Uncommon Decency

Can Christians act like Christians even when they disagree? In these wild and diverse times, right and left battle over the airwaves, prolifers square off against prochoicers, gay liberationists confront champions of the traditional family, artists and legislators tangle, even Christians fight other Christians whose doctrines aren't "just so." Richard Mouw has been actively forging a model of Christian civil conversation with those we might disagree with—atheists, Muslims, gay activists and more. He is concerned that, too often, Christians have contributed more to the problem than to the solution. But he recognizes—from his dialogues with those from many perspectives—that it's not easy to hold to Christian convictions and treat sometimes vindictive opponents with civility and decency. Few if any people in the evangelical world have conversed as widely and sensitively as Mouw. So few can write more wisely or helpfully than Mouw does here about what Christians can appreciate about pluralism, the theological basis for civility, and how we can communicate with people who disagree with us on the issues that matter most.



Richard J. Mouw (PhD, University of Chicago) now serves as professor of faith and public life after twenty years as president of Fuller Theological Seminary. He has written over twenty books on topics of social ethics, philosophy of culture and interfaith dialogue, including Uncommon Decency, The Challenges of Cultural Discipleship, Praying at Burger King, The God Who Commands, Calvinism in the Las Vegas Airport, The Smell of Sawdust and Talking with Mormons: An Invitation to Evangelicals.A leader in interfaith theological conversations, particularly with Mormons and Jewish groups, Mouw served for six years as co-chair of the official Reformed-Catholic Dialogue and as president of the Association of Theological Schools. For seventeen years he was a professor of philosophy at Calvin College and in 2007, Princeton Theological Seminary awarded him the Abraham Kuyper Prize for Excellence in Reformed Theology and Public Life.

Introduction


1. Convicted Civility: Can We Be Faithful Polite Too?


2. What Christian Civility Is Not


3. Defending Christian Civility


4. Speaking in God?s Presence: The Importance of Civil Speech


5. Open Hearts: The Importance of Civil Attitudes


6. The Spiritual Underpinnings


7. What?s Good About Pluralism?


8. How to Be Civil About Sex


9. The Challenge of Other Religions


10. Christian Leadership in a Pluralistic World


11. When There Is No ?On the Other Hand?: The Limits of Civility


12. Is Hell Uncivil?


13. Abraham Kuyper, Meet Mother Teresa: The Problem of Triumphalism


14. Serving a Slow God: Civility and the End of Time


Afterword: A Civil Hug


Notes