Includes bibliographical references and index.

Life on the border : a Catholic perspective / Clarke E. Cochran -- Classical separation response -- Principled pluralist response -- Anabaptist response -- Social justice response -- The classical separation perspective / Derek H. Davis -- Catholic response -- Principled pluralist response -- Anabaptist response -- Social justice response -- The principled pluralist perspective / Corwin Smidt -- Catholic response -- Classical separation response -- Anabaptist response -- Social justice response -- The Anabaptist perspective / Ronald J. Sider -- Catholic response -- Classical separation response -- Principled pluralist response -- Social justice response -- The social justice perspective / J. Philip Wogaman -- Catholic response -- Classical separation response -- Principled pluralist response -- Anabaptist response.

Abortion. Physician-assisted suicide. Same-sex marriages. Embryonic stem-cell research. Poverty. Crime. What is a faithful Christian response? The God of the Bible is unquestionably a God of justice. Yet Christians have had their differences as to how human government and the church should bring about a just social order. Although Christians share many deep and significant theological convictions, differences that threaten to divide them have often surrounded the matter of how the church collectively and Christians individually ought to engage the public square. What is the mission of the church? What is the purpose of human government? How ought they to be related to each other? How should social injustice be redressed? The five noted contributors to this volume answer these questions from within their distinctive Christian theological traditions, as well as responding to the other four positions. Through the presentations and ensuing dialogue we come to see more clearly what the differences are, where their positions overlap and why they diverge. - Publisher.