In this book, the contributors cover traditional historical and theological responses to political unrest as a foundation for considering or evaluating attempts to address theologically present-day manifestations of uncivil disobedience.

This book addresses the need for theological reflection on uncivil disobedience. Existing scholarship in theology and politics mostly treats church-state relations theoretically, with studies in non-violent resistance or civil disobedience, or in other ways largely assuming traditional forms of governance and means of protest—all while paying little to no attention to post-modern political philosophies. Recent eruptions of uncivil disobedience, oftentimes involving violence, like we have seen with Antifa, Black Lives Matter protests, the storming of the U.S. Capitol Building, and in the actions of other right-wing, leftist, and religious groups, assume new ways of protesting and new forms of organizing or mobilizing. Additionally, these groups and their activities are often informed by post-modern philosophies. These new political dynamics present an opportunity for theologians to produce scholarship in response. After establishing philosophical underpinnings related to uncivilly disobedient action, the contributors cover traditional historical and theological responses to political unrest as a foundation for considering or evaluating attempts to address theologically present-day manifestations of uncivil disobedience.

I: Uncivil Disobedience – Philosophical Foundations and Historical Considerations

1. In Defense of Uncivil Disobedience

Candice Delmas

2. Which Extreme, Whose Extremist?: Limitations of Eric Hoffer’s The True Believer for Countering Contemporary Fascist Movements

Joan Braune

3. Cultural Images of, and Experiences with, Disobedience

Nick Braune

4. “We Must Obey God Rather Then Men”: Lutheran Resistance Against Pope and Emperor in the Reformation Era

John Witte, Jr.

5. “Let the Princes Hear and Be Afraid”: John Calvin and Resistance to Tyranny

Matthew J. Tuininga

6. The Virtues of Democratic Disobedience: Catholic Ethics and Political Disobedience

Anna Floerke and Matthew A. Shadle

7. Civil Disobedience, Violence, or Revolution?: Liberation Theology and the Narrative of Violence

Ryan R. Gladwin

II. Application – Theological Perspectives on Contemporary Uncivil Disobedience

8. Uncivil Disobedience and the Free Passage of the Word: Sanctuary as a Preparing of the Way

Michael Laffin

9. Bonhoeffer, Antifa, and the Moral Defensibility of Uncivil Disobedience

David M. Gides

10. Black Lives Matter: A Just War Perspective

Joshua W. Carpenter

11. The Storming of the Capitol: The Outcome of a Theology of Political Power

André Gagné

12. Theology, Decoloniality, and Idle No More

Jordan E. Miller