Christian History Institute (CHI), publisher of Christian History magazine (CH), announces issue #141, titled: City of Man – Christian Civic Engagement Through the Ages. The issue is the final one of the four-part Faith and Flourishing series, chronicling how Christians have worked in various spheres for the common good. Those areas include science, the marketplace, higher education, and now, civic engagement, which involves many ways Christians have engaged the public square throughout church history.

Full-length articles delve into the origins of Christian civic engagement, first through the writings of Augustine (354-430), author of City of God, which rejected equating the kingdom of God with the kingdom of Rome. Later, monastic traditions fully engaged in serving the poor, developing agriculture, education, science, and governance skills inspired by Benedict (480-547) and others, with the help of the church. The monastic movement, contributed to the workings of society and politics throughout what is often misnamed the Dark Ages.

Other articles explore how Martin Luther (1483-1536) and Abraham Kuyper (1837-1920) helped forge the modern West. The issue also includes profiles of Christian social pioneers Josephine Butler, Katherine Bushnell, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Sun Chu Kil & Horace, G. Underwood, who helped birth independent Korea.

Managing editor Jennifer Woodruff Tait said, “This world is not our home, but we are called to work for its flourishing while we live in it. Some have argued either that Christians should have nothing to do with the City of Man—withdrawing into Christian-only enclaves—or that Christians should have everything to do with the City of Man. This issue is about neither of those extremes. It is about artists, preachers, activists, monks, kings, bishops, journalists, missionaries, factory workers, theologians, educators, doctors, and parents—all shaped by their faith in the City of God in ways that made them influence the City of Man for the better.”