Faith Seeking Freedom: Libertarian Christian Answers to Tough Questions

At a most opportune moment in history, where Christians are questioning the very fabric of governance that is on full display through our federal and state mandates during this pandemic, authors Horn, Stuart, Baldwin and Clark deign to answer what is dancing through many of our minds: are we truly free, here and now? Depending on what state you live in may determine your answer. As Liz Lemon so aptly sighed, "Blerg."More to the point, this lovely, short primer, "Faith Seeking Freedom," outlines many of the top questions and answers from a Christian Libertarian perspective that tickle the dabbler's fancies. Topics covered, but not limited to, are:-Capitalism-Morals and Ethics-Nationalism-Immigration-Abortion-Environmentalism, and so on.The great contributions of this book are the comport, general answers that help those who know little, or nothing at all, of Christian Libertarianism. Better yet are the resources at the end of each chapter for further, more extensive reading on each topic.As a novice to Libertarianism myself, this book was eye-opening and helped build better scaffolding to their ideology that so often confused me. The Non-Aggression Principle was better explained and dove-tailed into all of the various topics. But before any other novice like me believes Libertarians are abject pacifists or lofty conservatives in more capitalist clothing, take a look at this book for a better understanding.At their behest, the authors invite readers to ask more questions. One that might be helpful for further discussion is; What truly distinguishes Christian conservatives from Christian Libertarians, philosophically, historically, and perhaps, theologically? One can guess a little if they follow the NAP through. However, having it explicated and unpacked might help those who find themselves confused and on the fence (Ahem, like me).As a theologically-trained deaconess in The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, I don't necessarily have any major problems with the authors' theological excursuses. I read into their humility and heard well they do not have all of the answers. They rely on some steady tenets of the faith which form their worldviews, such as Original Sin, Repentance, and Justification. Also, their understanding of the natural law, that which is already written on our hearts, takes precedent before any notions of creating a utopia with political philosophies.Because we have an ongoing tension in our present American reality, with free markets and regulations, sin and pride, ownership and the serfdom of the welfare state, it is difficult to see how things might be different, or change, in a peaceable way as the authors hope. If we can piecemeal the several examples they give from different countries and at different eras, God grant it! Especially as more Christians read and chew on the concepts and philosophies this book discusses.It was an honor and a privilege to read and review this book, and I hope to see the authors build more on an already good foundation; giving rise to a much needed discussion in a time where freedoms are seemingly fleeting and at an unprecedented rate--perhaps at the same rate where Christ is nowhere to be heard in our individual and, sadly, corporate confessions. God bless this book and may it be a help to the Church at large to see Liberty as a direct gift from God.

I just finished reading Faith Seeking Freedom. The authors did a great job touching on all the libertarian basics that might come to a Christian's mind! I'm a 67 year old who has been an atheist and a strong libertarian (let's call me voluntaryist) since my mid 20s. When I preach libertarian principles to my Christian friends and family, I can see it in their eyes, "why listen to this heathen"? I'm going to give my copy of "Faith Seeking Freedom" to my youngest sister who is a strong Catholic and libertarian-leaning.Sharing "Faith Seeking Freedom" will do more than any conversation we could have, because there won't be that barrier between the "faithful" and the "faithless". I have two other close friends who are strong Christians and seem to lean libertarian when I make a comment or post something on Facebook, so I just ordered two more copies of Faith Seeking Freedom from Amazon. I'll probably need to buy more copies if I get positive reactions from these three fence-sitting almost-libertarians.After a good 50 years of proselytizing my a-religious and a-political views, I conclude that those who preach need to focus on the minds that have come halfway or at least part-way to our principles. "Faith Seeking Freedom" perfect for that purpose. Most other libertarian primers are hundreds of pages too long and don't take a Christian moral perspective.

I am a Christian libertarian and just happened to see someone reference this book on a Facebook post, so I decided to check it out. It provides well thought out answers to many questions I hear repeatedly. I will keep this as a handy reference, and recommend it to others as the opportunity presents itself.

This book is great in its intentions. In most cases it is able to deliver the results that those intentions set out. For those who ae proselytizing a ideological movement, having pre thought through Answers to FAQ is very helpful.While each question is not able to be thorough, they are very economically and sufficient in getting to the meat of the argument. Each chapter of this book could easily be a full book in and of itself. The irony of the book is that most of the answers boil down to "free markets beat out government in every area of life." So towards the end it might seem redundant but it shows a level of consistency in the libertarian movement.Personally, as a very reasoned and rational person I love the libertarian philosophy of politics, because it follows the data and is principled. A true biblical government needs a principled theory to stand on, instead of the constantly compromising and moving leftward perpetually that the Democratic and Republican party.

As the headline states, this is a great resource for concise answers on Christian Libertarianism. It's not intimidating as the book is just shy of the 100 page marker and I am very impressed how the authors were able to answer pressing questions in such a short span. So why did I mark off one star? At times the answers were too concise. On some pivotal points, I believe the briskness of the answers did an injustice. Adding a mere 50 pages in length could have created a more well rounded answer and still bring the book into a mere 150 page range.Again, I am glad I purchased it. I am also glad to recommend it (which I have and my friend purchased it as a result). I give this book a happy and solid 4 stars for it's content, it's clarity, and it's aim.