The Ancient Roots of a Modern Movement
In an age of shifting allegiances, we turned to Caleb Campbell, pastor and author of Disarming Leviathan, to ask: Is Christian Nationalism bigger and stronger today, or is this something new?
For a moment, it seemed like its grip was loosening. Many were disillusioned, fatigued by the conflation of political ideology with gospel centrality. Stories of deconstruction surfaced across the landscape, with people weary of faith being reduced to partisan identity.
Yet in recent years, Christian Nationalism appears to have resurged with fresh force and louder confidence. Is this a revival of an old phenomenon, or has something shifted in the cultural imagination? The question before us: how do we discern the difference between a fading ideology clawing for power and a new form of allegiance competing with the gospel itself?
His response:
What we now call “Christian Nationalism” is just the latest expression of an ancient idea: that the Kingdom of God can be advanced by means of the kingdoms of this world.
From Constantine’s conversion in the fourth century to Theodosius I making Christianity the Roman Empire’s official religion, from Charlemagne’s “holy wars” to Henry VIII’s nationalized church, Christians have often been tempted to reach for cultural and political dominance by force. Each era sanctified political control as divine vocation, mistaking proximity to worldly power for participation in God’s reign.
But the roots of this confusion run even deeper than Western history. They run straight through the Bible. The crowds who welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem shouted “Hosanna,” expecting Jesus to conquer Rome.
James and John angled for seats of influence at Jesus’ right and left hand.
And Peter, thinking he was defending God in the flesh, reached for his sword in the garden of Gethsemane.
Each of these scenes reveals the same misunderstanding that we see today: that God’s Kingdom comes by worldly power.
Jesus’ response to Peter is instructive for us today: “Put your sword away.” The way of the Kingdom is not coercion but cruciform love.
The American Christian Nationalist movement revives this old temptation. It places too much trust in the power of the sword, whether legislative, cultural, or political, to cultivate a “Christian people (nation).” But no political victory can form a people shaped by the cross. The Spirit of the living God does that work. The Kingdom of God doesn’t come by seizing power; it comes by surrendering to love.
