Common Places

A debate between Jonathan Leeman and Brad Littlejohn on "Religious Liberty and the Common Good," hosted by Colorado Christian University (www.ccu.edu). Christianity in America faces dire threats from two directions. On the one hand, unfriendly government bureaucrats and downright hostile woke activists are tightening the screws on Christians’ freedom of worship, expression, and conscience. At the same time, churches themselves are not immune to the profound crisis of authority that has engulfed our public life, and the reflexive “me and my rights” individualism that has undermined the very concept of institutional norms and the common good. How can we stand up for authentic religious liberty in an age of license and moral chaos? And on what basis should we advocate in the public square for policies that protect the church? Different Protestant traditions have offered sharply different understandings of the relationship between individual conscience, the institutional church, and the responsibility of civil