"American Babylon" by Richard John Neuhaus. A Review.
American Babylon: Notes of a Christian Exile Richard John Neuhaus Basic Books 250 W. 57th St., Suite 1500 New York, NY 10107 www.basicbooks.com ISBN: 978-0-465-02071-3; $17.99; March 2009. As we approach another annual commemoration of Independence Day, Christians may be asking “How do we relate to our country?” And if they’re not asking this, they ought to be. In 2008 Richard John Neuhaus, Lutheran pastor turned Roman Catholic priest, prolific writer, president of the Institute on Religion and Public Life, and founder/editor of First Things , pushed forward a work meant to help Christians think through their relationship and role in this country. This 270 page hardback, “American Babylon: Notes of a Christian Exile,” was published two months after his decease (January 8, 2009). In many ways it reads like the final words of a dying father to his children. “American Babylon” is shaped by Jeremiah’s letter to the Babylonian exiles in Jeremiah 29, and Neuhau...