Social Conservatism for the Common Good: A Protestant Engagement with Robert P. George

“Everything about this book is wonderful: the contributors, the essays they’ve written, the topics they address, and their main subject, Robert P. George. Social Conservatism for the Common Good is a must-read for any believing Christian interested in bringing faith and reason together to advance human dignity, human flourishing, and human rights.”

“Robert P. George is not only, as he is often called, one of today’s leading public intellectuals; he is also a devout Catholic who has much to teach the whole body of Christ, including evangelical Protestants, as these splendid essays attest. In the best tradition of Chuck Colson and Richard John Neuhaus, Robby George helps us, Catholics and evangelicals alike, live faithfully on our difficult journey toward a common mission.”

“The pro-life movement in America today has rarely had an advocate as articulate and intellectually commanding as Robert P. George. A professor of law at Princeton and a constitutional scholar, George has collaborated closely with a number of evangelical thinkers, including my late friend Chuck Colson. Even more, he’s a true role model of how we can treat those who oppose us in the culture with civility while defending our most cherished and sacred beliefs.”

“This volume is not just a celebration of and deep engagement with Robert P. George’s work; it is also worthy of that work. Which is to say that it is rigorous, illuminating, and concerned, above all, with discerning the truth. It is an important contribution to the essential project of sustaining a Christian morality in the public square.”

“Few thinkers of any age have been as influential in as many ways as Robert P. George. On paper, George is something of an enigma: an Ivy League professor who has not only remained a faithful Catholic but has become one of America’s foremost intellectual leaders on the sanctity of life, marriage, and religious freedom. Remaining a member in good standing in the academy and the church is unusual today, but George has managed to do that, which likely explains his ability to appeal across many would-be divides. The Protestant contributors to this volume effectively engage with George’s moral, political, and legal philosophy and make a case for why it must be taken seriously in the public square. George’s work, undaunted courage, charitable heart, and energetic willingness to do the right things, even if hard, offer the next generation hope and a model to influence the culture for good while faithfully bearing witness to Christ.”

“It’s no easy task to assemble a collection of essays on important topics that are serious, informed, and fair, but Andrew Walker has accomplished this in Social Conservatism for the Common Good. While my own conclusions about natural law and political theory have sometimes differed from Robert P. George’s, reading his work has always stretched me intellectually and inspired me to think better about whatever subject was at stake. Evangelicals wishing to think sharply and be good citizens do well to grapple with George’s work, and those looking for an appreciative analysis of it have picked up the right book.”

“In Social Conservatism for the Common Good, readers will find not only a well-deserved homage to Robert P. George, one of the greatest political theorists of our time, but also a compendium on how to understand liberalism and social conservatism in an age diametrically opposed to all we hold dear.”

“What an incredible resource! Not only does this book provide the best summary of Robert P. George’s significant contributions to Christian conservative thought (as if that would not be enough), it also offers an incredible collection of scholars engaging, rejoining, critiquing, and clarifying his ideas. Andrew Walker has given us all quite a gift.”

“Andrew Walker has assembled a brilliant collection of essays that engage fruitfully with the pioneering and courageous work of Robert P. George. This is the rare multicontributor book in which every chapter shimmers with insight and wisdom.”