‘Christian Nationalism’ Isn’t Cultural Coercion, It’s A Moral Imperative

Governors of highly populous Western states have erected billboards in support of specific policy positions that are adorned with verses from Scripture. Voting to a U.S. senator is the equivalent of voting. “a kind of prayer for the world we desire” It defines democracy “the political enactment of the spiritual idea that each of us was created, as the scriptures tell us, in the ‘Imago Dei’ the image of God.” 

Is this the sinister emergence of Christian nationalism — the right-wing, fascist, “Handmaid’s Tale” Is there a hellscape just around the corner? It’s not true.

This vignette is actually about a recent event. Push California Gov. Gavin Newsom had pro-abortion signs placed in several red states. One in Mississippi featured Jesus’ words from Mark 12/31:31. “Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no greater commandment than these.” In the second example, these were the words spoken Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock was on the campaign trail

It is common to draw attention to the hypocrisy of the praise that is often lavished on the left’s use of Christianity. But the deeper point is that Newsom and Warnock both show that using Christian arguments and verses from Scripture for the purpose of securing political victories is unexceptional — and even good. Stephen Wolfe, in his provocative and groundbreaking book “The Book of Stephen Wolfe” argues that it is possible to use Christian arguments and verses from Scripture for political victories.The Case for Christian NationalismChristians should be following suit, although not in enacting such policies. 

Wolfe has argued the freighted term with rigor and persistence. “Christian nationalism,” A phrase that is often used as a synonym for “a” cudgel To unite Christians behind a positive view of public life that is rooted in the rich doctrines 16th- and 17th-century Reformed Theology and the American political heritage, rather than against evangelicals. He expands on the important work done by Ad fontesIn recent decades, Protestant scholars and institutions have attempted to return to the source.

Wolfe is a cultivator of all things. “a collective will for Christian dominion in the world” — a will that has been crushed by a combination of elite evangelical rhetoric that buttresses 21st-century pieties, a bicoastal ruling class that is hostile to orthodox Christians, a conservative movement that has mostly failed to preserve American institutions, and a suffocating psychological malaise that has gripped the West. He gives Christians the intellectual tools they need to break through the seemingly impregnable wall of a combination “third way” Politics, neoAnabaptism, unprincipled pluralism to reestablish a way for life that is conducive towards Christian flourishing.

Christian Nationalism Explained

Wolfe’s simple definition of controversial term “Christian nationalism” Is it a “Christian people acting for their own good in light of their Christian nationhood.” It encompasses the myriad ways Christians should be working to establish Christian conditions not only in their homes and churches — but also in their villages, towns, cities, states, and, yes, nations. This project relies on recovering the solid ground, often called the “book of nature” by the Reformers and their heirs. It contained truths that they believed were consistent with the book Revelation. They understood that God had given us the ability to use our minds within the bounds of the Scriptures. Order created — that Christians do not need a positive command from the Bible for every action they take.

Wolfe says that the idea and concept of the nation flow from man’s anthropology. He agrees with Thomas Aquinas, the New England Puritan Samuel Willard and asserts that even if Eve and Adam didn’t follow the serpents’s tricks, humanity would still be there. “formed distinct civil communities — each being culturally particular.” Because social and political faculties are intrinsically part of man’s DNA. “lead him to the fundamental things of earthly life, such as family formation and civil society,” writes Wolfe. “The nation, therefore, is natural to man as man, and the matured earth would be a multiplicity of nations.” 

This argument implicitly teaches that Adam’s fall infuse man’s entire nature and character with sin. “did not eliminate the natural gifts,” Wolfe points this out. This doctrine is also known as total Depravity (often misunderstood) and is the first point of the TULIP acronym (anonymous). anachronistic 19th-century pedagogical device). Herman Bavinck, a Dutch Theologian, said that although “numerous institutions and relations in life of society such as marriage, family, child rearing” And “man’s dominion over the earth through science and art” Have “undoubtedly been modified by sin … they nevertheless have their active principle and foundation in creation, the ordinances of God.”

Wolfe’s foundation is the well-known doctrine that grace does no harm but actually enhances nature. In other words, Christianity does not overthrow civil order, the non-sinful traditions of the people, and general decorum — the natural sinews that preserve society for posterity. 

John Calvin taught the following in his sermon on 1 Corinthians 

It is true, regarding our eternal salvation, that it is not possible to distinguish between man, woman, king, shepherd, or German. Regarding policy, however, we have what St. Paul declares here; for our Lord Jesus Christ did not come to mix up nature or to abolish what belongs to the preservation of decency and peace among us.

Grace enhances the natural gifts and completes them by pointing at both the earthly and spiritual. And Heavenly goods. When a husband believes in Christ, his wife and family are baptized. His work is directed towards his home, and then to the temporal realm, which the Reformers call the civil kingdom. Grace does nothing to make him an androgynous person or to force him to leave behind his family to be with other independent Christians. 

His teachings on magistrates and civil law are one of Wolfe’s controversial elements. Laws should reflect natural law, preserve natural rights and, as Timon Cline, legal historian, recommends, be fair. Has been taughtDirect “men to virtue,” pointing him to “higher truths.” Although the civil magistrate “cannot legislate or coerce people into belief,” Wolfe asserts that he is able to “punish external religion — e.g., heretical teaching, false rites, blasphemy, sabbath-breaking, etc. — because such actions can cause public harm.” He proposes, in fact, that magistrates can point citizens to Christianity as the true religion. 

Wolfe has some advice for dissident Christians “wide toleration is desirable.” Non-Christians should not be “guaranteed a basic right to life and property,” He argues that they shouldn’t be allowed to engage in activities that could cause harm to Christianity. 

These were the hallmarks of Christendom throughout Christian history. However, modern Christian statemen will need to exercise careful judgment when applying them today.

Christendom, America

Wolfe’s project doesn’t involve theocratic theocracy, where the church is lording over the civil world. He writes that instead, “classical Protestant position is that civil authorities” Should “establish and maintain the best possible outward conditions for people to acquire spiritual goods.” These goods are obtained through the church, which has ministers who preach the Word of God and administer the sacraments. This does not mean that Christianity is inherently weak without state support. It means that Christianity should permeate all life and cause the magistrates to lead their citizens towards the highest goals.

Joe Rigney is a good example of this. Not notedCivil government that promotes and supports Christianity “has been the dominant position in the history of the church for the last 1500 years.” Reformed tradition has key confessions, catechisms that teach the good of, such as the original Westminster Confession or the Second Helvetic Confession. religious establishments Charge those in political power to uphold Both The tables of the Ten Commandments.

This understanding of Christian political order was influential on early Americans. Davenant Institute President Brad LittlejohnThe Founding Fathers “were certainly ‘Christian nationalists’ by the contemporary definition — that is, people who believed it important that America should publicly describe and conduct itself as a nation within a Christian framework.” Most state constitutions privileged Christianity — in most cases specifically a Protestant kind — and Featured mentions of God and religious tests for public offices, taxpayer funding clergy and churches, Sabbath law and laws against Blasphemy, Christian prayer and instruction at public schools well into 20th century.

Christianity in a Negative World 

How about the place of “cultural Christianity,” An important pillar in Christian nationalism that has been heavily critiqued by public theologians Ray Ortlund, Ray Moore, and Russell Moore? Wolfe claims that critics make a category error since it was never meant “to bring about anyone’s salvation.” Instead, have a strong culture that is infused with Christian themes. Make sure to prepare citizens “for the reception of the Gospel.” It is a social power which internalizes the regular patterns of life that revolve around regular Christian participation. 

Wolfe is right to ask: What would these critics think about subjecting families to? “relentless hostile social forces” Drag queen story hour, transgender ideology being taught at public schools, rampant porn, and other such things. Are active hostility and open persecution — that is, the circumstances first-century Christians faced — the Only Are cultural conditions favorable for spreading Christianity? These questions are answered by the history of Christendom.  

Christians are not required to preserve mid-century Supreme Court decisions. The mere pursuit of religious liberty rights will not be sufficient. “prudence” This is what it really means capitulation Our nation’s slide to anarchy is only possible if we continue to support the old cultural ethos. G.K. Chesterton’s famous quote: “The business of Christians” “shouldn’t be to prevent mistakes from being corrected.”

In a “negative world,” Aaron Renn’s website. Useful taxonomyOur magistrates supervise an entire establishment with all the necessary a “regime-enforced moral ideology” Wolfe is hostile to Christianity but gives Christians a coherent intellectual foundation which can withstand the gale force winds that blow in our age. However, political theory can’t be implemented by itself. Christians must possess the strength, courage, fortitude, and manliness to help lay the foundations in the coming decades for what is certain to be a multigenerational effort.

Mike Sabo is the editor for RealClear’s American Civics portal. He graduated from Hillsdale College’s Van Andel Graduate School of Statesmanship. He and his wife reside in Cincinnati, Ohio.