James Davison Hunter Quotes

#1. Pluralism today - at least in America - exists without a dominant culture,

James Davison Hunter

#2. Culture is as much an infrastructure as it is ideas.

James Davison Hunter

#3. There is not one single challenge to Christianity that eclipses all others in importance.

James Davison Hunter

#4. The legal and political debate surrounding the just management of plurality will continue well into the future.

James Davison Hunter

#5. There is little taste for 'high culture' especially in Evangelicalism, where the tendency has long been toward translation - making things accessible to the largest number of people.

James Davison Hunter

#6. The character of American civilization is a bundle of contradictions,

James Davison Hunter

#7. Merely engaging the culture implies the issue and exercise of power.

James Davison Hunter

#8. To enact a vision of human flourishing based on the qualities of life that Jesus modeled will invariably challenge the given structures of the social order. In this light, there is no true leadership without putting at risk one's time, wealth, reputation, and position.

James Davison Hunter

#9. If Christians cannot extend grace through faithful presence within the body of believers, they will not be able to extend grace to those outside.

James Davison Hunter

#10. To be Christian is to be obliged to engage the world, pursuing God's restorative purposes over all of life,

James Davison Hunter

#11. The contemporary quarrel over church and state is not really about whether a wall of separation of church and state should exist or not ... The real question is what does 'separation' mean?

James Davison Hunter

#12. Ideas are not free-floating in consciousness but are grounded in the social world in the most concrete ways.

James Davison Hunter

#13. The cultural capital American Christianity has amassed simply cannot be leveraged where it matters most.

James Davison Hunter

#14. Ideas do have consequences in history, yet not because those ideas are inherently truthful or obviously correct but rather because of the way they are embedded in very powerful institutions, networks, interests, and symbols.

James Davison Hunter

#15. As with military campaigns, cultural warfare is always decided over the pragmatic problems of strategy, organization and resources ... The factions with the best strategies, most efficient organization, and access to resources will plainly have the advantage and very possibly, the ultimate victory.

James Davison Hunter

#16. Faithfulness works itself out in the context of complex social, political, economic, and cultural forces that prevail at a particular time and place.

James Davison Hunter

#17. THE MANDATE OF CREATION is a source both of glory and of shame for the Christian community.

James Davison Hunter

#18. Idealism misconstrues agency, implying the capacity to bring about influence where that capacity may not exist or where it may only be weak.

James Davison Hunter