Andy Crouch, executive editor of Christianity Today, will debate ideas surrounding his new book Playing God: Redeeming the Gift of Power with nationally syndicated columnist Michael Gerson at an "Evening Conversation" at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, on Thursday, October 17 at 6:30 p.m.

Andy Crouch, author of Playing God

In partnership with The Trinity Forum, Pepperdine University School of Public Policy and InterVarsity Press, Crouch will speak on the temptations and distortions of power, while also examining how power can create flourishing. Gerson will be serving as a respondent to Crouch's thoughts, rounding out an important debate on how power intersects with politics as a part of the Trinity Forum's four-part lecture series on "The Moral Sense in Politics and Policy."

Michael Gerson will bring his background as a nationally syndicated columnist who appears twice weekly in The Washington Post to Thursday's event. Gerson serves as senior advisor at ONE, a bipartisan organization dedicated to the fight against extreme poverty and preventable diseases. Gerson previously served in the White House as deputy assistant to the president and director of presidential speechwriting.

"We are very excited to host Andy Crouch and Mike Gerson as they discuss the nature and purpose of power—a topic of not only theoretical relevance but very practical application in DC," says Cherie Harder, president of The Trinity Forum. "Playing God offers an important and inspiring critique of the way power is commonly viewed, used and abused—and offers hope of its redemption through a new way of understanding its purpose. Andy's book offers an important new way to understand the highest and best use of power—as well as its distortions. His work is a vital contribution to the public conversation."

The Trinity Forum's "Evening Conversations" provide a forum for leaders to engage life's greatest questions in the context of faith, to acquaint leading thinkers with thinking leaders and to provide a platform for the best of Christian thought leadership.

In an interview on Religion News Service with columnist Jonathan Merritt, Crouch said, "I started writing Playing God because I became concerned about two Christian attitudes about power. The first was how little we talked about it—the second was how often, when we did talk about it, we talked about power as something that was simply bad and to be avoided." Crouch’s discussion on power with Gerson will further unpack the ideas that power is a gift to be carefully considered.

Crouch is the author of the award-winning book Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling, and his writing has also appeared in several editions of The Best Christian Writing and The Best Spiritual Writing. He recently served as the executive producer of This Is Our City, a multiyear project featuring documentary video, reporting and essays about Christians seeking the flourishing of their cities.

"Andy Crouch is one of the most significant opinion leaders in the church and society today," says Bob Fryling, publisher at InterVarsity Press. "He is a Christian statesman and visionary who brings wisdom, clarity and passion to complex matters of society and soul. His book Playing God is a major contribution for not only understanding what plagues us spiritually but also what to do about it personally and institutionally. InterVarsity Press is pleased to publish this profound book for the redemption and flourishing of both church and culture."

The Trinity Forum is a nonprofit organization that works to cultivate networks of leaders whose integrity and vision will renew culture and promote human freedom and flourishing.