Book Review

Labor Unions, Roman History, and the Quest for Community

While organized labor may seem to be a distinctively modern phenomenon, recent scholarship points to the historical prevalence of such associations across the ancient Mediterranean, from Rome to Egypt

The Christian Realism of Peggy Noonan

Peggy Noonan’s “A Certain Sense of America” captures the political contradictions and controversies that have characterized the last decade as few other books have

Uneasy about Citizenship

While a useful primer on intra-evangelical political disagreements, “Uneasy Citizenship” suffers from the same recency bias that seems to preclude almost all Protestant intellectuals from engaging with political theology before WWII

We Shape Our Words, Then They Shape Us: The Role of Metaphor in US Foreign Policy

A new book explores the dynamic relationship between presidential rhetoric on foreign policy and the goals America seeks to accomplish abroad

Reformed Protestantism: The Progenitor of Modern Political Thought

Paul DeHart’s new book, “Contract in the Ruins: Natural Law and Government by Consent,” argues that what we today call “liberalism” cannot be understood in isolation from natural law and the Protestant Reformation

A New “Realist” Look at Religion

Samuel Perry’s new book “Religion for Realists” challenges American Christians to consider the intrinsically tribal elements of religion

The Sisyphean Struggle of Cyber Conflict

Ben Buchanan’s “The Hacker and the State” (2020) is an instructive introduction to cyberwarfare, yet his characterization of cyber tactics as ineffective at signaling a nation’s intent and resolve is unpersuasive

The Innocence of Pilate, the Guilt of Humanity

Jesus “suffered under Pontius Pilate,” but how much blame does the Roman governor of Judea really deserve?

“Conclave,” While Ham-Fisted, Inspires Some Thoughtful Reflections on Catholicism

Though Conclave is lazy and pandering, the book version does include an interesting examination of the intrinsic tensions within the Roman Catholic Church as embodying both temporal politics and spiritual guidance