Isbell On The Types Of Christian Nationalists

There are at least three types of Christian Nationalists: the highbrow Wolfeans (HW), the folk evangelicals (FE) who have always spoken vaguely of “takin’ this country back,” and the barely Christian, mostly charismatic/megachurch dominionist-NARcrowd (I’ll call them CMDs). The self-consciously protestant HW . . . Continue reading →

POPLL: An Alternative To Christian Nationalism (And Theonomy, Christian Reconstruction, Theocracy, And Christendom) (Pt 10)

How Lawsuits Work I am not a lawyer nor am I practicing law in this space. What follows should not be construed as legal advice but broadly there are two kinds of court cases: civil and criminal. The latter are tried by . . . Continue reading →

POPLL: An Alternative To Christian Nationalism (And Theonomy, Christian Reconstruction, Theocracy, And Christendom) (Pt 9)

So far in this series we have considered four ways that Christians can engage secular politics in our time, between the ascension and return of Christ: Prayer, Organize, Persuade, Legislate, and Litigate. Certainly the first point, prayer, cannot be controversial, since Scripture . . . Continue reading →

The Limits Of Patriotism

In my first church out of seminary, I preached a sermon in which I mentioned specific atrocities of the 20th century as illustrations of human sinfulness. After the service a man came up to me livid that I had singled out Nazi . . . Continue reading →

Review: Empowered Witness: Politics, Culture, And The Spiritual Mission Of The Church By Alan D. Strange (Part 2)

We pick up again with Alan Strange’s treatment of Hodge in Empowered Witness. There are some questions raised by this work that bear consideration in a review. A reader who is not already in sympathy with the essential argument or who perhaps . . . Continue reading →

Review: Empowered Witness: Politics, Culture, And the Spiritual Mission Of The Church By Alan D. Strange (Part 1)

The debate last year over the overture by Evangel Presbytery to the General Assembly (GA) of the Presbyterian Church in America (overture 12), which was adopted by GA, presented acutely the question of the spirituality of the church. Overture 12 asked GA . . . Continue reading →

POPLL: An Alternative To Christian Nationalism (And Theonomy, Christian Reconstruction, Theocracy, And Christendom) (Pt 8)

The fourth of our five points of Christian citizenship is Legislate. Last time we considered briefly what it means to legislate, i.e., to draft and pass a law, but how does it happen? How does one become a legislator and how does . . . Continue reading →

A Tale Of Two Kingdoms

Ranging from William Parry’s “Jerusalem” (popularized in the hit film Chariots of Fire) to the Social Gospel to Belinda Carlisle’s “Heaven Is a Place on Earth”, modern history has witnessed a struggle to define the proper expression of the kingdom of God “on . . . Continue reading →

POPLL: An Alternative To Christian Nationalism (And Theonomy, Christian Reconstruction, Theocracy, And Christendom) (Pt 7)

One of the great errors of the American Christian Nationalists is that they have given up on the American project before they have actually attempted the act of citizenship. They complain endlessly and about the so-called  “post-World War II consensus,” which they . . . Continue reading →

Eric Metaxas Is Wrong

Not everything that Christians do belongs to the visible, institutional church. Christians are free to organize in a variety of ways to accomplish social ends but Christ, the Lord of the Church, has given the visible, institutional church a very specific mandate and becoming a political action committee is not part of the church’s portfolio. Continue reading →