Topics: Humanity Social Justice Ethics Government & Public Policy Law Politics Social Sciences

Summary: American Christians – along with many others – are thoroughly confused as to whether liberal democracy is a good thing, claims Professor Nicholas Wolterstorff. Attempting to sort through the structure of liberal democracy, its claims, and its detractors, Wolterstorff goes a long way in helping to clear up this confusion. First, Wolterstorff addresses the thought of Stanley Hauerwas, John Millbank, and Alistair McIntyre that represent the “neo-traditional” critique of liberal democracy. He highlights the neo-traditional criticisms but contends that the neo-traditionalists are incorrect in their assessment of the origins of liberal democracy. Rather than a product of the secular enlightenment, Wolterstorff ultimately argues that liberal democracy is a descendent of the Christian tradition of natural law and locates the basis of human rights in the Old Testament.