Editor’s Note: This article was originally given as a talk at a Carl Henry Center public theology forum at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. It can be viewed here. What follows has been edited.
When I first envisioned this article, it had the title, “No to Christian Nationalism; Yes to God-Fearing Governments.” Yet its growing length crushed my dreams, so I decided to play Negative Nelly and just say no to Christian nationalism.
Why should we say no? Because Christian Nationalism misrepresents Jesus. Here are six reasons why.
1. People mean at least two things by Christian nationalism—Christian influence and Christian identity.
Some people use the phrase to mean that Christianity should influence the nation and its laws. Others mean that the nation and its government should actually identify as Christian.
Critics of Christianity will denounce any Christian influence as Christian nationalism. If influence is the standard, then I’m a Christian nationalist. The government should implement justice as he defines it, not justice as some other god defines it.
When I say “no” to Christian nationalism, I’m referring to Christian nationalism as a matter of identity, as if to say “We the people” are a Christian nation. This is like calling Saudi Arabia a
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