Against Christian Nationalism |
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Editor's note: This is certainly a period of tremendous political unrest which can leave many of us wondering what we Christians should do, especially how to understand the nature of Christian witness in fractured political environments. N.T. Wright and Michael F. Bird's bring clarity to our questions in their new book Jesus and the Powers: Christian Political Witness in an Age of Totalitarian Terror and Dysfunctional Democracies. Enjoy this excerpt. * |
Christian nationalism is a danger to Christians and non-Christians alike. Now, of course, this depends on what you mean by 'Christian nationalism'. We have no problem with the notion that Christianity has been part of the heritage of this or that nation. Christianity has shaped our constitutions and cultures for the better, and State and Church can cooperate for the common good in providing education, healthcare, and pastoral care. One can tussle a bit as to whether there should be an officially established church such as the Church of England. We hasten to point out that even with a state-sanctioned church in the UK, there is still a healthy degree of secularity, religious pluralism and multiculturalism. When we warn of the evils of Christian nationalism, we are warning of the danger of the government trying to enforce Christian hegemony combined with civil religion (that is, an outward and merely cultural version of Christianity). In other words, the danger is that Christians are given special privileges by the State and Christianity becomes an outward display of patriotic devotion rather than part of true religious affection. The idea that the Christian world needs an anointed Christian leader, a Christian emperor presiding over a Christian empire, is one that has existed since Constantine, and even persists into the present. In fact, quite recently, one prominent British theologian has tweeted, in response to Queen Elizabeth II's passing, that 'the Queen was effectively the Queen of the world . . . perhaps [the] necessary role of Christian world emperor has now fallen on the British monarchy'.1 We are all for commemorating Queen Elizabeth II, but we remain unsure if we should valorise her or her successor King Charles III as a 'Christian world emperor'. The danger is that one is approaching the sycophantic position of Eusebius of Caesarea who claimed that the emperor Constantine was hailed by angels and armies alike as 'master, lord, and king'.2 This christianisation of kingship is not far from those who claimed that US president Donald Trump was a 'new Cyrus'. Many admirers pushed the idea that Trump, despite his bawdy and tawdry behaviour, was a man whom God had anointed to make the USA great again just as God called the Persian king Cyrus to liberate the Judaean exiles in Babylon.3 We would naturally be happy to live under the administration of a wise and benevolent Christian leader. Of course, we are also happy to live under a Pharaoh who puts a clever and capable Joseph in charge, or vote for a Nebuchadnezzar who heeds the counsel of a wise man such as Daniel. Even Martin Luther said he'd rather be ruled by a wise Turk than a foolish Christian. Be that as it may, to contend that one needs a king or president, not only to protect institutions such as the Church, but actively to impose the Church's worship on others, is always going to prove ruinous to civil and religious liberties. Such a position would imply that God not only uses governments for justice and judgement, but also needs them as the political sword by which people, whether Christian or not, will be compelled to conform their lives to Christian standards. That is dangerous because to identify any leader as 'yhwh's anointed'4 or a new 'Cyrus'5 is to invest a perilous amount of religious capital in a single person. Such a person may prove to be all too human, all too given to corruption, full of depravity and easily seduced by the lust for power. After September 11, 2001, Tony Blair spoke about 'evil' being at large in the world and of his determination to deal with it – almost as though this was a new and unexpected problem – but that with his policies and leadership evil could be conquered. We know where that led. |
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The Church breaks down the classes, caste systems and ethnic divisions so that God's people are those from every tribe, tongue, ethnic group and nation. |
The Church breaks down the classes, caste systems and ethnic divisions so that God's people are those from every tribe, tongue, ethnic group and nation. |
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When such leaders are venerated with religious adulation, the result inevitably is that any critique of them, no matter how valid, is treated as either treason or blasphemy. The UK Parliament, no less than the US Senate, eagerly backed the dangerous and irrelevant call for a war against Iraq. The messianising of leaders to prop up an imagined 'Christian empire' can have dire consequences for social freedoms as well as proving injurious to the integrity of the Church's own witness when it allies itself too closely with an earthly power. Remember that the Scriptures have a special title for someone who claims to possess kingly and religious authority, who is both presidential and priestly: the word is 'Antichrist'. Such a person is against Christ by assuming Christ's own role, because Christ alone is both messianic King and the Great High Priest.6 Christian nationalism of the kind we have described is bad on every level imaginable. Christian nationalism does not lend itself to a tolerant society since it diminishes the rights of the people of other religions or no religion. - It leads to a superficial Christianity rather than to sincere faith and deep discipleship.
Political leaders end up pretending to be religious merely to win the favour of their constituents. Christianity is used to justify unchristian policies and actions related to wars, immigration, income inequality, healthcare and a myriad other issues. - Remember that even the devil can quote Scripture and try to rub it in the face of Jesus.
The other problem with Christian nationalism is which type of Christianity should be supreme. It is baffling that, in the USA, many Baptists are coming out as supporters of Christian nationalism. It is baffling to us because Baptists fled the religious sectarianism of the British Isles to go to America in the seventeenth century. The reason they fled was because Baptists, and other Nonconformists, were persecuted, discriminated against and cajoled in matters of religious conviction. They went to America so that they could practise their faith without government interference. As we all know, there are different Christian denominations, so which one should be supreme in a Christian nationalist state? Should it be Anglicans, who could then force everyone to baptise their babies, worship using only the Book of Common Prayer, demand adherence to the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion, sing hymns that equate the British Empire with 'Jerusalem' on earth, and petition Heaven with 'God Save the King'? But the same is true whether you put Methodists, Presbyterians, or Pentecostals in charge. They could impose their version of Christianity upon everyone else or grant special privileges to their version of Christianity. - Religious liberty thus protects Christians from other Christians.
Read more on our blog… |
1. John Milbank, Twitter, 9 September 2022: https://twitter.com/johnmilbank3/status/ 1568177131967991808 (accessed 11 September 2023); 2. Eusebius, Speech for Thirtieth Anniversary of Constantine's Accession 1, cited in From Irenaeus to Grotius: A sourcebook in Christian political thought, 100–1625, ed. Oliver O'Donovan and Joan Lockwood O'Donovan (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1999), p. 60; 3. Isaiah 45:1–13; 4. Cf. Psalm 2:2.; 5. Isaiah 45:1; 6. See especially Oliver O'Donovan, The Desire of the Nations: Rediscovering the roots of political theology (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996), pp. 203, 214–15 |
Excerpted with permission from Jesus and the Powers by N. T. Wright and Michael F. Bird, copyright The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. Text by Tom Wright and Michael F. Bird. * * * |
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In this important voting year, it's more important than ever to remember that we, the Church, are one Body. Christian nationalism isn't a unique phenomenon. Let's remember that as such we are not separated by class systems or ethnic divisions. We believers are from every tribe, tongue, ethnic group, and nation! Praise Jesus! ~ Devotionals Daily |
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An urgent call for Christians everywhere to explore the nature of the kingdom amid the political upheaval of our day |
Jesus and the Powers: Christian Political Witness in an Age of Totalitarian Terror and Dysfunctional Democracies |
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+ $5 off $25 & free gift with code TY5 |
+ $5 off $25 & free gift with code TY5 |
Should Christians be politically withdrawn, avoiding participation in politics to maintain their prophetic voice and to keep from being used as political pawns? Or should Christians be actively involved, seeking to utilize political systems to control the levers of power? In Jesus and the Powers, N. T. Wright and Michael F. Bird call Christians everywhere to discern the nature of Christian witness in fractured political environments. In an age of ascending autocracies, in a time of fear and fragmentation, amid carnage and crises, Jesus is king, and Jesus's kingdom remains the object of the church's witness and work. |
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Part political theology, part biblical overview, and part church history, this book argues that building for Jesus's kingdom requires confronting empire in all its forms. This approach should orient Christians toward a form of political engagement that contributes to free democratic societies and vigorously opposes political schemes based on autocracy and nationalism. Throughout, Wright and Bird reflect on the relevance of this kingdom-oriented approach to current events, including the Russian-Ukraine conflict, the China-Taiwan tension, political turmoil in the USA, UK, and Australia, and the problem of Christian nationalism. |
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More from Michael F. Bird
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