Finding Solid Ground: In Politics, The Economy, and Jesus' Teaching

"In 2011, Emerick, an ordained minister in the United Methodist Church and a licensed clinical social worker, embarked on a self-directed study to educate himself about the nation's principal political disputes. He discovered that America's dominant political and economic theories...are... pitting the demands of the individual against the needs of the community. But in the Constitution's preamble... the concerns of individual liberty and the general welfare are given equal weight, and a more equitable national philosophy will...combine the two. [He] also... discovers, contrary to the opinions of many, that the federal government's active role in fiscal affairs can have a stimulating effect...and trickle-down economics has largely been a failure... [Emerick] makes an... attempt to reconcile political polarities, offering a way to structure an economy that...he calls a 'Preamble Economy'. "In the second part of the book, the author argues that Christianity has drifted away from the true ministry of Jesus, replacing his core message of love with errant institutional doctrine. [Emerick] singularly focuses on the sayings of Jesus... the book includes a collection of all of them-in order to excavate that teaching. "Emerick writes in unfailingly lucid prose, and his command of the issues is notable..." Kirkus Reviews