The Naked Public Square; Religion and Democracy in America
Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1984. First edition. Octavo, original black paper boards, original dust jacket. Year of publication in ink at base of title page, slight toning to spine and creasing to inner flap rear panel of dust jacket. A near-fine book in a very good dust jacket. Item #85
"THIS IS A BOOK ABOUT RELIGIOUS POLITICS AND POLITICAL RELIGION"
Second printing of Neuhaus's most notable book, printed in the same year as the first, an enduring study of Church-State relations in America.
The Naked Public Square was a milestone in Neuhaus's long journey from liberal Lutheran to conservative Catholic. He went on to found First Things magazine, convert to Catholicism, and to become ordained a priest. "Neuhaus, who had one been the most catholic of Lutherans, now became the most ecumenical of Catholics, for reasons perhaps more political than theological. Through First Things and coalitions such as Evangelicals and Catholics Together, Neuhaus advanced an ideology that combined opposition to abortion, euthanasia, and same-sex marriage with less distinctly religious right-wing themes like support of a hawkish foreign policy and free market economics." (Daniel McCarthy, The New York Times Book Review).
Price: $50.00