Donald Trump holding Bible at St. John’s Church. Public domain.
Thanks for reading. I’m a pastor and I love Jesus, the good news of his kingdom, and the truth of the Bible. I’m pro-life in my value system and biblically/theologically believe sex is only meant for marriage between a man and a woman. These things don’t directly relate to this article, but I’d like to lay these cards on the table in an attempt to gain a listening ear in a society that is fraught with echo chambers and political polarization. I do not endorse the Democrat or Republican parties, but I do vote and encourage all to vote and to allow their faith beliefs about Jesus and the Bible to guide the way they vote, advocate for policy changes, keep both political parties accountable (especially the one you voted for), and get involved with local activism, helping and connecting with the lives of actual human beings you live near. Ok, here we go!
What is Christian Nationalism?
Some, like U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R‑GA‑14), are overtly Christian Nationalist and proud of the label, openly recruiting others to the cause. In an interview with Next News Network at a Turning Point USA Student Action Summit held in Tampa, Florida on July 23, 2022, Greene said:
We need to be the party of nationalism. And I’m a Christian, and I say it proudly. We should be Christian nationalists.
The Public Religion Research Institute–a non-partisan research group that studies the religious world, recently found that more than half of Republicans believe the country should be a strictly Christian nation, either adhering to the ideals of Christian nationalism (21%) or sympathizing with those views (33%). (My note: Not all Republicans are CN or sympathize with it.46% is a significant number.)
While some openly embrace the term, Christian Nationalism has become somewhat of a bogeyman word for many on the right and the left. It can be used as an attack and accusation (by the left) where it doesn’t actually fit (i.e. when someone holds any view contrary to the Democratic party). It can also be lived out (by those on the right) without knowledge of or adherence to the label itself.
To measure Christian Nationalism, the PRRI asked their survey respondents whether they completely agree, mostly agree, mostly disagree, or completely disagree with each of the following statements:
The U.S. government should declare America a Christian nation.
U.S. laws should be based on Christian values.
If the U.S. moves away from our Christian foundations, we will not have a country anymore.
Being Christian is an important part of being truly American.
God has called Christians to exercise dominion over all areas of American society.
These five markers can be helpful in having a working definition of Christian Nationalism within the current American context.
Christian Nationalism Close to Home
Many would adhere to these bullet points, but resist the label “Christian Nationalist.” I’ve seen this play out with the new president of my alma mater Cornerstone University, Dr. Gerson Moreno-Riaño. Moreno-Riaño writes for right-leaning news outlets (example one, example two), espousing the tenants of the Christian Nationalist movement that he was hired by Cornerstone’s board to realign the school with. Moreno-Riaño purged the school of diversity programs and staff (~150 faculty and staff have left or been removed since his 2021 inception, more on that here), while he has saturated the campus and chapel with celebrity Christian Republicans like Eric Metaxas, Betsy DeVos, Tudor Dixon, and J.D. Vance, among repeated chapel events that overtly and exclusively promote Republican policies and values, espousing them as Christian discipleship. He forced faculty to sign loyalty oaths, where they’d lose their jobs if they didn’t conform to Moreno-Riaño’s views and obey his censorship decree of topics and phrases that were no longer allowed on campus. The CU board has continued to endorse and promote all of the actions by the new president (ignoring a letter sent by concerned alumni pastors such as myself), as they have made the strategic choice to plant their flag in this up-and-coming Christian Nationalism movement. Whether they decide to use the term or not, they are living out its principles and have traded in their identity and theology, departing from the Bible & Christ-centered institution I once knew and loved (CU 2004, Grand Rapids Theological Seminary 2009).
The Jesus Problems within Christian Nationalism
I see Christian Nationalism as anytime anyone merges a political party or ideology with the gospel of Jesus and truth of Scripture, whether it be Constantine, Nazi Germany, South Africa during Apartheid, or American Christian Nationalism (whether now or during our early centuries of native genocide, chattel slavery, and unequal rights and laws for blacks vs. whites). I write about why this merger is so harmful and incongruent with the gospel here , where I also discuss how this same warning is true for those who attempt to merge Jesus with the Democrat Party.
1. When we attach Jesus to our political party, it always lessens the impact of the gospel.
2. No matter how many of your political party’s policies you think match Jesus, many don’t.
3. All of the personal / moral baggage of your political leaders gets connected to Jesus.
4.Jesus gets attached to the worldly way of power when we attach him to our political party, something he taught explicitly against.
5.Jesus had a different way of being in the world.
6.When you attach Jesus to your political party, you can’t talk about the whole Bible.
A New Type of Universalism
At the same 2022 Turning Point USA event where Marjorie Taylor Greene is quoted above (this was during Joe Biden’s presidential term), current President Donald Trump said:
“We are Americans and Americans kneel to God, and God alone.”
Around Easter 2024, Trump famously promoted the “God Bless the U.S.A. Bible,” including copies that he signed, which sell for $1000. The website selling the Bible states that it is “the only Bible endorsed by” Trump, and that his “name, likeness and image” are being used under a paid license from his organization, CIC Ventures LLC. The “God Bless the U.S.A. Bible” includes the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution (before amendments), the Bill of Rights, the Pledge of Allegiance, and the lyrics to Lee Greenwood’s song “God Bless the U.S.A.” in it, along with an American flag draped across the cover.
During his 2024 presidential campaign on July 26, 2024, speaking at the “Believers Summit” hosted by Turning Point Action in West Palm Beach, Florida, Trump said:
You won’t have to vote anymore my beautiful Christians. I love you Christians and I’m a Christian. I love you, you got to get out and vote.”
A year after his push to sell signed $1000 “God Bless the U.S.A. Bibles,” professing Jesus-follower President Trump, who kneels to God alone, made the following social media post on Easter Sunday 2025 on his Truth Social account. This post is verified as authentic and is still posted to his account as of the publishing of this article:
A critical problem with Christian Nationalism is that it arbitrarily picks which parts of being a Christian should be rallied behind, while ignoring, disobeying, and/or contradicting many others. This is not just in regards to the moral behavior of its leaders, but in the very policies themselves.
Christian Nationalism becomes universalistic in the way it defines what being a Christian even is, or what it actually means to kneel to God alone. When Greene and Trump say “I’m a Christian” and Trump says “kneel to God alone,” how are these powerful phrases being used? What do they mean to the one using them vs. what God says they mean? If we believe anyone can use these phrases, without believing and living out the tenants of the good news of Jesus, then we have replaced the gospel with a form of universalism. I don’t know Trump or Greene personally and haven’t heard their Christian conversion testimonies of repentance and life-change or belief statements. But I know Jesus goes out of his way time and time again to warn us that you can tell a true Christian by the Christ-fruit in their lives. I praise God that He is the ultimate judge of someone’s eternal destiny and genuineness of faith profession, but we also can’t ignore Jesus on this subject as it pertains to our role in being discerning of who is and isn’t a Christian versus who is just putting on a show for ulterior motives. This is especially true for pastors, whose job as shepherd is to protect our flocks from false teachers and wolves-in-sheep-clothing who come to deceive Christians away from the biblical Way of Jesus. Here is Jesus on the matter:
15 Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. Matthew 7:15-20
15 “If you love me, keep [obey] my commands…23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me. John 14:15, 23-24
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ Matthew 7:21-23
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ 44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ 45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ 46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” Matthew 25:41-46
The implications of Jesus’ teachings can’t be ignored: Christians follow Jesus’ teachings. When we see the PRRI survey including phrases like “Christian nation,” “Christian values,” “Christian foundations,” and “Christians”, whose definitions are we using: Christ’s or Greene and Trump’s?
Bible-believing Christians must sound the alarm when the very definition of biblical Christianity, the gospel, and what it means to be a Christian are being redefined before our eyes, with many of our beloved brothers and sisters-in-Christ swallowing it whole. I believe this is Satan, the Father of Lies, displaying his master class expertise at deception (which Matthew 24:24 tells us is going to happen, so we shouldn’t pretend like it can’t or won’t).
Next in this blog series, I’m going to dig into the Mosaic/Sinai (Old) Covenant of the Bible and compare it to Jesus’ New Covenant to examine God’s relationship to earthly governments and nations. The Scriptures are fascinating. You can subscribe to these blog categories below if you’d like to follow along:
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