WASHINGTON, DC (Catholic Online) - A Catholic theologian and an Evangelical Protestant evangelist have teamed up to write one of the most compelling books in recent years, Indivisible: Restoring Faith, Family and Freedom Before It's Too Late.  If you want a primer that explains the significant issues we face at this moment in time from a Christian perspective in a clear and concise manner, here it is!

Dr. Jay Richards of the Discovery Institute and James Robison, founder and president of LIFE Outreach International, have done a powerful job putting the plight of religious liberty in the spotlight and then dissecting the various areas where religion, in general, and Christians, in particular, are under attack. They also take many of the issues we face and unpack them in a way that makes the information, evidence and examples understandable to the average person on the street.

The book is divided into three sections. The first is a basic primer on social issues, religious freedom and natural law. In this section, Robison also explains the roots of what was later termed "the religious right" in the early 70's.

The section really calls Christians to become involved in the contemporary initiative of unified action, what evangelical theologian Timothy George calls "ecumenism in the trenches." While there are differences, as they authors say, "we share core beliefs and moral principles and we worship one God."

The second part of the book deals with the key issues facing American Christians today, including: Separation of Church and State, war, big government, life, marriage, family, culture, global warming, foreign policy, etc. The authors offer straightforward explanations of these topics that are well documented along with analyses of trends and forecasts on where these things are taking us.

For me, the most important chapter in the section was Culture Matters. The chapter talks about the importance of culture but also discusses how culture is influenced. For anyone involved as a Christian voice in today's world, this chapter has some important observations to consider.

The final section - the Conclusion - introduces 10 "First Principles" of Faith, Family and Freedom that need to be embraced and included in any discussion of culture. The hope at the end of the thirds section is that, by embracing these principles as we move forward, we will be able to restore our culture rather than have to rebuild it.

In order to bring this volume to the public, two versions were published: a Catholic version by Ignatius Press and a Protestant version by FaithWords.

I had a chance to speak with Dr. Richards during their recent bus tour for the book while they were in Amarillo, Texas. He is a Senior Fellow at the Discovery Institute in Seattle, WA, which describes itself as "a inter-disciplinary community of scholars and policy advocates dedicated to the re-invigoration of traditional Western principles and institutions and the worldview from which they issued."

His academic work in theology and philosophy culminated in a Ph.D. (with honors) from Princeton Theological Seminary. His books include the God & Evolution: Protestants, Catholics and Jews Explore Darwin's Challenge to Faith. He also wrote Money, Greed, and God: Why Capitalism Is the Solution and Not the Problem.

His work has been covered in publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post (news and editorial), and the Wall Street Journal. He has appeared on many national radio and TV programs, including Larry King Live; and has lectured worldwide including to members of the US Congress

The seeds of Indivisible began a few years ago when James Robison startd feeling that he needed to work on a book that would speak to the country and was praying about someone with whom he could collaborate. A friend of his, Pastor Jim Garlow of Skyline Wesleyan Church in San Diego, CA had sent the book, Money, Greed and God to Robison and recommended that he contact Dr. Jay Richards.

When the two met, they realized that both had a similar burden to write something that would call Christians to unified action.

"The more we talked," Richards said, "the more we realized we had a similar vision and it didn't occur to us until later that we were exemplifying in writing this book together what we were calling on Christians to do which is to learn to work together around this fundamental set of principles that we feel have important public consequences, all of which thoughtful Evangelicals and Orthodox Catholics hold in common. We're convinced that if we're to restore the culture it's going to require a lot of folks learning to work together."

They met in the summer of 2010 and decided to set up meetings on the potential project, which included leaders from the Evangelical, Charismatic and Catholic ...