Christian nationalism is among the most contentious issues dividing American Christians today. Persistent questions about the formal status of Christianity in politics and culture have split families, ended friendships, and sown dissension in many churches, even among those who share deep commitments to the authority of Scripture, the person and work of Jesus Christ, and the hope of the resurrection.
The label “Christian nationalist” was once primarily deployed as an accusatory bludgeon to condemn believers who asserted their Christian values too officially or vocally in public spaces. At its most absurd, a cabin crew member aboard an AirAlaska flight was recently charged with “creeping Christian nationalism” after wishing passengers a “blessed night” as they departed their flight.
But more serious concerns about it emerged after an angry mob stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. They were seeking to disrupt the constitutional process of certifying Joe Biden as president with some bearing signs in tribute to “King Jesus” and clearly intending to “Take America Back for God.” Since that time, Christian nationalism has dominated the national conversation about faith and politics.
As debates over Christian nationalism multiplied, some started to own the label, wearing it proudly. For these, Christian nationalism became a potent way to push back against the darkness (i.e., leftist woke radicals). Accepting the label became a subversive strategy to take the fight to the enemy and begin the process of setting things aright. Some Christians jumped on board. Many others did not.
Lots of ink has been spilled in recent years trying to defend, critique, and explain Christian nationalism. While a serious topic like this demands serious study, too much writing on the subject dives too deeply into the dense thickets of political theory and American constitutional history. For those looking for a basic introduction and an accessible point of entry, I am pleased to recommend a new book by Michael W. Austin, “American Christian Nationalism: Neither American nor Christian” (Eerdmans, 2024).
Austin is a professor of philosophy at Eastern Kentucky University and a ruling elder at Covenant Community Church (PCA) in Richmond, Kentucky. The book combines his immense skills as a trained ethicist with his shepherd’s heart for Christ’s church. The result is a concise (78 pages), clearly-written overview of the subject that instructs, clarifies, and rebukes. Austin doesn’t attempt a full-blown Christian theory of government, but instead addresses the broad principles espoused by the movement, evaluating each on their merits.
He gladly concedes that many of the opinions and actions commonly filed under “Christian nationalism” neither warrant the label nor fall under his critique. He recognizes that some critics have drawn the circle of Christian nationalism too widely, encompassing every faith-informed challenge to the secular left. Being openly—even vocally—Christian in American public life and cultural engagement does not automatically make someone a Christian nationalist.
What, then, makes someone an American Christian nationalist?
Definitions matter, especially when it comes to a subject so easily misunderstood and widely mischaracterized. Austin takes pains to define American Christian nationalism in light of arguments made by people like Stephen Wolfe, Dusty Deevers, and others who embrace, espouse, and defend it. He argues that American Christian nationalists believe the following:
1) America was founded as a Christian nation.
2) The U.S. government should promote Christianity as the official culture of the nation.
3) Christians should actively take dominion over America to enforce biblical norms.
4) Christians in the U.S. should prioritize American interests over those of other nations.
5) Christians should fuse their national and spiritual identities into one.
While Austin is evenhanded and judicious in assessing American Christian nationalism, readers shouldn’t mistake his fair-mindedness for a moderate stance on the subject. His perspective is unambiguously clear. Even in the title, Austin believes American Christian nationalism is “neither American nor Christian.” He considers it harmful to the nation and a danger to the church. Full stop.
The balance of the book is divided between the case he makes on each of these two points.
First, he demonstrates that Christian nationalism violates some of America’s most fundamental and enduring values. The primacy it gives to very peculiar versions of Christianity undercuts America’s longstanding commitments to liberty of conscience and freedom of expression. In similar fashion, putting the thumb on the scale for Christians and Christian principles begins to disintegrate our similarly important commitment to equality.
Austin observes some of the less-than-subtle ways that Christian nationalists have advanced racialist and misogynistic proposals along the same vein. And he finally notes that the Christian nationalist “America first” mentality weakens longstanding commitments to American principles of service.
A reader might wonder at this point, Well, so what? Are Christians obligated to submit to American values? Couldn’t Christian nationalism perhaps reform the nation in ways that better reflect biblical norms and produce biblical outcomes? Austin answers emphatically no. Christian nationalism is as unChristian as it is unAmerican.
In the second, more substantial, part of the book, Austin demonstrates the many ways that American Christian nationalism subverts, corrupts, and contradicts Christian values.
Where Scripture calls us to pour out ourselves in humility and love for the good of our neighbors, Christian nationalism invites us to don a warrior ethic of strength to dominate and control them. Where Scripture urges us lovingly to make disciples of all nations, Christian nationalism calls us to seize the levers of state power to enforce isolationism, protectionism, and the exclusion of immigrants.
In the end, Christian nationalism weakens our bonds with believers around the world, hurts our witness to our unbelieving neighbors, and trades the embracing light of the gospel for the militant sword of coercion and exclusion.
Our nation today is filled with suffering, corruption, and all manner of wickedness. It is deeply marked by the many millions of sinners who call it home. Christians are right to critique, challenge, and lament the diabolical forces that undercut human flourishing at all levels of society. They are also right to look to Jesus for a life-giving vision of hope and healing. But that vision, Austin warns, bears no resemblance to the false promises and corrupt ideals found in Christian nationalism. I am grateful for his boldness in saying so.
Jay Green serves as professor of history at Covenant College.