Ecclesiology and political theory intersect in the rich debate among Christian social ethicists in the United States concerning the public responsibility of the church in a democratic-capitalist culture. This book begins by developing a framework for analyzing a theologian's understanding of the church/world relationship. It also provides a broad account of the liberal philosophical tradition's justification for democratic capitalism. Chapters on Reinhold Niebuhr, Rosemary Radford Ruether, Stanley Hauerwas and Roman Catholic Social Teaching analyze and assess the intersection between their ecclesiologies and their appraisals of liberalism.