Includes bibliographical references (pages 256-267) and indexes.

The theological challenge of political authority -- Civic virtue in Thomas Aquinas's account of justice -- A passion for justice -- Civic virtue and natural law -- Civic virtue and contemporary political philosophy -- Toward a constructive account of civic virtue and public rhetoric -- Politics for a pilgrim church.

Church leaders and scholars have long wrestled with what should provide a guiding vision for Christian engagement in culture and politics. In this book Thomas Bushlack argues that a retrieval of Thomas Aquinas's understanding of civic virtue provides important resources for guiding this engagement today. Bushlack suggests that Aquinas's vision of the pilgrim church provides a fitting model for seeking the earthly common good of the political community, and he notes the features of a Thomistic account of justice and civic virtue that remain particularly salient for the twenty-first century. The book concludes with suggestions for cultivating a Christian rhetoric of the common good as an alternative to the predominant forms of discourse fostered within the culture wars that have been so divisive.