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Posted by Josh de Keijzer on

Evangelical Theology and Justice: Strange Bedfellows In the Kingdom of God

Evangelical Theology and Justice: Strange Bedfellows In the Kingdom of God

One big reason why Christianity has gotten a bad rap in post-world WWII Europe is that increasingly it began to be seen as hypocritical and disingenuous. Partly, as a result, the churches saw massive losses in the 60s and 70s. Statistics show that in my own country the Netherlands, for instance, the decline has still not come to a halt. I realize that a reduction to a single cause of any historical phenomenon is asking for trouble. But I’m not a historian and my purpose in this article is not to give an exhaustive overview of the decline of Christianity in Europe. Rather, I want to address a similar problem in evangelicalism where the accusation of hypocrisy points to a weird tension between evangelical theology and justice.

Posted by Josh de Keijzer on

Theocracy: Somebody’s Heaven is Someone Else’s Hell

Theocracy: Somebody’s Heaven is Someone Else’s Hell

Theocracy, that form of government in which God governs a nation directly through divine command, is hot again. Think for instance of Iran, al-Qaeda or ISIS. Closer to home, American evangelicals are busy using the White House to get a firm grip on politics and legislation. For them, Trump is God’s man who will ensure that the US will be governed again according to the moral values once established by God.

Posted by Josh de Keijzer on

Theocratie: de hemel van de een is hel voor de ander

Theocratie: de hemel van de een is hel voor de ander

Theocratie, de regeringsvorm waarbij God direct regeert, is weer helemaal terug van weggeweest. Denk bijvoorbeeld aan Iran, Al Qaida of IS. En op dit moment zijn Amerikaanse evangelicals bezig om via het Witte Huis stevig grip te krijgen op politiek en wetgeving. Ze zien in Trump een man van God die er voor zal zorgen dat het land weer volgens Gods morele normen bestuurd wordt.

Posted by Josh de Keijzer on

It Takes Racism to Explain Away Racism

It Takes Racism to Explain Away Racism

Why is it so hard to overcome racism? It is strange that in a world where most people tend to agree that racism is a bad thing, there is still is so much left of it. It is incomprehensible that in our civilized societies the specter of fascism is looming again. Most people don’t want to be racist, so why are so many driven by racist motivations of hatred for the racial other? Apparently declaring it a thing of the past is not enough. Education is barely making enough of an impression in order to train us to be good citizens.

Posted by Josh de Keijzer on

How Bonhoeffer Can Be an Ally for Trump Voters

How Bonhoeffer Can Be an Ally for Trump Voters

How Bonhoeffer can be an ally for Trump-voting evangelicals:
x Learning true courage
x Learning to understand the times; DB did not struggle against loss of political influence
x Learning to put one’s life danger willingly for the good
x Transformed hearts leads to serving the other in humility
x Christ as the center means following Christ: not culture war, but change/subversion from below
x Eschewing the attempt to establish God’s kingdom on earth
x Not waiting for the apocalypse but affirming embodied reality and the otherness of the other
x objectification of God