By Samuel Joseph Davies
“Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established”
Romans 13:1
Since the nation’s foundation, the Church and Congress have been institutional cousins in US identity shaping. Unlike the nations of yesteryear and their affections towards Petra’s Papal claim of Rome (Matthew 16:18-19) or the Anglican fluency of the Church of England, the US appears indebted to the theologically newborn Evangelical body of Christian worship – which when detached from Christocentric tradition, has followed a political path, crafting an All-American Frankenstein’s monster boasting the supposed authority of the Word while catering to the worldly desires of a political wing of the nation.
Claiming divine authority for the nation, it reimagines America as a new Israel, intertwining political agendas with faith. Scholarly defined as a political ideology that seeks to merge Christian and American identities, interpreting the US’s founding and destiny as intrinsically linked to specific Christian principles. Through this lens, the article aims to decipher a Biblical assessment, rooted in Scripture and historically agreed upon Church Tradition, of how “in Christ” is this form of nationalism that claims to represent Him.
An Unholy Merger
Attempting to transform Christianity and its values into ideology, the cause merges faith with partisan politics. This nationalism’s reorientation of Christianity toward achieving political ends tactically positions faith as a moral imperative and driving force behind political and cultural agendas. In this web of politicisation, faith and ideology become one. The Evangelical nationalist lauds political triumphs and spiritual victories as synonymous, viewing positive outcomes as divinely endorsed.
This binary of good and evil is removed from any Biblical basis, as the conditions of what nationalists deem positive or negative precede the spiritual notions of the Bible. In combining faith and ideology, an idol is made—a campaign where political identity supersedes the spiritual, alienation spreads, and political rivalries eclipses theological unity.
A misapplication of 2 Chronicles 7:14 underpins this theological error, a passage calling Israel to repentance, promising divine healing if the nation adheres. America’s self-insertion as Israel conflates national identity with Divine will. The verse, itself a reply to Solomon’s prayers for forgiveness, is a reminder of the God of Abraham and the promise of prosperity in devotion, warning against disobedience.
This loose attitude toward interpretation emphasises moral legislation over spiritual transformation, conflating the two – calling for a reminder that cultural change toward one’s approved politics does not equate to Gospel advancement. Something echoed in Christ’s delineation between the kingdom of heaven and earthly politics (John 18:36), commanding His followers in the Great Commission to look toward the next world, not earthly desires like political power.
Dangers in False Idolising
Two intertwined values are the elevation of political figures and the identity of the nation, epitomised in the ‘Christians for Trump’ movement and the rhetoric of the Iraq Invasion. Both fixate on the notion of the US as divinely chosen.
The US positions itself as a moral exemplar, justifying policies as part of God’s Divine plan. Political leaders benefit from this narrative, protected by a proposed association and approval, creating urgency around campaigns and elections as spiritual battles There is a definitive blurring of lines amounting to veneration, where the venerated become immune to criticism as they are framed as symbols of moral and spiritual renewal. As a result, Christ becomes a political weapon, His word made subordinate to agenda, waging “patriotism” over Biblical truth.
Such elevation places the US, or a figure, alongside Christ. In Christianity, Christ plus something amounts to nothing, for there is no other name that saves (Acts 4:12). Such veneration distorts the Gospel’s universality—Jesus saves the citizens of the world, not man’s constructed nations. Leaders and nations, the Bible declares, are accountable to God, yet this nationalism attempts to position the US as saviour and messenger.
True Faith Over Ideology
Christ in the Desert exposes this ideology’s discrepancies. Unlike the nationalist who strives for earthly power under a banner of religiosity, when tempted by Satan and promised “all the kingdoms of the world,” Christ rejects the proposition, answering, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only’” (Matthew 4:10). Christ teaches believers to centre themselves upon God, whereas the nationalist centres themselves on ideology.
Good is defined by agenda, by conflating selected Scripture and politics. In its “defence” of a supposed Christian heritage, this cause has othered demographics based on political compatibility. This is the heart of the matter: in American Christian nationalism, politics—unchecked by Scripture—drives rhetoric, with faith as a device for perceived superiority. The cause’s focus is earthly power and control, whereas Christ’s is salvation—personal and universal—for all who seek Him.
Bibliography
- Fea, J., Believe Me: The Evangelical Road to Donald Trump (Grand Rapids, MI, Eerdmans, 2018).
- Gorski, P. and Perry, S., The Flag and the Cross: White Christian Nationalism and the Threat to American Democracy (New York, Oxford University Press, 2022).
- Balmer, R., Bad Faith: Race and the Rise of the Religious Right (Grand Rapids, MI, Eerdmans, 2021).
- Du Mez, K. K., Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation (New York, Liveright, 2020).
- The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV).
Identity Hunters 