Common life in our society is in decline—our communities are disintegrating, our public discourse is hateful, and economic inequalities are widening. In this book, Jake Meador reclaims a vision of common life for our fractured times: a vision that doesn't depend on the destinies of our economies or our political institutions, but on our citizenship in a heavenly city. Only through that vision can we truly work together for the common good.

Historian Brandon O'Brien unveils an untold story of religious liberty in America. Between theocracy and secularism, Baptist pastor Isaac Backus contended for a third way—religious liberty and freedom of conscience for all Americans, regardless of belief. Backus's ideas impacted his era, giving us insight into how people of faith today can navigate political debates and work for the common good.

Christian thinking about involvement in human government was not born (or born again!) with the latest elections or with the founding of the Moral Majority in 1979. Greg Forster introduces the history of Christian political thought traced out in Western culture—a culture with a fragmented view of the proper relationship of government and religion.