4.5 Mansfield (2011 & 2008)
Mansfield, Stephen (2008) The Faith of Barack Obama. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
Mansfield, Stephen (2011 Revised and Updated) The Faith of Barack Obama. Nashville: Thomas Nelson
Mansfield, Stephen (2011 Revised and Updated) The Faith of Barack Obama. Nashville: Thomas Nelson
Quick Look
This Resource’s Key Interpretations and Insights Related to the Purposes of This Website
The author shows how Obama's faith journey has led him to a non-exclusionist form of Christianity that grounds his
political commitment to social justice for all.
(Please note: It's unusual for me to be reviewing both the 2008 and 2011 editions. The nature of the revisions and updating in the later edition made this desirable.)
(1) Mansfield's 2008 book provides the only book-length account of Barack Obama’s journey toward becoming a Christian and how his faith, shaped by the African-American Christian social justice tradition, informs his politics. Mansfield argues that Obama was deliberately reclaiming “the religious voice of the American political left.” In the revised and updated 2011 edition, he adds little-known information about how a little known group of evangelical "spiritual advisors" has influenced Obama's faith since he took office in 2009. However, I disagree with Mansfield's evaluation of likely changes in Obama's political policies due to the personal spiritual growth nurtured by those advisors.
(2) Mansfield is what I would describe as a theologically conservative evangelical Christian who is center-right politically,except for the issues of abortion and gay marriage. Because I'm center-left in my faith and politics, I find myself disagreeing with Mansfield's negative evaluation of postmodern liberal Christianity, even though I agree with many of his political views about what most needs to be healed in our nation.
(3) Precisely because Mansfield is an evangelical Christian, his argument that Obama is a real (though not traditional) Christian should carry more weight with fellow evangelicals, so many of whom have accepted the far-right disinformation repeated incessantly by Obama-haters that claim he is really a Muslim or a radical black liberation Christian who hates whites.
The author shows how Obama's faith journey has led him to a non-exclusionist form of Christianity that grounds his
political commitment to social justice for all.
(Please note: It's unusual for me to be reviewing both the 2008 and 2011 editions. The nature of the revisions and updating in the later edition made this desirable.)
(1) Mansfield's 2008 book provides the only book-length account of Barack Obama’s journey toward becoming a Christian and how his faith, shaped by the African-American Christian social justice tradition, informs his politics. Mansfield argues that Obama was deliberately reclaiming “the religious voice of the American political left.” In the revised and updated 2011 edition, he adds little-known information about how a little known group of evangelical "spiritual advisors" has influenced Obama's faith since he took office in 2009. However, I disagree with Mansfield's evaluation of likely changes in Obama's political policies due to the personal spiritual growth nurtured by those advisors.
(2) Mansfield is what I would describe as a theologically conservative evangelical Christian who is center-right politically,except for the issues of abortion and gay marriage. Because I'm center-left in my faith and politics, I find myself disagreeing with Mansfield's negative evaluation of postmodern liberal Christianity, even though I agree with many of his political views about what most needs to be healed in our nation.
(3) Precisely because Mansfield is an evangelical Christian, his argument that Obama is a real (though not traditional) Christian should carry more weight with fellow evangelicals, so many of whom have accepted the far-right disinformation repeated incessantly by Obama-haters that claim he is really a Muslim or a radical black liberation Christian who hates whites.
Endorsements
On the 2008 book jacket, Archbishop Desmond Tutu said, "You must read this perceptive and well-written book. Then you will know why Barack Obama has such a passion for justice and equity, such a gift for filling people of different generations with a newfound hope that things can and will change for the better. His inspiration comes from his faith; he is an ardent believer. Yes, he is a Christian and proud of it."
On the 2008 book jacket, Archbishop Desmond Tutu said, "You must read this perceptive and well-written book. Then you will know why Barack Obama has such a passion for justice and equity, such a gift for filling people of different generations with a newfound hope that things can and will change for the better. His inspiration comes from his faith; he is an ardent believer. Yes, he is a Christian and proud of it."
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for this resource.
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