Dr. Miranda Cruz: Leading the Way Through Faithful Politics
On August 20th, IWU faculty member Dr. Miranda Cruz’s book Faithful Politics: Ten Approaches to Christian Citizenship and Why It Matters will be published by InterVarsity Press. Dr. Cruz has followed and studied the intersection of faith and politics for twenty years and received countless questions from students about this topic over the past decade.
Students who earnestly desire to follow Christ’s calling on their lives often struggle to know what that means for their political engagement or voting behavior—especially in the last few election cycles, when tensions have been particularly high. As a result, Faithful Politics was written primarily with these students in mind. Dr. Cruz says she also discovered, “we don’t have good, accessible resources for helping Christians think through politics in a non-partisan way. I needed a book that didn’t exist, so I wrote it.”
For Dr. Cruz, all stages of the creative process are enjoyable—from researching to writing to editing. Because she set the 2024 election as her deadline for this project, she was writing on a tight timeline which resulted in her daily life consisting of teaching a full course load, fulfilling other campus responsibilities, being a wife, being a mom, and also actively working on writing her book every day. While this was an intense and sometimes stressful period of time, it also helped Dr. Cruz to keep her writing connected to every other aspect of her life. She also notes having a lot of support from colleagues in the School of Theology and Ministry, as well as from her family, which added to the fun of the writing process and gave it an additional collaborative dimension.
Despite the stressful and challenging nature of the creation of this book, she notes that she “loved getting to dive into my area of expertise in a way that I don’t in my classes.” The fact that she was working on something she knew could be truly helpful to both her students and others motivated her further.
While the book deals with politics as its main topic, the non-partisan nature of the work is important to emphasize, as well as its lack of interest in focusing on specific individual policy issues. This is because the book’s discussion of politics is in service of something greater—namely how to best live as a Christian in the modern world.
At the heart of Faithful Politics is the central thesis that the United States is not and will not become the Kingdom of God. Therefore, no political party or politician will fully align with Christian convictions. Because all parties and politicians exhibit some aspects of Christian virtues while also drastically departing from others, Christians must handle politics with a careful and nuanced approach, respecting fellow Christians who arrive at different political conclusions. Dr. Cruz’s hope is that readers discover a deeper understanding of what it means to be faithful to Christ through political behavior, as well as a more complex method of considering the intersection of faith and politics.
Throughout its 232 pages, Faithful Politics presents a biblical and theological exploration of the kingdom of God and the ways we can compare and contrast earthly nations to it. Dr. Cruz examines ten approaches to Christian political engagement, each in their own context. She concludes that eight of these approaches can be considered faithful options for Christians, each with their own unique positive and negative aspects, while she argues two of the approaches are incompatible with Christian faithfulness—those being dominionism and Christian nationalism.
The topic became increasingly nuanced as she wrote, Dr. Cruz noted. “I added several approaches beyond what I initially thought the book would address. I also grew in my conviction that this book is part of my calling as a Christian. It is a precarious time to address divisive issues, but I’ve been called into this space and I pray I can be a voice that is faithful to Christ above all else.”
With the upcoming election rapidly approaching, Dr. Cruz hopes Faithful Politics will be part of a shift in the way Christians engage with and discuss politics. “People who read the book will inevitably agree with some things and disagree with others. The goal is not to agree on everything, but for each of us to take a step back to carefully examine our own convictions and to step into politics in a way that communicates love of neighbor.”
Visit ivpress.com/faithful-politics today to order your copy of Faithful Politics! Also on the website is a study guide perfect for your next small group or class.
