The relationship between religion and politics has been a subject of study that is gaining increased importance to both scholars and policy-makers alike. This is partly driven by conflicts and social cleavages that garner our attention. Whether it be religious violence in Myanmar, concerns about religious nationalism in India, or increasing instances of religious discrimination in the United States and Western Europe both the academic and policy community have a heightened interest in understanding the intertwined dynamics of religion and politics and the outcomes that the enmeshing of these issues can have on political, social, and economic events. The review of Johnson, Klassen, and Sullivan's work; Ekklesia: Three Inquiries in Church and State, provides a useful and potentially rich theoretical framework to analyze issues associated with religion and politics in more detail. This review provides an overview of some key concepts and arguments associated with analytical focus of the book, a brief breakdown of the constitutive chapters, and some thoughts and implications for the use of this work in a social science research context for investigation of other issues associated with religion and politics.

The title of this work “Ekkelsia” is both fitting from a subject matter and the analytical argument being put forth in the manuscript. The authors describe this term as having its origins in reference to congregations of early Christian church practice and the civic assembles of ancient Greek city-states, like Athens. In particular, they view this term highlighting two distinct but competing themes; “drawn from” and “essential separation.” These two competing themes are utilized to conceptualize what the authors describe as “churchstateness.” The authors note that numerous scholars have observed a competitive relationship between religion and state, where a zero-sum dynamic leads to either the organs of state or institutions associated with religion gaining political and social influence at each other's expense. However, the authors of this book emphasize a different perspective and approach the concept of “churchstateness” as a series of interlocking and interwoven patterns of behavior (materials, practices, and procedures) that are both analytically distinct domains but also substantively share constitutive elements. From this perspective this manuscript is focused on not only identifying the hybrid nature of the relationship between religion and state but also to illustrate how religion can be a mechanism to explore normative concepts like legitimacy and justice. In short, a key focus of these authors is to illustrate how religion can be harnessed by the state to both unmake and create existing social orders. In addition, the authors take a specific regional perspective (the Americas) and analyze the differing patterns of “churchstateness” at a more localized level. The authors argue that the perspective of the Americas provides a useful juxtaposition from typical European narratives and can also account for the contested or rival sovereignties that were often encountered in the context of colonization for this region.

The book is divided into four chapters with the introductory chapter providing a general overview of the argument regarding the mutual reinforcing and entwined nature of church and state, and the potential impact it can have on the creation of the institutional capacity and legitimacy of the state. The subsequent chapters analyze this dynamic from three different case-studies associated with Brazil, Canada, and the United States. The chapter on Brazil authored by Paul Christopher Johnson examines the revolt of the Canudos shortly after the establishment of the Brazilian republic in 1890. Johnson provides a descriptive historical account of the revolt and also provides a rich discussion of the social and religious practices of the “counselorists” who were the members of the community that supported the revolt. Johnson's main focus is to highlight how religious rhetoric, practice, and symbolism were harnessed to both demonize those in revolt against the state while also harnessing the violence that ensued to provide the state with glimmers of moral and political legitimacy. The next chapter, authored by Pamela E. Klassen, focuses on the experience of indigenous nations in Canada and how legal instruments and religious symbolism can be harnessed to delegitimize the spiritual and political authority of indigenous peoples, while also providing competing narratives aimed at reconciliation of forced integration and the normalization of power relations due to colonization. In particular, Klassen highlights the concept of “spiritual jurisdiction” and how it often used to legitimize the dispossession of indigenous peoples in Canada both past and present. The final chapter is authored by Winnifred Fallers Sullivan and focuses on the legal context in United States with particular attention provided to the influence religious texts have on jury deliberations and capital punishment. Specifically, Sullivan highlights the consequences and inconsistencies of religious disestablishment in the adjudication of the law in the United States. She also illustrates that jury members in the penalty phase of capital cases occupy a unique religious no-man's land where they are encouraged to make moral and spiritual judgments but to do so in a manner devoid of any reference to established religious scripture and practice.

Given this description of the work of these authors, a few key contributions to those interested in empirical research in the social sciences stand out. First, the book's discussion of conceptualizing “the people” provides a rich theoretical background to operationalize concepts like; political authority, electoral mandates, and/or public opinion. In particular, the discussion of “the people” in this book provides good theoretical grounding for exploring religion as a mechanism associated with political legitimacy. In addition, I also found the focus on the “Americas” provides an interesting and potentially useful comparative framework to examine proto-states/polities as they navigate different mechanisms to achieve the consolidation of centralized authority. In particular, how religion is harnessed to enhance and legitimize state authority in a context of contested sovereignties is a topic deserving of more exploration. There were two issues that I believed warranted more discussion given my reading of this book. First, the constitutive factors of “churchstateness” could have utilized more detailed discussion. Since the authors focus on the interaction of religion and state then a better understanding of what issues/indictors are associated with these different dimensions and how they are weighted would have been helpful to provide a clearer articulation of the different cases presented. Also, a more detailed discussion of how “churchstateness” operates in a non-Western and authoritarian context would have provided a more generalizable application of the argument, especially given the analysis of the harnessing of religion as it applies to state building, legal system, and contested sovereignty. However, despite these issues I believe scholars of religion would find this book a potentially useful waystation for those conducting research regarding the general relationship between religion and the state.