The Subversive Manifesto

God has a political agenda - and it's a subversive one, according to this book which lays down a radical challenge for Christians to rediscover the political dimension of their faith. All too often we stick with 'private' readings of scripture, failing to realize the power contained in its amazing stories and ideas. In fact the Bible presents a faith that is wider and more exciting than we realize - a faith that can change not only people's hearts but also the way societies are run, economies are structured, and legal systems organized.

With illustrations drawn from the author's experiences in the 'corridors of power', this book combines an innovative interpretation of the Bible with challenging ideas for applying it to everyday life.

Jonathan Bartley is director of the think-tank Ekklesia. He has worked for five Members of Parliament and was part of John Major's campaign team in the 1995 Conservative Party leadership election. He was general secretary of the cross-party Movement for Christian Democracy from 1997 to 2000 and is now a columnist for Christian Herald and Third Way, and a tutor in Politics and Theology for Sarum College, Salisbury.

The early Church recognised that their mission was political as much as it was spiritual. The challenge to us is whether we are prepared to make the same bold and subversive statement that they made.
Steve Chalke
Founder, Oasis Trust and Faithworks

From Lion & Lamb Autumn 2004
I'm not sure what the Desert Fathers would have made of this book. Their response to a corrupt world system was to withdraw to the desert while Jonathan Bartley's is the opposite - radical engagement.

One would expect a book called The Subversive Manifesto to be provocative and it is. Bartley, a director of the think-tank Ekklesia and columnist for the Christian Herald and Third Way, begins by challenging the evangelical tendency to interpret scripture from a personal perspective. Hence the parable of the Good Samaritan is not only a lesson in neighbourly kindness but also has implications for how we, as a nation, treat immigrants, asylum seekers and persecuted minorities. In other words the parable is not merely a morality tale but, like the rest of scripture, is replete with political comment. He then proceeds to illustrate this with a whistle-stop tour of salvation history translated into modern political vocabulary.

The 'sacred-secular divide' is expertly dismantled and he argues convincingly that God cares about the stuff of everyday life, which can therefore have as much eternal resonance as prayer and preaching.

Jesus' proclamation that he had been anointed to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind points to the gospel's social and political dimensions. His actions demonstrated that God's politics are quite different from the world's and that his Kingdom has an entirely new set of values. The kingdoms of the world operate by domination and control but God's Kingdom is a kingdom of service and sacrifice. This is where the subversion comes in. We are to engage politically but not to seek power or popular support. We should not be motivated by self interest or a desire to dominate but are to introduce God's new order of justice by our speech and actions, laying down our own interests and giving up power for the sake of others. This behaviour he states, is inherently subversive and will inevitably provoke a reaction from those with vested interests, namely those in power.

Bartley provides numerous examples from his own experiences in local politics and at Westminster. Many are impressive, showing that it is possible to do things differently.

The recurring motif running through the book is that our mission is to stand for justice. This I can agree with but it is not always easy to discern what is just: one man's justice can be another man's injustice. It would have been helpful if he had elaborated more on what makes a cause just.

For someone so committed to political engagement he is surprisingly cautious about membership of political parties, which he views as a dangerous road down which to travel. This may be the voice of experience speaking, but it seems strange to encourage involvement at every other level of political activity yet to abrogate responsibility to others when it comes to exercising political power.

This book challenges us to 'Rediscover the fullness of the gospel message, the political gospel - that the gospel is good news to all of creation, to our hospitals and prisons to our town halls and businesses, to our rural and urban environments.' If you are unconvinced of the political nature of the gospel you should read this book; if you are already convinced you should also read it as an inspiration and an encouragement that simple actions inspired by the biblical imperative to act justly and love mercy can have significant and lasting repercussions.

Reviewed by Dr John Kyle, a member of ECONI and a GP in Belfast.

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