The Holy Spirit and Public Life

Mark J. Cartledge argues that the contemporary church can be empowered in its engagement with issues in public life through reading specific New Testament texts that focus on the person and work of the Holy Spirit. This book provides a Spirit-empowered approach to church praxis that is located within the discourse of public theology. In this construction, the church is called to “walk alongside” the world in critical companionship for the sake of the common good of all people. What this looks like is explored by means of four specific themes: poverty and health care, race and ethnicity, and sex trafficking and domestic violence. Finally, Cartledge proposes that the church engage with society by “being truthful with love.” This posture provides the integrating center for the life of the church and its mission in the world.