Awaiting the King

In this culmination of his widely read and highly acclaimed Cultural Liturgies project, James K. A. Smith examines politics through the lens of liturgy. What if, he asks, citizens are not only thinkers or believers but also lovers? Smith explores how our analysis of political institutions would look different if we viewed them as incubators of love-shaping practices--not merely governing us but forming what we love. How would our political engagement change if we weren't simply looking for permission to express our "views" in the political sphere but actually hoped to shape the ethos of a nation, a state, or a municipality to foster a way of life that bends toward shalom?

This book offers a well-rounded public theology as an alternative to contemporary debates about politics. Smith explores the religious nature of politics and the political nature of Christian worship, sketching how the worship of the church propels us to be invested in forging the common good. This book creatively merges theological and philosophical reflection with illustrations from film, novels, and music and includes helpful exposition and contemporary commentary on key figures in political theology.

Contents
Introduction: Liturgical Politics: Reforming Public Theology
1. Rites Talk: The Worship of Democracy
2. Revisiting the Church as Polis: Cultivating an Ecclesial Center of Gravity
3. The Craters of the Gospel: Liberalism's Borrowed Capital
4. The Limits and Possibility of Pluralism: Reforming Reformed Public Theology
5. Redeeming Christendom: Or, What's Wrong with Natural Law?
6. Contested Formations: Our "Godfather" Problem
Conclusion: The City of God and the City We're In: Augustinian Principles for Public Participation
Indexes

Reviews

"Smith has written an essential guide to social life aimed at his fellow Christians but essential reading for all of his fellow citizens. His core insight, that the human being is created to pursue solidarity but must then be ceaselessly formed and re-formed to achieve and sustain it, is at least as bracing a critique of modern politics as it is a critique of the deficiencies of political theology."

Yuval Levin, editor of National Affairs and author of The Fractured Republic

"With characteristic verve and clarity--as well as honesty and nuance--this climactic volume of Smith's trilogy offers a broadly Augustinian perspective on public life that takes us beyond genealogy and modernity criticism. It is a much-needed intervention in evangelical political thought, especially to the extent it is actually theological and does not bracket political concerns from gospel proclamation and Christian formation. Appreciative yet critical of contemporary alternatives, Smith offers a liturgical and missional focus that represents a distinctive contribution from a leading public theologian. Awaiting the King will make you rethink not only Kuyperianism and its critics but also the task of theology itself for our present age."

Eric Gregory, professor of religion, Princeton University

"Negotiating his way through the mass of confusions known as political theology, Smith has written a superb book that develops a constructive and nuanced position in the Reformed tradition. He has done so, moreover, by engaging in conversations with Oliver O'Donovan and Jeff Stout. This is a book that should be read widely by anyone interested in addressing the fundamental questions of church and politics."

Stanley Hauerwas, Gilbert T. Rowe Professor Emeritus of Divinity and Law, Duke Divinity School

"Over a decade in the making, Awaiting the King was absolutely worth the wait. In this masterful work, Smith engages an impressive array of conversation partners as he explores the implications of the liturgical theology of culture he's developed throughout his Cultural Liturgies project for the public realm. The result is a constructive work of political theology that helps us imagine how to firmly root our political engagement in Christ while giving careful attention to the complex realities of our time. This is a book that all who have been journeying with him, and a whole host of new readers concerned with Christianity's public witness, will consider essential reading for decades to come."

Kristen Deede Johnson, Western Theological Seminary; coauthor of The Justice Calling

"In Awaiting the King, Smith sets out to reform Reformed political theology. With his usual clarity, creativity, and verve, he accomplishes just that, hitting the right notes of both affirmation and critique by refocusing political theology on the polis of the church and its formative liturgical practices. Awaiting the King is a satisfying final movement in Smith's Cultural Liturgies symphony and a crucial contribution to the wider conversation in political theology."

Peter Leithart, president, Theopolis Institute, Birmingham, Alabama

"With great clarity and cultural insight, Smith sets out an Augustinian-Reformed antidote to the highly polarized forms of politics we see around us today, in which churches--whether on the left or the right--are too often raucous and rancorous participants. In doing so, he joins a growing chorus of those arguing for a constructive theological account of the politics of a common life."

Luke Bretherton, professor of theological ethics and senior fellow, Kenan Institute for Ethics, Duke Divinity School

"Awaiting the King presents Smith's mature public theology--a carefully nuanced plea for 'calculated ambivalence' and 'cultivated circumspection' toward culture. It is a vision of resident aliens invested in the world around them. Lucid and persuasive as always, Smith challenges the ways in which contemporary Christians--including his own Neocalvinist tradition--run the risk of naturalizing shalom. Smith's account unabashedly advocates making life's final, heavenly end the starting point for the way we structure our social life together. This final, crowning volume of the Cultural Liturgies project has the potential to profoundly redirect contemporary public theology and practice."

Hans Boersma, J. I. Packer Professor of Theology, Regent College

"James K. A. Smith's Awaiting the King is a thoughtful, wise, and provocative book. In it, we are challenged to recognize certain truths that run counter to the Western tradition: that the state is deeply religious, being as it is an incubator of love-shaping practices; that the church is profoundly political, being as it is a place of public ritual centered on and led by a King; and that the church's public theology must therefore resituate the political in light of creation and reframe it in light of eternity. Awaiting the King is not only smart but also well written and relevant to a broad range of interests, including public theology, political science, philosophy, and social ethics."

Bruce Riley Ashford, provost and professor of theology and culture, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

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