In their own words: what self-described Christian nationalists propose

On July 23, 2022, at Turning Point USA’s Student Action Summit in Florida, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia spoke with an interviewer from Next News Network. “We need to be the party of nationalism, and I’m a Christian and I say it proudly,” she said. “We should be Christian nationalists.” (PolitiFact)

That year, two books made the same case at length. Stephen Wolfe’s The Case for Christian Nationalism came out from Canon Press on November 1, 2022, at 488 pages. Andrew Torba, the founder of the social network Gab, and Andrew Isker published Christian Nationalism: A Biblical Guide for Taking Dominion and Discipling Nations (Gab AI Inc., 2022). (Journal of Dispensational Theology review listing)

A lot of people assume “Christian nationalist” is only an insult critics throw around. Some of the time it is. But a number of Americans use it for themselves, proudly. That’s a big part of why this site treats it as a real position with real content, and why our definitions page separates it from ordinary love of country. Before we say anything about the idea, it’s fair to let its advocates describe it.

What they say they want

Stephen Wolfe gave the shortest version of his thesis in a 2023 interview with Christ Over All: “Christian Nationalism is a nation that recognizes itself as a Christian people and then wants to act in light of that.” Such a people, he went on, will “arrange themselves through their laws and their customs” in light of their Christian self-understanding, to “secure their good, and that good is both earthly and heavenly.” (Christ Over All transcript)

Wolfe is candid about the hard parts. In the same interview he said that “one big controversial thing I try to argue is that it’s permissible in principle to execute arch-heretics,” which he described as “defending the old practice that everyone affirmed in the middle ages.” He added two qualifications in his own words: “that often can be counterproductive,” and “when I talk about the American context, I say that we don’t do that.” He described the book as “a general political theory; not every page is talking about my blueprint for America.”

He also makes a historical claim we’ve looked at on this site. Early Americans, he said, “absolutely thought of themselves as Christian people,” and were “a Christian nation if conceived before the federal government.” That last qualifier matters, and it lines up with what we found about colonial religious establishments versus the federal founding.

Andrew Torba and Andrew Isker pitch something more grassroots. As a sympathetic Townhall column summarized the book, its “primary goal is to build a parallel Christian society, economy, and infrastructure,” including buying from Christian businesses. In the columnist’s summary, Torba’s view of the label is simple: if you’re a Christian, you’re a Christian nationalist. (Townhall, September 12, 2022)

Doug Wilson, the Idaho pastor and author, frames it as a question about who sits above the state. In a 2024 interview with Tucker Carlson he said, “If there is no God above the society, if there is no God above the state, take God away, [then] the state is God.” And: “The Christian nationalist is the one who’s willing to answer that question [with] ‘the true God, the Living God.’” (Brackets are the reporter’s; ChurchLeaders.) His fuller program, a public acknowledgment of Christ grounded in the Apostles’ Creed, is quoted on our page about which Christianity would govern.

Notice what these advocates share. Each describes laws, customs and institutions, which is exactly where our definitions page draws the line between Christian nationalism and a warm feeling about the flag.

Evangelicals took them seriously

This debate has largely happened inside conservative Protestantism, and it’s been more serious than headlines suggest.

The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary devoted its Southern Baptist Journal of Theology (vol. 28, no. 2, 2024) to the question. In the editorial, Stephen Wellum wrote, “we wanted to devote an issue of SBJT to the debate surrounding Christian nationalism.” The issue interviewed Wolfe and Wilson alongside other evangelical voices, including Jonathan Leeman, Andrew T. Walker, Albert Mohler and Mark David Hall. (SBJT 28.2 contents; full issue PDF)

Kevin DeYoung reviewed Wolfe’s book for Themelios (vol. 48, no. 1). He started with sympathy, writing that he understands “the desire for something like Christian Nationalism,” and he called Wolfe’s use of early Protestant political thought “commendable.” His conclusion was still firm: “For all the fine retrieval work Wolfe does in parts of the book, the overall project must be rejected.” In his words, “if this book represents the best of that ism, then Christian Nationalism isn’t the answer the church or our nation needs.” (Themelios)

Paul D. Miller, a Georgetown professor whom Library Journal described as “a devout and conservative Christian,” made the case against in The Religion of American Greatness: What’s Wrong with Christian Nationalism (IVP Academic, 2022). His publisher sums up his challenge to fellow believers: to “relearn how to love our country without idolizing it.” (Library Journal)

Michael W. Austin argues in American Christian Nationalism: Neither American nor Christian (Eerdmans, 2024) that the movement is “contrary to American values and Christian virtues,” as the book’s description puts it.

Engaging the counterargument

The strongest objection comes from conservative scholars who think the label gets thrown around too much. Mark David Hall makes that case in Who’s Afraid of Christian Nationalism? (Fidelis Books, 2024). His publisher’s description grants that “American Christian nationalism exists and is problematic,” but says it does not “pose an existential threat to American democracy or the Christian church in the United States.” (Post Hill Press) As quoted in a review, he complains that “far too many quixotic journalists, activists, and academics have tilted at the windmill of Christian nationalism.” (Providence)

He has a point, and it’s one we try to honor. Calling a churchgoer a Christian nationalist for praying at a flagpole or loving the Fourth of July would be sloppy. The fairest way to avoid it is the one this post uses: find the people who claim the label, quote them accurately and respond to what they actually propose. Our standard for the label is the same in both directions. It applies to what someone advocates, not to how devout or patriotic they are.

Why this matters

If you’ve absorbed the idea that America is, or should be, a Christian nation, it’s worth knowing what the people who embrace the label mean by it: laws and customs arranged around one faith, and in Wolfe’s case a general theory that permits, in principle, executing “arch-heretics” (a step he says America shouldn’t take). Some readers will find that appealing. Many evangelicals, as the responses above show, do not. Either way, you’re entitled to see the proposal in its own words before deciding.

What to take from this

“Christian nationalist” is a label some Americans claim for themselves, including a sitting member of Congress in 2022 and the authors of two 2022 books.
Its advocates describe a political program: law, custom and public acknowledgment of Christianity. That’s more than patriotism plus faith.
Some of the most detailed criticism comes from conservative evangelicals, and some conservatives think critics overuse the label. Both deserve a hearing.

Sources

Stephen Wolfe, interview with David Schrock and Brad Green, Christ Over All, October 20, 2023. Transcript
Canon Press, The Case for Christian Nationalism product page
PolitiFact, “No, Marjorie Taylor Greene didn’t repeat Hitler quote,” December 8, 2022. Link
Rachel Alexander, Townhall, September 12, 2022. Link
Stephanie Martin, “Douglas Wilson to Tucker Carlson,” ChurchLeaders, April 16, 2024. Link
Southern Baptist Journal of Theology 28.2 (2024). Contents
Kevin DeYoung, “The Case for Christian Nationalism: A Review Article,” Themelios 48.1. Link