EDMUND BURKE’S BATTLE WITH LIBERALISM:
His Christian Philosophy and Why It Matters
Today
By Samuel Burgess
Wilberforce Publications. 180 pages. £9.99
ISBN 978 0 995 683 235
For some time, Christians interested in politics have sensed that there are problems with the secular liberal consensus in the West today. However, there seems to be no viable political vision at hand to rival it. In this book, Samuel Burgess offers us one, derived from the thought of the 18th-century Whig politician, Edmund Burke.
This book deals with matters of world-view, history and political theory, and readers without an appetite for these things will probably not enjoy it.
However, for those who are interested, its length is manageable and its pace is brisk. Keeping one eye on the events of 2016, Burgess unpacks Burke’s conservatism by focusing on his disagreements with the liberalism of John Locke, the French Revolution, and John Rawls.
Politics of prudence
By contrasting Burke’s views with those of the liberal tradition, Burgess exposes their basic principles. He shows how liberalism assumes ‘the belief that all men are free and autonomous, endowed with natural rights’, and how in history this has led to problems and the undermining of freedoms. By contrast, Christian ‘theo-political principles’ undergird Burke’s outlook, and they lead to a politics of ‘prudence’. This means gradual, context-specific improvements within the status quo, rather than refashioning society from scratch to fit a set of ideals. In layman’s terms, Burke would say: ‘Do your best within the system you’ve inherited, because it’s better than a revolution.’
Burke has some interesting views on natural law, which deserve further scrutiny. I would have liked to see Burgess connecting Burke to current debates about Christian public square engagement, because it is not clear which camp Burke would have sided with today. But, all in all, Burgess has provided a valuable and informative contribution to the discussion.
