Why should Christians engage politics? Vincent Bacote of Wheaton College argues that political engagement needs a theological foundation, not an ad hoc approach.

Vincent Bacote, professor of theology and director of the Center for Applied Christian Ethics at Wheaton College, joins James Spencer and Ashish Varma to ground political life in stewardship and common grace. Politics, he argues, is one part of humanity's larger calling to manage the world God gave us, and Americans hold more political agency than most people in history. That agency changes how we read Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2.

Many evangelicals can say they should care about politics but cannot say why from what they believe. Bacote and Spencer trace how issues get handed to Christians by trusted leaders rather than formed by theology, and how that has let evangelicals be defined as a voting bloc. Bacote also presses on James Davison Hunter's faithful presence: start small, because you are not the Messiah, but keep dreaming of a better common good.

In this episode:

• Why Christians need a theological foundation, not an ad hoc approach, for political engagement
• Common grace, Abraham Kuyper, Psalm 8, and the stewardship of public life
• Romans 13:1–4, 1 Peter 2, and what changes when citizens have political agency
• Voting as public witness, evangelical identity, and how race and abortion became political issues
• James Davison Hunter's faithful presence, small steps, and how to keep politicians from drawing our lines

Guest: Vincent Bacote, professor of theology and director of the Center for Applied Christian Ethics at Wheaton College.

Go deeper: Christians and Politics About Vincent Bacote: thinkingchristian.org/guests/vincent-bacote

Thinking Christian is hosted by Dr. James Spencer, president of the D. L. Moody Center and author of Digital Discernment (InterVarsity Press). Each conversation reads the Bible as the final authority for life and faith, questioning the assumptions of our culture, even our Christian culture, so that we don't settle for a narrower vision than God's word offers.

Unsettling convention. Cultivating conviction. Episodes, articles, and questions: thinkingchristian.org About James Spencer: thinkingchristian.org/james The Thinking Christian Framework: thinkingchristian.org/framework Order Digital Discernment: amazon.com

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