Awaiting the King rounds out James K. A. Smith’s Cultural Liturgies trilogy in a different way than originally planned. This book was first envisioned as “‘Hauerwas for Kuyperians’, a come-to-Yoder altar call” (xi)—something that sounded quite appealing to me! However, as Smith’s assumptions shifted throughout the writing of the first two volumes (not to mention his other concurrent projects), he ended up writing a different book—one that has challenged my views on Christian political engagement.

As appealing as it sounds to simply ‘be the church’ in the midst of the world, Smith argues that Christians are called to engage the earthly city in order to truly and fully love our neighbour. Furthermore, viewing the church as a polis shows that we have the resources to help reorder the disordered loves of the secularum.

Like the first two books in the series, Awaiting the King is not an easy read—it’s not intended to be. Smith interacts substantially with people like Augustine, Charles Taylor, and Oliver O’Donovan, carefully interpreting and building upon their work. That said, the writing is not needlessly dense, either. A careful reading will spur all sorts of fruitful thoughts and ideas.

• Book 1: Desiring the Kingdom
• Book 2: Imagining the Kingdom
• Book 3: Awaiting the King

Smith, James K. A. Awaiting the King: Reforming Public Theology. Baker Academic, 2017. Cultural Liturgies 3.