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Jordan J. Ballor

Jordan J. Ballor

Dr. Jordan J. Ballor is director of research at the Center for Religion, Culture & Democracy, an initiative of the First Liberty Institute. He is also executive editor of the Journal of Religion, Culture & Democracy, and an associate director at the Henry Institute for the Study of Christianity & Politics at Calvin University and the Junius Institute for Digital Reformation Research at Calvin Theological Seminary.

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Three Responses to “Hopeful Realism”

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The evangelical embrace of natural law must continue to mature, and “hopeful realism” is a meaningful step forward in this respect. However, a postliberal would be quick to detect some slippage in the authors' statements about the most important common political good that must guide any functional society: its religious vision. Additionally, one area for further development in their proposal is a more explicit basis for how their proposal is “evangelical.”
Martin Luther Statue

Reviving Protestant Natural Law

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About a decade and a half ago, a groundbreaking study reinvigorated Protestant moral thought. It is time for an appreciation and renewed application of these eternal truths.
Martin Luther

A Protestant Defense of the Common Good

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An integral part of the Christian calling is to pursue goods greater than ourselves.
Corona

Why the Economy Needs a Theology of the Body

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The promises of virtualization and automation are often exaggerated, as are their dangers. It is possible for an increasingly virtualized and automated economy to actually be more humane, but only if such an economy does justice to the human realities of incarnation and relation.
money, debt, dollar bill

What America’s Public Debt Crisis Says about Us and What We Can Do about It

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Our personal habits and our political culture are not unconnected. When personal debt is at an all-time high, it seems unreasonable to expect that thrift would somehow become a public virtue. If we do not act responsibly with the budgets of our own families, it seems unrealistic to expect fiscal responsibility from those who are entrusted with spending other people’s money.

Common Grace, Natural Law, and the Social Order

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Abraham Kuyper’s teachings help us to rightly value the created order. They also help us understand the ways in which the “common grace” of God preserves the social order through the state, the family, and the dignity of individual work.

Social Ecology and the Market Economy: Revisiting the Threefold Foundations of a Flourishing Society

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A full vision of the social structures of human flourishing must include three elements: the economic, political, and moral-cultural.

Madeline L’Engle, C.S. Lewis, and Christianity: Moving Beyond Collectivism and Individualism

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The Christian quest for the common good is not reducible either to the simple aggregate of individual goods or to the promotion of the needs of the collective at the expense of the one.

The Last Jedi and the Ancien Régime: A Spoiler-Heavy Defense

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The arrogance of the Jedi and the Sith needs to be replaced with a deep sense of failure and humility, out of which fruitful service and sacrifice can grow. In this way, The Last Jedi is the Star Wars film we need right now, even if it isn’t the one we want or deserve.

The Secularization of Vocation

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On the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, it is worth returning to the thought of Martin Luther, particularly his understanding of vocation.

Fountainheads of Fusionism

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The relationship between Edmund Burke and Adam Smith underscores a fundamental connection between virtue and liberty.

Leo XIII, Abraham Kuyper, and the Foundations of Modern Christian Social Thought

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For Christians who wish to restore our society, the writings of Leo XIII and Abraham Kuyper can provide a set of guiding principles.

The Family and the Force

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The destruction of the Jedi order was due, in large part, to their persistent blindness to the deep, essential, and ineradicable power of familial love. The Skywalkers can bring balance to the Force because they unite it with love learned through family.

Civil Courage and Transcendent Truth: The Enduring Legacy of Dietrich Bonhoeffer

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Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s life left a vital legacy of civil courage rooted in transcendent truth. His death is an example of joyful hope amidst suffering.

Life to the Full: The Dangers of Material Wealth and Spiritual Poverty

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In helping developing countries to increase their economic prosperity, we must remember that human welfare cannot be reduced to material realities.
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