YALCON Breakout session Slides

1. NICK GAUSLING, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
HOW TO REACH CHRISTIANS
WITH THE LIBERTY MESSAGE
DOUG STUART, BOARD MEMBER

2. WHY DOES THIS MATTER?
CHRISTIAN
71%
Major U.S.
Demographic
Engine for
generating ideas
Christians aim to be
a long-term catalyst
for societal change

3. HOW TO REACH CHRISTIANS
Don’t lead off with rhetoric that
hardly works on anybody.
Start Well
Christians remain faithful to their
religious documents and traditions.
Appeal to their Fidelity
Libertarianism is not a monolithic
ideology, but a diverse movement.
Broad Camp
Changing one’s mind is
often a long-term endeavor.
Conversations > Conversions

4. OLD TESTAMENT THEOLOGY
• Genesis: Eden, Cain, and Babel
• Israel under Moses
• The Kings
• The prophetic vision of God’s reign

5. NT THEOLOGY: THE GOSPELS
• The return of the King
• The temptations of Christ
• Jesus on taxes and politics
• Jesus on trial
• Resurrection: the victory of God

6. NT THEOLOGY: EPISTLES
• Romans 13
• 1 Peter 2
• 1 Timothy 2
• Revelation

7. EARLY CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY
OF THE STATE

8. “And when you hear that we look for a kingdom,
you suppose, without making any inquiry, that we
speak of a human kingdom … For if we looked for a
human kingdom, we should also deny our Christ ...”
- Justin Martyr, an early Samaritan theologian
(b. ~100 – d. ~165)

9. “For we no longer take up ‘sword against nation,’
nor do we ‘learn war any more,’ having become
children of peace, for the sake of Jesus, who is our
leader.”
- Origen, an early Alexandrian theologian
(b. ~185 – d. ~254)

10. “I do not wish to be a king. I am not anxious to be
rich. I decline military command.”
-Tatian, an early Syrian theologian
(b. ~120 – c. ~173)

11. “Shall [a Christian] carry a flag, too, hostile to
Christ? And shall he ask a watchword from the
emperor [when he] has already received one from
God?”
- Tertullian, an early Carthaginian theologian
(b. ~155 – d. ~240)

12. “Above all, Christians are not allowed to correct by
violence sinful wrongdoings. For [it is] not those
who abstain from evil by compulsion, but those
[who abstain] by choice, [that] God crowns. For it is
not possible for a man to be good steadily except by
his own choice.”
- Clement of Alexandria, an early theologian
(b. 150 – d. 215)

13. OTHER COMMON OBJECTIONS
Libertarianism is not a
comprehensive worldview
Libertines?
Libertarians don’t care about
whether some people are rich and
wield power over the poor.
Greed-enablers?
Abortion and Marriage
Social Issues

14. • Bookmark LibertarianChristians.com
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