Faith & Politics

Greg is an internationally recognized theologian, preacher, teacher, apologist and author. He has authored or co-authored 18 books and numerous academic articles, including his best-selling and award-winning Letters From a Skeptic and his most recent books (co-authored with Dr. Paul Eddy) The Jesus Legend and Lord or Legend.

Greg Boyd received his Ph. D. from Princeton Theological Seminary (1988), his M.Div. from Yale Divinity School (1982) and his B.A. from the University of Minnesota (1979). He was a professor of theology for 16 years at Bethel University (St. Paul, MN). He is the head pastor of Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul, Minnesota. 

Greg and his wife Shelley have been married for 28 years. They have three children and two grandchildren.

Scott, Kyle, and Robbie skype in Greg Boyd. 

Approaching the 2004 election, Greg Boyd came clean on his beliefs of separation of church and state and why his church would not jump on the political bandwagon of "take back America for God".

After 1,000 people left the church, Greg Boyd felt like he could speak more boldly, instead of appeasing a certain audience. 

With this newfound freedom, Greg began questioning the rat-race we call the "American Dream". 

"When you get too close to nationalism and patriotism and political agendas, what happens is we get blinders and we don't see what's in front of us. Jesus says 'You've heard it said "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth", ... [Jesus says] love your enemies and bless those who persecute you so you may be children of your Father in heaven.' He makes this a criteria for being called children of God." Greg Boyd.

So should Christians just all vote democrat and shut up about it? Greg Boyd believes that we have to start with faith, and not let our politics lead us. 

"I maybe can't understand why you vote the way you do, but I have to trust that we have the same faith, and maybe I should learn from you; like "Tell me how your faith leads you to vote this way, as opposed to my faith that leads me to vote this way." We can both be smart. We both care about the issues. And yet because the system is complex we come down on different sides of things, and we just got to say "Well, that's fine ... let's work together to be the body of Christ." Greg Boyd

So should the American church get move involved with politics? Greg believes that you cannot serve two masters, so our focus needs to be on Jesus. 

"When you've got Jesus in common, your different political opinions are really inconsequential. At the end of the day, your political systems are not the hope of the world. All your eggs have to be in one basket, and that is Jesus Christ." Greg Boyd

So is it valid to be engaged in a political system as a Christian?

"Be very cautious and keep your eye on the kingdom of God." Greg Boyd

Scott, Kyle, and Robbie debrief the podcast

...and unanimously agree that Robbie should not be allowed to ask questions to guests ever. And that Leonardo DiCaprio should be our next guest...

There is an agreement on the sense that we are American's first, including beliefs on our rights. "And if Jesus operated as if he had rights in anything, he would have never gone to the cross."    Robbie Severson

Overall, nationalism is bad and our two party system naturally divides the church. We mock China for not giving its citizens freedom, but shouldn't we want them to have freedom? Or is that just our Americanism speaking? "What can come from a good heart can turn nationalistic quickly. We need to put our hope in Jesus, our real king, not a political system."    Kyle Smith

But involvement with politics is not all bad. For some it is a God-given opportunity to play a role in what God is doing. For example, Esther was "created for such a time as this" and was annointed, within a government, to make changes [God] saw fit. 

"If your politics are greater than your love, then something is wrong."     Scott Klaudt

Wanting more info on the sitatuion between John Piper and Greg Boyd? Check out the history here.

Wanting to know more about Greg Boyd? Check out his blog or his sermons.