In her book The Ballot and the Bible, Kaitlyn Schiess approaches the topic of politics for Christians with a balanced approach. She does an amazing job using history to show how Christians have approached the Bible over the years. I found it challenging to read because she points out how both conservatives and progressives often have used the Bible to prove their points instead of reading to be directed by God. This is a must read during this politically divisive time.

In The Ballot and the Bible, Kaitlyn Schiess traces the use of the Bible from the country’s founding to today. From the Revolution and Civil War to the Cold War and 2020, she explores how the Bible is used, sometimes correctly, but many times incorrectly, to bolster sides of a political debate. With real life examples and scriptures to back up the discussion, this is an important read for today in 2023.
I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

This was an awesome book! It was a fascinating survey through American history that gave a really balanced look at how the Bible has been used responsibly and irresponsibly to justify certain positions, postures, and policies. You can tell that Kaitlyn put in a ton of research for this project. I was very impressed with her ability to stay balanced and fair with each use of scripture that she examined, whether she agreed with it or not. As a pastor, I highly recommend this book to anyone, especially as we approach another election year. But this is also a great tool for pastors as we walk people through these tough, political, polarizing times.

This quote from the starred Publishers Weekly review nailed it: "A nuanced look at America's legacy of scriptural language."

The Ballot and the Bible is accessible and academic (Schiess comes with pages of receipts - just see the Notes section). No matter where you fall politically, this look at how the Bible is used in politics is an informative read, particularly for Christians.

Kaitlyn Schiess has written an excellent look at the way politics and the Bible have intersected in American politics. The Ballot and the Bible explores how religion has been used to influence politics, similar to how Jesus and John Wayne and The Making of Biblical Womanhood by Kristen Kobes du Mez and Beth Allison Barr.

The book begins with the Puritans laying the groundwork for much of American biblical interpretation and thought. I believe the influence of the Puritans still influences much of our public discourse as we see those influences, even within those who reject the idea of God. The subsequent chapters deal with how the Bible has been used throughout the history of the United States, showing how different viewpoints and ideologies used the same Bible to advance their cause. Topics include the American Revolution, chattel slavery, the social Gospel, Civil Rights, the place of the market economy in evangelical interpretation, eschatological ideologies using fear as a motivator, and the use of faith by more contemporary presidents.

Schiess does good work showing ways that political ideology often colors our biblical hermeneutical lenses. She shines a light upon the subtle ways that interpretive lens has become the very ideal of orthodoxy for some. The book has points which will make any reader uncomfortable in a good way. For it is in the discomfort of realizations that we may have allowed things other than genuine attempts to understand God to color our biblical claims. The final chapter gives practical frameworks for recognizing how politics has shaped theological intent so that we can build out more deeply theologies of politics in which the theological drives our political choices rather than the other way round. Using an exegetical look at Jeremiah 29 and the idea of exile, Schiess reminds us that “we will be more faithful readers of Scripture if we understand how the church in our immediate context has read it. We also will be more faithful readers of Scripture if we understand that our contemporary reading are not universal or neutral but conditioned by our time and place.” (emphasis mine from Chapter 10)

The Ballot and the Bible does do an excellent job of showing how extremes often keep us from seeing a better way of interpretation of the theology of politics. Those of us in the Wesleyan traditions would do well to read this and find a renewed emphasis of our via media (middle way) of interpretation. In an increasingly post-Christian society the middle way may be one path to tell better stories of who God is. In that path we may also find a better way to shape our political imagination such that we are one to new moves and ways to impact humanity outside of our current polarized milieu.

Schiess has developed a strong following based on her depth of knowledge, keen insight, and integrating her personality and passion into her work. The Ballot and the Bible is her second book. Like her first, this title is a must read in the current political world.

Establishing how the Bible has been used and misused in the past, Schiess discusses the roots of discussing politics in biblical interpretation since the Puritan era. Heavily end-noted, Schiess looks at multiple perspectives on how people have interpreted the Bible for their own purposes to prove their own points. Where a group has had the cart driving the horse, Schiess has pointed out the error. While it can be difficult to separate one’s worldview from one’s biblical interpretations, it is a necessary process. Sadly, the process has been subverted often.

After reading Schiess, I plan on going back to read Mark Noll’s In the Beginning Was The Word and starting America’s Book. The Ballot and the Bible reads well with Jill Hicks-Keeton and Cavan Concannon’s Does Scripture Speak for Itself: The Museum of the Bible and the Politics of Interpretation.

Schiess helps to open eyes to the need to see one’s beliefs in the context of culture, to see where culture has oversaturated religion, and establishes a better path for biblical interpretation.

An excellent book that explored how the Bible has been used in American politics. This book challenged me and my understanding of American history and how the Bible has been used both correctly and incorrectly. I highly recommend it!

The Ballot and the Bible is an excellent primer on political theology and the use of the Bible in political contexts. Schiess surveys a variety of examples throughout history to demonstrate both good and bad Biblical hermeneutics. She encourages readers to learn from the examples provided in order to avoid similar mistakes. My favorite chapter was the one on seeking the peace and prosperity of the city, based on Jeremiah 29. This book is a great resource for anyone who seeks to apply the Bible faithfully.

I appreciate that she gives historical context to how Americans specifically have interpreted scripture and how it's evolved with the times and generations - and guidance for how we can look at our own scripture interpretations and readings with a little more insight and awareness. Fascinating read!

Kaitlyn's dive into the political history of the US was insightful and informative for our current political/religious climate. In addition, her faithfulness to Scripture is evident as she shows the themes that are relevant to the American Christian's modern life. Her book is thought-provoking and challenging and offered me some clarity on how to think about being a faithful Christian.

An insightful, helpful, and needed book with much broader applicability than its explicitly American subtitle would suggest. Schiess works to give her reader "a sense of the hermeneutical questions, moral quandaries, and spiritual formation problems that impact our reading and use of Scripture in political arguments." While the specific examples she gives and some of the quandaries and problems are unique to the American context, the underlying questions of approach, interpretation, and application are universally applicable. Her explorations of how the interpretation of specific passages has changed over the centuries and the ways in which too many invoke "the power of biblical references without submitting to their content" or authority are valuable regardless of context. I very much hope that this book will get the breadth of audience it deserves.

An important book for Christians that shows the history of how the Bible is used in politics. Schiess uses a balanced approach in her research and is a must read as we examine upcoming elections.

A very important exploration of the intersection of American culture and Biblical interpretation in American Christianity.

The author is well trained both in political theology and Biblical interpretation. She explores a series of historical events and the Biblical interpretations and understanding related to those events, both as they took place and as later Americans looked back to them. She considers the "city on a hill" of Winthrop and the Puritans; how Romans 13 was understood during the American Revolution by both Patriots and Loyalists; how the Bible was read and interpreted by abolitionists and slaveholders in antebellum America; the Social Gospel and how its advocates and opponents interpreted relevant Scriptures; how the Scriptures were understood during the days of the Civil Rights Movement, both by its advocates and detractors; the conservative justification of limited and small government; the intersection of the Cold War and dispensational premillennialist eschatology; how George W. Bush and Barack Obama appealed to Christianity and Scripture; the Evangelical embrace of Trump in terms of "giving unto Caesar"; and she concludes with a history of interpretation of Jeremiah 29 and its use in political theology to "seek the welfare of the city" while in "exile."

The reason this work is so important is because the author is less interested in advancing a given political ideology or agenda and is much more concerned for Christians to participate better in American political discourse by considering the history of Biblical interpretation in our "Bible haunted" nation and to do better political theology, better rooted in what God has accomplished in Jesus. She is not wrong to lament how poorly and terribly Christians have exegeted Scripture in light of their politics, how much confirmation bias is involved, and thus why all Christians do well in humility to consider in what ways they might be wrong. The goal is not to abandon the political sphere; the goal is to best reflect Jesus when we engage in the political sphere.

Highly recommended for all Christians.

As I was reading Kaitlyn Schiess's "The Ballot and the Bible," I found myself experiencing flashbacks of sorts to a lifetime of political engagement and looking at how my own relationship with politics and politicians has been impacted by scriptural language.

There's a lot to unpack in "The Ballot and the Bible," Schiess somehow creating a beautiful balance between deep research and witty, engaging writing. I found myself both incredibly informed and deeply engaged in "The Ballot and the Bible," a book that largely focuses on political history and the national political scene yet also a book that kept bringing me back to the very same issues within local politics.

In "The Ballot and the Bible," Schiess presents valuable questions - "How do Bible passages written thousands of years ago apply to politics today?" "How can we converse with people whose views differ from our own?" Schiess looks at how these things have happened and highlights when it's been applied well and when, sometimes it seems more often, it been misused and even abused.

Weaving together a tapestry of American political history and biblical interpretation, Schiess serves as something resembling a theological tour guide toward faithfully reading scripture, talking about it, and applying it to contemporary political issues personally and universally. While Schiess could have easily become prescriptive, she avoids this approach in favor of exploring common themes such as power, authority, allegiance, national identity, and much more.

While I only recently finished "The Ballot and the Bible," I find that I'm already looking at things through a different lens. I'm listening to political news differently. I'm watching political interviews differently. I'm listening to politicians differently. I'm examining my own political beliefs differently. I suppose you could say that "The Ballot and the Bible" provides both the history and the application for Christians, in particular, to be better equipped for engaging with politics and politicians. Schiess provides both the information and the inspiration for taking our fundamental beliefs and living into them in a way ensures our faith shapes our politics rather than our politics shaping our faith.

Whether talking about John Winthrop's "city on a hill," Obama's progressive and biblically rooted oratory skills, Eisenhower's Cold War Christianity, or Trump's unique relationship with evangelicals, Schiess digs deeper to bring out teachable moments for all of us.

I loved every page of "The Ballot and the Bible," a book that enlightened me, inspired me, challenged me, informed me, and equipped me while also encouraging me to confidently navigate political issues in a way that is more communal and less divisive.

Appropriate for a myriad of settings from Bible studies to seminary and beyond, "The Ballot and the Bible" should be required reading for any Christian before they set foot in the voting booth.

Yes, it's that important.

"The Ballot and the Bible: How Scripture Has Been Used and Abused in American Politics and Where We Go from Here" intrigued me from the moment I read the title. In her newest book, Kaitlyn Schiess encourages her readers to think about how Scripture should inform our political beliefs. Schiess posits that "for all our familiarity with the Bible, we are woefully ignorant about how or why we are using the Bible in politics." I think one only has to look around at the woefully rising trend of Christian nationalism to see that this is true. The author does a fantastic job of delving into difficult topics such as the Civil War, the Social Gospel, and even the faith lives of former presidents.

While some other books on this topic have felt more academic in nature, this book was more practical and written for the everyday Christian. It had a lot of important things to say, and I highly recommend it! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

No Matter What You Think About The Bible In American Politics - You're Wrong. This is one of the better books I've ever come across in showing just how the Bible has been debated throughout American history, from its earliest days through Trump, January 6, and even into how Biden is currently using it. And it does a phenomenal job of showing just what I said in the title here - no matter what you think you know about the Bible in American politics, no matter what you personally think about how it has been applied and should currently be applied... you're wrong. While having perhaps a slight tinge of anti-whiteness here (in that the most heavy criticism tends to land squarely on the actions of white people), Schiess really does do quite a remarkable - and remarkably even - job of showing that no one is truly "evil" or even "uneducated" about the Bible (well, specific people in specific circumstances may be), they simply have different methods of understanding and interpreting it which lead to divergent conclusions based on both the text *and those extra-text methods*. And the sides have flipped and flopped throughout even somewhat recent American history such that neither can go more than a few decades without having to explain some prior interpretation from "their" side away.

The documentation here comes in at a slightly low yet still respectable 21%, and while Bible verses are cited throughout the text, there is no actual "prooftexting" here - verses are cited not to prove a point, but to cite which elements of which passages different groups were interpreting different ways at different points in American history.

Indeed, perhaps the only real valid complaint here is that I'm fairly certain this book could be a few times is barely 200 pages... and *still* not cover the topic in true depth. And yet, the depth it does manage to pull off in these pages is still quite remarkable indeed. Very much recommended.