Hunter Baker - The End of Secularism

Hunter Bakers volume is a much-welcomed addition to the debate on the role of religion and faith in the public square. To the confusion regarding matters of religion and politics, Baker brings illuminating clarity. To the ambiguity regarding the meaning and place of pluralism, he provides thoughtful analysis. To the directionless arguments for secularization, he offers an insightful and discerning response. This much-needed volume provides a readable, historically-informed, and carefully-reasoned case for the place of faith in our public deliberations. It is with great enthusiasm that I recommend it.

DAVID S. DOCKERY , President, Union University

Hunter Baker is a gifted writer who knows how to communicate the issue of secularism to an audience that desperately needs to hear a critical though winsome voice on this matter. In many ways, the book is a twenty-first-century sequel to the late Richard John Neuhauss classic, The Naked Public Square. Baker understands the issues that percolate beneath the culture wars. They are not merely political but theological and philosophical, and they are rarely unpacked in an articulate way so that the ordinary citizen can gain clarity. Baker offers his readers that clarity.

FRANCIS J. BECKWITH , Professor of Philosophy and
Church-State Studies, Baylor University; author,
Defending Life: A Moral and Legal Case Against
Abortion Choice

Hunter Baker is one of the sharpest thinkers in contemporary American Christianity. This work will provoke the same kind of conversation ignited by Richard John Neuhauss The Naked PublicSquare . Read this book slowly with a highlighter and a pen in hand as you think about questions ranging from whether the Ten Commandments ought to hang in your local courthouse to whether theres a future for public Christianity.

RUSSELL D. MOORE , Dean, The Southern
Baptist Theological Seminary

The task of discerning the alternative to practical atheism lived by many nominal Christians and the pretense of a neutral secularism has been made easier by this rich study. Once authentic Christians grasp the ramifications of the incarnation of Christ, then and only then will it be apparent that, as Baker argues, secularism only makes sense in relation to religion.

ROBERT A. SIRICO, President, Acton Institute

The End of Secularism debunks the widespread myth that secularism is the inevitable wave of the future, coming at us like an unstoppable force of nature. Baker shows instead that the secularization of society was the result of deliberate planning and concerted effort by a relatively few determined ideologues. Baker makes it clear that what they did can be undone. We shall be hearing more from this promising young man.

JENNIFER ROBACK MORSE , Founder and President,
The Ruth Institute

Hunter Baker has produced a powerful and carefully constructed argument against the secularists in our midst who are attempting to subvert the traditions that gave birth to our unique national enterprise.

HERBERT L ONDON, President, Hudson Institute; author,
Americas Secular Challenge

Secularism was supposed to have displaced religion before the end of the last century. It failed. Baker has done an immense favor for every Christian interested in a faithful life in the public square. As an important and emerging young evangelical scholar and public thinker, he doesnt cower at the seemingly imposing face of secularism but intelligently reads its vital signs and confidently declares its inherent weaknesses.

GLENN T. STANTON , cultural researcher; author,
Marriage on Trial and My Crazy Imperfect
Christian Family

The End of SecularismCopyright 2009 by Hunter BakerPublished by Crossway Books
a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers
1300 Crescent Street
Wheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law.

Cover design: Studio GearboxCover photo: Photos.comFirst printing 2009

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version ), copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture references marked NIV are from The Holy Bible: New InternationalVersion . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

The NIV and New International Version trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by International Bible Society. Use of either trademark requires the permission of International Bible Society.

Trade paperback ISBN: 978-1-4335-0654-3
PDF ISBN: 978-1-4335-0655-0

Mobipocket ISBN: 978-1-4335-0656-7

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Baker, Hunter, 1970
The end of secularism / Hunter Baker.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4335-0654-3 (tpb)
1. Christianity and politics. 2. Christianity and politicsUnited States.
3. Church and state. 4. Church and stateUnited States. 5. Religion and politics. 6. Secularism. I. Title.
BR115.P7B143 2009
211'.6dc22 2009005813

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14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To my parents,
Terry and Becky Baker,
who had the gift of encouragement,andmy wife, Ruth Baker,
who first counseled me to take up and read,andmy children, Andrew and Grace,
little ones who often played happily near my desk while I wrote.

Contents

There was once a professor who had a fantastic dream night after night. In this dream, he would stand before the great philosophers of the ages as they made their cases and send them away defeated one by one with a single devastating sentence. The problem was that each time he woke, he could never recall his powerful refutation. His psychiatrist suggested he keep a pad and pencil on his nightstand as a means of willing himself to wake just long enough to record his rejoinder. The professor dutifully did as his doctor advised. Sure enough, the dream returned that very night. He managed to rouse himself and scribbled on the pad. When morning came and he returned to consciousness, the professor reached for his notebook with a sense of awe and expectation. With disappointment he read, Well, thats what you say!

I had a dream of my own while writing this book. In my nocturnal imaginings, the great clergyman and church-state scholar Father Richard John Neuhaus would have something complimentary to say about The End of Secularism in his monthly column, The Public Square, in First Things , a distinguished journal of religion and culture. Regrettably, like the professor in my little story, I was destined to be disappointed. Before the book could be published, Father Neuhaus died after a return of the cancer that nearly killed him several years ago. The worldwide community of academics and autodidacts who quickened their step on the way back from the mailbox with copies of First Things in their hands mourned his passing. There would be no more chances to read his many thousands of words of erudite and witty commentary each month.

According to Joseph Pearces biography of G. K. Chesterton, when Chesterton met his final reward T. H. White is said to have announced to his class, G. K. Chesterton died yesterday. P. G. Wodehouse is now the greatest living master of the English language. Richard John Neuhaus held that kind of importance for a great many of us who devote ourselves to understanding the nexus of church and state.

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