politics ever written, Parsons not only challenges the most recent interpretations of The Prince but also gives new understanding to the reading that made Machiavelli famous. William Parsons is associate professor of political science at Carroll College.

Intro -- Foreword -- Acknowledgment -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Russian Orthodoxy and Modernization: Seven Historical Snapshots -- 2.1 15th/16th century: The crisis of tradition -- 2.2 The crisis of belonging: The liturgical reforms of the 17th century -- 2.3 The crisis of the self-evident: Peter I's reforms and the synodal period -- 2.4 Religious-philosophical awakening in the 19th century -- 2.5 The Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church 1917-1918 -- 2.6 The Orthodox Church in the Soviet Union -- 2.7 The challenge of freedom: The end of the Soviet Union and the dawn of the 21st century -- 2.8 Summary: Central argumentation lines -- 3 Dogmatic Orientations and the Tension between Unity and Diversity -- 3.1 The incomprehensibility of the trinitarian unity of diversity -- 3.2 Human being between unity and multiplicity -- 3.3 Church communion as unity in diversity -- 3.4 Summary: The tension between unity and diversity as a paradigm of Russian Orthodox theology -- 4 Theological Answers to Secular Challenges? -- 4.1 The unity of the Church and diversity in the Church -- 4.2 The unity of the people and diversity of opinion -- 4.3 The unity of the world and cultural diversity -- 5 Conclusion -- Bibliography -- Sources -- Literature.

Drury regards the political problems of the modern world to be thoroughly Biblical. In the politics of the Twenty-first century, we find two equally arrogant and self-righteous civilizations confronting one another. Each is convinced that it is on the side of God, truth and justice, while its enemy is allied with Satan, wickedness and barbarism. The language of diplomacy and compromise has been replaced by the language of jihad or the struggle against the cosmic forces of evil. Life is radicalized; and all choices are polarized. Politics properly understood is eclipsed. Drury urges us to transcend the Biblical view of the world. Instead, she argues in favour of a genuinely liberal, secular and pluralistic understanding of politics.

This book examines how Christians in Asia express their religion under the spectre of the nation state and processes of globalization. Considering Christianity's growing prominence, and the various ways Asian nation states respond to this growth, this book brings into sharper analytical focus the ways in which the faith is articulated at the local, regional, and global level.

Compromising Positions argues that political sex scandals aren't really about sex. Rather, they are a form of cultural theater --moments of highly visible, public storytelling--that use racial and gendered symbols to create a collective sense of national worth and strength. The book shows that Americans condemn or excuse the sexual indiscretions of their politicians depending on the degree to which those politicians reinforce longstanding evangelical symbols associated with "American values" and a "Christian nation.".

Doug Gay explores the ethics of nationalism, recognising that for many Christians, churches and theologians, nationalism has often been seen as intrinsically unethical due to a presumption that at best it involves privileging one nation`s interests over anothers and at worst it amounts to a form of ethnocentrism or even racism. Gay argues that there is another tradition of thinking nationalism, which can be related to state formation in early modern and modern Europe and North America, decolonisation in the 20th C and the reshaping of Central and Eastern Europe post 1989. This tradition represents a political response to various forms of `empire` and an assertion of a desire for self-determination in opposition to domination by an imperial or colonial power. This trajectory has not yet been adequately recognised within political theology and Christian ethics, which remains suspicious of the language of nationalism, while quietly acquiescing in its acceptance of the political legitimacy of most existing nation-states. The book offers a clear challenge to this approach, suggesting it lacks self-awareness and moral authority and proposes a critical rehabilitation of the discourse of nationalism, as necessary and helpful in relation to creating an honest and transparent discourse about the legitimacy of state boundaries. What makes any nationalism - whether regnant or aspiring - `ethical` for Christian theology?

Based on research conducted in Nigeria and other parts of sub-Saharan Africa, Christianity, Islam, and Liberal Democracy argues that Christian and Islamic religious communities become more conducive to actions and attitudes conducive to and compatible with liberal democracy in religiously diverse and integrated settings than in religiously homogeneous or diverse but segregated settings.