This Christian nation, existing within the boundaries of the United States, could will itself into existence (e.g., 176, 181). Wolfe is a committed Calvinist who earned a Ph.D. in political science. Why did Achord, who believes in the superiority of white people, see common cause with Wolfe, the author of a book defending Christian nationalism? The 500-Year-Old Case for Christian Nationalism - Providence By Stephen Wolfe. The tale of our two books has a strange coda, one that unfolded like a parable illustrating the dangers I warned against. 41 Categories. So granting we ignore the practical problems involved in willing a Christian nation into existence and assume that one somehow manifests itself, what would it look like? Instead, I am interested in engagingrather than strictly reviewingthis book from within the free-church tradition. [1] This should not be construed to mean that threats to public order, public health, and public safety are permitted under a rubric of religious liberty. Categories Adventures in Church History, Christianity and the West, civil religion, Novus Ordo Seclorum, spirituality of the church Tags Anabaptists, apostle Paul, Corinthians, John Calvin, Philadelphia nativist riots, Stephen Wolfe, two kingdoms theology Piling On Show this thread. Perry expanded . However, if scholarly recovery alone were the aim of the book, it is doubtful that Wolfe would have written it, Canon would have published it, or American Protestants would buy it. You might be an Antinomian, if. Wolfe had earlier used a phenomenological approach to demonstrate the lived experience of ethnicity and nationhood. Wolfes theology of civil war is wrong on the meritsand deeply irresponsible in our polarized times. Wolfe does not say how it was lost, he simply leaves the large gap of history between then and now unattended. Wolfe admits toward the beginning hes not a theologian. But even if we were to grant that government can promote religion, Wolfe fails yet again to make an exegetical case as to what promotion entails, let alone that it justifies the exhaustive program that he later argues for. He occasionally hints that he is aware that later Reformed theologians do not take the same positions as himself (44, 425n53), but ignores entirely such significant Reformed theologians as Schleiermacher, Barth, and Torrance. 2. I know this review has been strongly negative, all things considered. Christian nationalism was, they argued, a divisive creed; its adherents were more likely than other groups to believe "that Muslims and Atheists hold morally inferior values.". Wolfes understanding of Reformed theology permits him to reason from nature to some conclusions, but it is fair to say that his project will be of interest to only Calvinists. Stephen Wolfes The Case for Christian Nationalism (Canon Press, 2022) caught the cultural moment. For Christian Nationalism to work, it must be biblically authorized in such a way that its principles can be consistently upheld without exceptions. (Wolfe, to his credit, recognizes that at least one community of Christians fits poorly with his Christian nationalist vision: Baptists. Its rational. I prefer Caesarism in our time. Such claims vindicate my warning that nationalism has authoritarian tendencies. Hes not arguing for the bad kind of nationalism, he assures us, so he has no responsibility to denounce it or even notice it. So, of course, combative Christians including Marjorie Taylor Greene, Douglas Wilson, and Andrew Torba decided to embrace the label in 2022. I emphasized the will throughout this book, he says, because we have to retrain the mind by the strength of will. Elsewhere Wolfe asserts that we must overcome ourselves. Its an odd phrase; biblically, a better concept would be self-control, which is a fruit of the Spirit, not of our own (sinful) will. He observes that there is at least one Christian nation in America (399). Stephen Wolfe The Case for Christian Nationalism p. 186 1.) 2.) The Case for Christian Nationalism - The Gospel Coalition Wolfes phenomenological method seems to be little more than a license for projecting his own sentiments onto humanity as a whole and thus cloaking them with the authority of what is natural. But nature, including human nature, is broader and more multifaceted than Wolfe imagines. The implied premise here, which does not tell the whole story, undermines much of the force of Wolfes overall argument. Moral vs. Immoral Resistance Part I: Martin Luther King, Jr. and Non-Violent Direct Action, Potemkin Pillages: Putin As Cultural Grave-Robber, The 500-Year-Old Case for Christian Nationalism, The Chaplaincy: a Public Role of Christianity in the United States, Symbols and Shadows of the Political Order. But Wolfe offers Christian nationalism as the answer, entailing a pursuit of higher life that requires real will, effort, and sacrifice. and personal eminence in relation to the people (279). Moreover, he explains that. Nationalism pretends we can embrace the organic simplicity of tribal life without worrying about its dark side. Stephen Wolfe | Culture, politics, and religion for those who love words. Formerly Nyack College, the school was in bad financial shape for several years. The failure to deploy basic categories of biblical theology or to show awareness of a redemptive-historical analysis is one of the major shortcomings of the book. Dr. Stephen Wolfe The Case for Christian Nationalism - p. 269 1.) If the theological case is thin, the historical facts bode even worse for making Christian Nationalism appealing. But, again, the most that Wolfe does is make inferences from an unfallen Adam to the role of government today. Either pure Christian Nationalism has never occurred or else its arrangement, like every other form of government, is subject to the frailties and ferocities of fallen human nature. The resurrection of Christendom is not the point of Christianity. But Wolfe stops here, citing the fact that man cannot be close in heart (65) with everyone in the world. I am happy to recommend, for example, Kevin DeYoung, Neil Shenvi, Peter Leithart, and Wyatt Grahams reviews. So far, so obvious. Wolfe is not wrong about the double standard. It is not a coincidence that no single iteration of a government-established church has proffered long-term success to the nations moral ecology or the churchs commitment to orthodoxy. A Review of Stephen Wolfe's The Case for Christian Nationalism BY KEVIN DEYOUNG. Recall that Wolfe spent the scholarly portion of his book calling for theocratic Caesarism helmed by a great-souled, world-shaking prince who is a sort of national god; musing on the importance of blood and land; affirming our tribal instinct to stick close to similar people; calling for state control of churches and the banishment of heretics; exhorting us to show strength of will; yearning for the totality of national action; dismissing liberal democracy as worse than its alternatives; and justifying violent revolution against the godless regime. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Institute on Religion and Democracy1023 15th Street NW, Suite 200Washington, DC 20005. All who contend for any unique law order project are offering a universalist alternative. The contemporary effort to formulate an alternative political vision to liberal democracy has been underway for some time now. Our books do not cite. Interrogating Dr. Stephen Wolfe & His Book, "The Case For Christian Second, mankind is limited in how much he can know (63). This is an intensely personal book for Wolfe, animated primarily by love of his family (478). Through all the syllogisms and Thomistic argumentation, Wolfes recapitulation of Magisterial Protestantism ends with a nation that has never existed in ur-form. Unless one assumes the truth of Reformed theology, there is little reason to read this work. His book's first nine chapters contain a detailed discussion of Reformed political philosophy, mostly based on 16 th and 17 th century authors (17). Let me summarize a few axioms that are worth stating on what The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 Article XVII teaches concerning church and state: On all of the above, The Case for Christian Nationalism draws the opposite conclusion: Perhaps Wolfe would insist that Im being inaccurate, but when worked out to their logical conclusion, I dont see how the principles within his volume are not a total repudiation of Article XVII of the Baptist Faith and Message. He calls for a measured and theocratic Caesarism, overseen by a prince as a world-shaker for our time, who brings a Christian people to self-consciousness, a man of dignity and greatness of soul. In a footnote he frankly states that modern democracy is often more oppressive than its alternatives. Within these teams, the man governs the household, orienting it to the divine mission he received from God, which he is responsible to see fulfilled (58). Nevertheless, he outright admits that he cannot conceive of a renewal of Christian commonwealths without such a Caesar-like figure (278-9). The Case for Christian Nationalism: Wolfe, Stephen: 9781957905334 There is a proximal degree of enforceability through voluntary and conscientious cooperation that allows for self-sustaining institutions to remain Christian. When the body politic is baptized, all are people of God, which furthers the goal of Christianizing the state and society. Stephen Wolfe | Monergism Research Scientist. Towards these ends, Wolfes strategy is a ressourcement of Reformed scholasticism. On the other hand, Wolfe did promote Achords book about the virtues of segregation. Looking at the historical record, one could not envision a program so inimically apt to undermine the gospel as Christian Nationalism has wrought. Sedition aside, his epilogue isnt wholly without insight. I wondered why Wolfe and his interlocutors seemed so taken with my treatment of race, a relatively small part of my book. As a Baptist, all I can say is that Wolfe has inadvertently made a strong argument for the merits of Baptist political theology.). Wolfe wants his work to be seen as an organic outgrowth of a long tradition of continuous Christian political thinking. The third chapter, Loving Your Nation, is particularly strong due to Wolfes effusive and endearing love of his own (478), which shines brilliantly throughout. 114, The Sorry State of Evangelical Political Theology, Dr. James R. White: Faithfulness in a Secular Age. In particular his contention that what Christian nationalism needs is a Christian Prince to mediate the national will for itself (278). I know this might sound audacious, but to speak as a Baptist, on matters of marrying church and state, John Calvin was wrong. Rather than wade into this debate, Ill focus on some of Wolfes more practical conclusions that may be of interest to readers concerned about American Christian nationalism. And how would war be the last resort (a standard criterion in the just war tradition)? One should also consider how a government comprised of non-Christians (unless, that is, Christians are the only ones eligible for office, which raises a number of practical questions) can discipline itself when it errs doctrinally or morally. Having power and using theology to justify it is a dangerous cocktail. What is most interesting is that there seems to be no *practical* difference between the 2k camps." This weakness hampers his more theoretical chapters as well. Web Page by Stephen Wolfe. Canaanland Christian Store He studied classics and theology at Marquette University in Milwaukee. As I explore at length in my book, cultural borders are fuzzy, overlapping, and changing, which makes them a poor fit for clear, hard, permanent political boundaries. It is easy for Wolfe to disavow the connection, but why did Achord believe the connection was there? Amiruddin berkata, rumah berkenaan yang bercirikan gabungan seni bina unik dan moden, mempunyai tiga bilik tidur, dua bilik air serta dua parkir . Its one thing to say something is Christian. Its another thing to hold that label in faithful perpetuity. Wolfe and his conversation partners seemed to miss the point. He argues that the founders legitimately developed Protestant theological principles in shaping the nation (431). Intuitively disagree with the premise, and the rest of the argument may seem to imply that diversity is always bad, and from there it is a short step to (lazy) accusations of racism. He points to what the world must have been like in Genesis 1 and 2 had they continued without the fall. I give these examples to highlight the precarious and ultimately unconvincing nature of Wolfes argumentation in his Case for Christian Nationalism. If the prince can decide whose theological school to fund, how to define heresy, and which theological judgments to endorse, whatever vestigial independence the church has is strictly pro forma. If such avenues exist, how is this tyranny? Web Page by Stephen Wolfe. Doug Wilson and Stephen Wolfe discuss Wolfe's new book "The Case for Christian Nationalism" and how the idea of Christian Nationalism compares and contrasts . As part of our community, you will receive content & communication from 9Marks. Near the beginning of Jake Meadors new book, he speaks, David French and Nancy French recently published pieces questioning the, The prevailing ideology of Western societymodern liberalismis incommensurable with evangelical, The latest outrage to rock social mediaand hence our mindshardly, Its a pleasant surprise to see some of the authors, Michael Horton, a professor at Westminster Seminary California, wrote an, As the love of nation is losing its favor in, Reacting to the unprecedented degree of rancor and acrimony in, Moral witness has become an important term in the evangelical, An Unhelpful Review of What are Christians For? by Jake Meador. However, much of the constructive literature thus far has been produced by Roman Catholics, [1] with little comparable work being done by Protestants. But not all Calvinists agree; several have already taken him to task for misunderstanding the tradition with respect to these important doctrines. Editors note: This review was submitted based on the contents of the book alone, and is not intended to address any outside controversy. Whether thats a Lutheran Church or a Presbyterian Church, Im not sure. Its far from clear to me that duty or promote are in themselves clear according to the Bible to the degree that Wolfe assumes them to be. Or to something even worse. Indeed, Wolfe's own plea for Natural law likewise offers a universalist alternative. They have now been joined by a provocative scholar who purports to make the case for Christian nationalism. Wolfe is neither exaggerating for shock value nor writing ironically to demonstrate absurdity. To take an example from my friend Joe Rigneys piece here at 9Marks, the distinction between a Christian radio station and a Christian state is that it poses no practical problem for a self-selecting entity such as a radio station to hold itself and its members to a particular religious confessionespecially if it is an auxiliary association tied to an ecclesial body. Book Review: The Case for Christian Nationalism, by Stephen Wolfe In a chapter on the right of revolution, Wolfe concludes that we are living under tyranny and that violent revolution against the United States government is morally permissible, because the universalizing and totalizing non-Christian regime attacks true religion. Wolfes argument is refreshingly clear, honest, and forthright about the foundations and implications of nationalism. There are. Baptists, on the other hand, insist upon Christian as meaning that which is regenerate or authorized to carry out a mission that includes regeneration. Why do white nationalists believe that Christian nationalists are their allies? 3411 Tags. This sentence demonstrates that the Natural Law types do not comprehend the noetic effect of the fall upon reason. Such a political order is vastly different than Americas current political arrangements, a reality recognized by Wolfe. He denies this in a footnote, but it is unclear how one avoids the conclusion that white people should advocate for themselves, including through legal power, given passages like this: Blood relations remain relevant to nations, when referring to ones ancestral connection to a people and place back to time immemorial. This leads to another of the underlying and often unstated difficulties of the book: the lack of history. But Wolfe refuses to discuss that history. If the social scientists wish to critique my book, they must step out of social science, suspend their belief in social dogma, and enter rational inquiry.. Further, there is also today an institutionalized separation of powers (278) that was a later development. There is no absolute right to religious liberty and restrictions should be justly determined by legitimate public authorities. The second was my own, The Religion of American Greatness: Whats Wrong with Christian Nationalism. Wolfe defends Christian culture by contrasting it to contemporary culture. Stephen Wolfe What Is a Covenant? - Ligonier Ministries Rather, he seeks to galvanize the will of his readers: The problem, he says, is not simply the absence of arguments but the lack of will for our political objectives (5). But The Case for Christian Nationalism trades the beatific vision for Bible verses at the DMV. And my example of changing culture was learning to speak a new language or converting to a different religion, neither of which is quick or easy. Can David and Nancy French Ever Vote Again? As he writes, Baptizing infants brings them outwardly (at least) into the people of God. That is a fair expectation and the reason why Ive only mentioned Achord after assessing Wolfes book itself. Stephen Wolfe Jan 16 22 Within two months of its release, every major evangelical outlet published a review of my book The Case for Christian Nationalism. Again, Wolfe explicitly denies that he is arguing for white nationalismbut if you write the recipe, denouncing the cake rings hollow. As I can attest, that is certainly true. One suspects the Uyghurs of China, the women of Afghanistan, and the besieged citizens of Ukraine may differ with Wolfe on the relative merits of democracy compared to its alternatives. Stephen Wolfe's The Case for Christian Nationalism presents a paradox for any reviewer, defying the genre boundaries that usually quarantine works of academic history or theory from the hurly-burly of popular politics. At points, Wolfe brands his work a product of early-modern Reformed thinking, yet he appeals often to the authority of the Christian tradition, as if it were a singular thing. There should be no ambiguity when it comes to racism. In Wolfes imagined utopia, the church is wedded to the state in perfect bliss. Stephen Wolfe is a PhD candidate in political theory at Louisiana State University. You and your people are entitled by nature to a right of difference. And if we should advocate for our groups, we should try to use the government to protect them. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Dr. Stephen Wolfe. I use the terms ethnicity and nation almost synonymously, though I use the former to emphasize the particular features that distinguish one people-group from another. Intuitively agree, and the arguments become inspiring; they draw up something deeply felt into a grander vision. Clearly, Wolfe is advocating for two distinct laws. 1143 comments. This notion, however, ignores massively the fall and the calling of government within a fallen era, as detailed in the Noahic Covenant in Genesis 9. . The Sorry State of Evangelical Rhetoric - Sovereign Nations Books have been written disparaging learned theologians and pastors for taking the wrong position. His books first nine chapters contain a detailed discussion of Reformed political philosophy, mostly based on 16th and 17th century authors (17). History, it seems, is relevant after all. This means different communities will develop their own cultures since none could develop a universally functioning form of civilization.

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