Religion and Society - B J van der Walt

Christianity the world over – also in Africa – has very little impact outside the walls of the church. This book intends to equip followers of Christ with a Christian worldview and philosophy of society to enable them to be actively involved in the “public square.”
The preface introduces the question of the correct relationship between (Christian) religion and society. The first chapter provides a broad vision of the new type of relevant Christianity needed if we want to impact on socio-economic-political life. The second chapter (delivered in 1998 at the Free University of Amsterdam at the commemoration of Abraham Kuyper’s Stone Lectures of 1898) introduces the philosophy of society of this giant in the history of Christianity. The third chapter discusses the place of human rights in a Christian societal philosophy. In the fourth chapter a critical assessment is given of Western developmentalism as well as an alternative view of development from a Christian starting point.