Description: "A biblical treatment on gun ownership and laws in America. Defends the view-from a non-pacifist perspective-that the right to own and use a gun is a conditional right; using a gun to harm another person is only a last resort, and the United States needs more legal restrictions"--
Brief description: Michael W. Austin is Foundation Professor of Philosophy at Eastern Kentucky University and Bonhoeffer Senior Fellow of the Miller Center for Interreligious Learning and Leadership of Hebrew College. He has published twelve books, most recently Humility: Rediscovering the Way of Love and Life in Christ and QAnon, Chaos, and the Cross: Christianity and Conspiracy Theories.
Review Quotes: Publishers Weekly
"Austin's sound arguments, welcoming tone, and emphasis on building peace alongside protections of individual rights have the potential to sway Christians on both sides of the discourse around faith and firearms."
-- Rob Schenck
from the foreword "Michael Austin exposes the economic forces that have driven America's gun culture since the end of the Civil War and challenges Christians to be peacebuilders in a violent world, offering a way forward in making it harder for us to harm one another with guns."
-- Rev. Deanna Hollas
Minister of Gun Violence Prevention, Presbyterian Church (USA) "God and Guns in America is required reading for any follower of Jesus interested in the gun debate. Austin advocates a third way between pacifism and the just war notions of the use of violence, which he calls 'peacebuilding.' A fine work of theological integration around one of our culture's most vexing issues."
-- Scott B. Rae
Biola University "This is an important book--comprehensive yet concise, well researched yet accessible, with a balanced treatment of the theological, ethical, and legal issues related to guns."
-- David P. Gushee
Mercer University