The Problem and Promise of Freedom

“Steven Félix-Jäger has crafted a robust theology of the responsible church. His book presents a church that carefully asks what is going on in the wider culture and responds to the salient issues of the day from its fidelity to covenantal freedom, proclaiming God’s vision of shalom, and embodying a new form of public witness. The responsible church lives out a public theology that is rooted in God’s covenant of abundance. Félix-Jäger’s brilliant book is both a thesis and a manual for churches willing to be ‘responsible’ in today’s controversial Western societies.”

“The concept of ‘freedom’—particularly for those in the Western world—is fraught with misunderstanding, misapplication, and misappropriation. Especially for the Christian. Too often, we see our freedom in Christ as a kind of libertine Americanism where we can do whatever we want under the banner of empire. Thankfully, Steven Félix-Jäger has offered us a substantive alternative. To be free, it seems, is to be submitted to Christ. And this book paves a way forward to understand how that is more about freedom than anything a nation could ever construct on its own.”

“This book rejects conservative Christianity’s culture-war stance against secular liberalism and instead advances a vibrant Pentecostal public theology of renewal and abundance. Rooted in the biblical themes of covenant, jubilee, and Pentecost (interpreted as a cosmic jubilee), this book presents a constructive theological alternative to secular liberal ideologies of freedom and the free-market economy. Written with conceptual clarity, academic rigor, and fresh insights, this work makes a significant contribution to public theology.”

“The Problem and Promise of Freedom argues persuasively that the church must resist the idols of the liberal tradition. Félix-Jäger creates a distinctively Pentecostal public theology that combats the pervasive free-market ideology in the church with a counternarrative of abundance. The outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost serves as the unexpected biblical foundation for crafting a public theology of renewal that elevates hospitality, generosity, grace, and social responsibility.”

“The Problem and Promise of Freedom reclaims and redeems the narrative of freedom in light of covenant, rather than culture. Steven Félix-Jäger elaborates on the conceptions of liberty that have infiltrated the church in one of the most succinct and accessible summations available. Utilizing powerful biblical imagery, he highlights the contemporary challenge confronting public theology: discerning true worship and counterfeit worship as manifested in our economic and social lives. This contribution speaks directly to all who aspire to live as ‘dual citizens,’ residents of the kingdom and the world, while protecting the integrity of our heavenly allegiance.”