[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. A better political theology understands that all regimes are imperfect and fallen and works backward from that reality. What is most interesting is that there seems to be no *practical* difference between the 2k camps." 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. Wolfes approach to his sources is key to his agenda. They also neglected my argument that nationalism is illiberal. But for Wolfe, the Fall is no more than a speed bump on his way to sacralizing tribalism with little consideration for the boundaries necessary to keep it good. But I am interested in tracing the books argument from the perspective of a confessional Baptist. His books first nine chapters contain a detailed discussion of Reformed political philosophy, mostly based on 16th and 17th century authors (17). Despite the unconvincing character of the case itself, this book demands serious reading because Wolfe has made it the theme of his life. He argues energetically because he truly intends to live it, and this alone is enough to make this book a required read. This is an intensely personal book for Wolfe, animated primarily by love of his family (478). 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). Im not sure whether Baptists are a long-term threat to public order in this Christian nation. Maybe we will be imprisoned or horse-whipped for challenging the Christian Princes particular iteration of Christianity. And so we should ask about race and Christian nationalism. He assumes (16) the Reformed tradition and rigorously builds his argument from a few givens from that theology. Cookies enable you to enjoy features such as social sharing. Christian philosopher Johann Herder was correct in saying that the volk is a family writ large. This is an apt description not because everyone is a cousin by blood but because ones kin lived here with the extended families of others for generations, leaving behind a trace of themselves and their cooperation and their great works and sacrifices. 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. 7:16). Web Page by Stephen Wolfe. In my book, I argued that the cultural particularity of white American evangelicalism comes with certain epistemic blinders that can obscure the realities of intergenerational racial inequality, which can make white evangelicals passively complicit in its perpetuation. The Case for Christian Nationalism - The Gospel Coalition In practice and in history, then, Christian nationalism seems to go together with white supremacy. Stephen Wolfe is a PhD candidate in political theory at Louisiana State University. As a matter of pure argumentation, its not hard to make logical syllogisms. Instead, I am interested in engagingrather than strictly reviewingthis book from within the free-church tradition. For Christian Nationalism to work, it must be biblically authorized in such a way that its principles can be consistently upheld without exceptions. But that doesnt mean such loyalties are reliably good. Stuart Klenk is an independent researcher living in Minneapolis. Dr. Stephen Wolfe | Directory of scientists and professionals If ethnic . Christian Nationalism vs. Mere Christendom? | Doug Wilson & Stephen Wolfe Moreover, Christian readers should be aware that there is a particular kind of covenantal theology lying behind this book to which many evangelicals - notably including the southern Baptist theological seminary - do not affirm . Moral vs. Immoral Resistance Part I: Martin Luther King, Jr. and Non-Violent Direct Action, Two Corinthians Religious Populism in the West, Brad Birzers Christian Humanism for the Modern World. Bukit Raja ( Jawi: ; Chinese: ) can be referred a mukim in Petaling District, Selangor, Malaysia, that contains several areas in northern Shah Alam which are western part of Section 7 of Shah Alam, Setia Alam (U13), Denai Alam, Bukit Subang, Alam Budiman, Puncak Perdana, Bukit Bandaraya (U11) and National Botanic . 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). How Christian Is Christian Nationalism? | The New Yorker The lived reality of cultural Christianity is not one of warm hearts joyfully performing Christian duties, but a Christian version of political correctness: a legalistic religion enforced by social pressure and group conformity. He gives little attention to differentiating the church from the state to the end that government and church reinforce one another through direct actionwith potentially bloody outcomeswhere one serves the other. Wolfe seems to think that the world of Genesis 1-2 is the world that contemporary governments are called to resurrect. Contributor Stephen Wolfe. More information is available on our Privacy Policy. Sustaining such a world, of course requires more than the church; it requires a Christian culture and a Christian prince. Wolfes argument here relies on his readers intuitive assent to this implied premise. 2023 The Institute on Religion and Democracy. As I can attest, that is certainly true. This is nonsense, of course; Wolfe does not get to set parameters on how his critics are allowed to disagree with him. 2023 The Institute on Religion and Democracy. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. 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. Our books do not cite. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. 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. Classical Reformed Theonomy. and personal eminence in relation to the people (279). Providence does not impute ideas to any author based solely on the alleged comments of his or her colleague. Rumah mampu milik berkeluasan 1,000 kaki persegi yang dijenamakan sebagai Rumah Selangorku Idaman PKNS, dijual pada harga RM232,000 seunit. Notably, arch heretics may be put to death, although banishment or long term imprisonment may suffice as well (391). They are wrong because I think the Magisterial Protestant tradition absorbed a theo-political imagination more allied with their cultural setting than with Scripture. The Case for Christian Nationalism p. 245. As it happens, before writing a book on Christian nationalism, I wrote one on just war theory and paid special attention to the right of revolution. I first encountered Stephen Wolfe, through his writing, when I was doing my doctoral work. Why is it that a Jewish nation is the immanentized eschaton of the Jewish demon god but a Christian nation isn't a immanentization of the eschaton of the one true God? On that front, while a Baptist might appreciate elements of the books reflections on nationhood and the importance of Christian culture, a Baptist who knows their confession is going to bristle at Christian and Nationalism being conjoined together under one idea. Rightly construed, authorization makes enforcement possible. If such avenues exist, how is this tyranny? There should be no ambiguity when it comes to racism. He observes that there is at least one Christian nation in America (399). Set Apart for God | Ligonier Ministries Wolfe and I agree that nationalism is illiberal; we only disagree on whether that is a good thing or a bad thing. Our work is possible by the generosity of our readers. Mark David Hall December 7, 2022 December 7, 2022. . Wolfe (or one of his podcast interlocutorsits hard to distinguish voices amid some of the cross-talk on the recording) noted that I am really uncomfortable with the fact that some people might be treated as a second-class citizen in a nationalist regime. In Wolfes imagined utopia, the church is wedded to the state in perfect bliss. . He insists that his is not a nostalgia project, not an attempt to return to the 1780s (431), but it certainly seems like an attempt to bring the 1780s to today. In the global 21st century, as nations grow more interdependent, there is a need for both difference and particular similarity on the international level as well, calling into question the entire arc of nationalism, Christian or otherwise. In this episode of The King's Hall, we sit down with Dr. Stephen Wolfe to talk about Christian Nationalism. So far, so obvious. Stephen Wolfe is a postdoctoral fellow in the James Madison Program at Princeton University. 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. Christian Nationalism is an arrangement where everything is Christian except the actual people, and where the abuses of the status quo are baptized with the churchs imprimatur. Classical Reformed Theonomy - The London Lyceum "A few years ago, two kingdom theology advocates fought over the nature of the two kingdoms. His lack of exegesis doesnt help to convince me that Genesis 1 and 2, rather than Genesis 8 and 9, are the conditions that set the stage for the governments calling. If you accept his logic, Wolfes book will seem very convincing. . But the potential conflict only arises when the differing ends concern a particular similarity. The tale of our two books has a strange coda, one that unfolded like a parable illustrating the dangers I warned against. On the other hand, Wolfe also criticized (on the podcast) the double standard inherent in left-wing identity politics: Everyone else gets to celebrate their identity except white people, who are denied an ethnic identifier despite being saddled with responsibility for historic oppression committed by whites. Book Review: The Case for Christian Nationalism, by Stephen Wolfe All rights reserved. And this is to say nothing of the imagined pipedream that Christian Nationalism is in our contextAmerica is not returning to a small, homogeneous monoculture. Stephen Wolfe 's Tweets. 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.". 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. Dr. Stephen Wolfe - Kepler Education Will They? Why, for example, can government not promote true religion by clearing the ground for citizens to seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him (Acts 17:27)? 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. The implied and undefended premise here is that diversity or difference automatically introduces the potential for conflict. The local church has the authorization and enforcement mechanism to hold its people accountable to the Christian faith (Matt. . I am grateful for the attention, but was I disappointed that, when he and his three conversation partners raised this portion of my argument, they mischaracterized or misunderstood it. 3. Stephen Wolfe Makes a Segregationist Case for 'Christian Nationalism' Nevertheless, he outright admits that he cannot conceive of a renewal of Christian commonwealths without such a Caesar-like figure (278-9). Even if we grant that the state has been ordained by God (Rom. I am not attempting to write a typical review of The Case for Christian Nationalism by Stephen Wolfe. But heres where we need to be clear: in Wolfes Christian nation, executing heretics and non-Christians is considered just if it serves the common good. The tradition must be reclaimed, because somehow it was lost. This may not be apparent on the surface, since men still run many things. The analogy is between households and communities: A husband and wife must be different, but share particular similarities. Stephen Wolfe - Old Life Towards these ends, Wolfes strategy is a ressourcement of Reformed scholasticism. . Show this thread. Wolfe believes that cultural Christianity warms the peoples heart to Christianity, making them receptive to Christian belief and practice, and it internalizes the felt duty to perform Christian practices. These are odd claims. Can a nation, as an amorphous entity, hold its people accountable to a confession that its magistrates and citizens dont actually believe? Dr. Stephen Wolfe The Case for Christian Nationalism - p. 269 1.) Can David and Nancy French Ever Vote Again? Nietzsche hovers in the background in other places. As theologians in the natural law tradition might put it, that something is doesnt imply that something ought to be. If particular similarity and difference are both causes of conflict then a civil governments role cannot be to maintain particular similarity at the expense of difference (or, agreeing with Wolfe, vice versa). But Wolfe refuses to discuss that history. He admits that the American government today (and it is hardly alone in this) no longer has the kinds of executives spoken of by the Protestant political theorists he is drawing upon. 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. Wolfe repeatedly reminds his readers that he has written a theoretical work, not an action-plan (433). This means different communities will develop their own cultures since none could develop a universally functioning form of civilization. Andrew T. Walker teaches ethics and public theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. But Wolfe stops here, citing the fact that man cannot be close in heart (65) with everyone in the world. $24.99 (paper). For that matter, Wolfe also might consider that not everyone experiences the pull toward similarity in the same way. Paul D. Miller is a professor of the practice of international affairs at Georgetown University, a research fellow with the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, and a veteran of the war in Afghanistan. Stephen Wolfe on Twitter: "A few years ago, two kingdom theology Wolfe assumes the Reformed theological tradition, but almost exclusively from the 16th and 17th centuries (16-17), as if there had been no developments in the tradition since then. This weakness hampers his more theoretical chapters as well. As a scholar of Reformation political theology who has spent more than a decade trying to convince contemporary Protestants to attend to their own tradition, I should be . Tuesday, 01 May, 2018 by Stephen Wolfe. Far from it being David Barton God-and-Country schtick or Christian Nationalism being a liberal swearword, Wolfe has given a serious argument that will, undoubtedly, be one test case for further conversation. I dont object to cultural particularityonly to its enforcement at the point of law. But a book review is not a book, so the reviewer has to practice restraint. Have you ever asked or been asked the following questions: Are you Reformed? Canaanland Christian Store - your one-stop, online store and partner for christian resources ranging from books, bibles, music, gifts, theology, homeschool curriculums to events like conferences, webinars, concerts as well as publishing, distribution, wholesale and bookstore retailing. He acknowledges that other, peaceful avenues are still available to contest the governments unjust policies. 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. Wolfe is a committed Calvinist who earned a Ph.D. in political science. He admires and seeks to mimic the Reformed Scholastics commitment to rational demonstration and the systemic nature of truth (19). Well said! Where the Baptist confession envisions a civil arrangement where the church and state are kept conceptually, institutionally, and functionally distinct, Wolfe presents a contrary vision. A Reformed Perspective on Natural Beauty. But can a nation as an amorphous entity actually hold its people accountable to a confession that its magistrates and citizens dont actually believe? Overturning the current legal regime through violent revolution (which Wolfe sanctions)? There is a proximal degree of enforceability through voluntary and conscientious cooperation that allows for self-sustaining institutions to remain Christian. The prince is the first of his peopleone whom the people can look upon as father or protector of the country (279). In reality, it is an idiosyncratic text with little connection to the Bible, resting on a host of cherry-picked quotations from favored philosophers. This book doesnt offer any detail on the specific elements of church-state establishment, but were afforded insights into a few things the state can do to promote religion: voicing support for true doctrine, suppressing heresy, and convening synods. 2. Image: Illustration by Mallory Rentsch / Source Images: WikiMedia Commons / Getty, The Religion of American Greatness: Whats Wrong with Christian Nationalism. Both were written by veterans of the US Army with PhDs in political science. There is simply no positive command in Scripture for the state to promote religion like what Wolfe envisions. Our books do not cite each other, yet it is remarkable the degree to which they speak to the same issues from opposite perspectives. The church looks to the state to suppress heresy; Christianity is given official favor by the state; The state takes active interest in cultivating and protecting Christian doctrine; Religious toleration is extended only so far as the religion in question does not disturb sound order; Non-Christians are subject to a form of second-class dhimmitude; Heretics and non-believers could potentially be executed. Therefore, government has a duty to promote Christianity. Christianity, Politics, and Culture | Stephen Wolfe - Mere Orthodoxy Every tradition is prone to exaggerating, denying, or flattening out the antithesis. Wolfe doesnt hate Marvelizationhe just thinks he has a better script. In his taxonomy, Christian is a loose concept that may denote little more than Christian influence. Presbytery exams that take up the issue threaten to devolve into shouting . Looking at the historical record, one could not envision a program so inimically apt to undermine the gospel as Christian Nationalism has wrought. Any of the Reformers who believed the state could be used to advance religion in a direct manner were wrong. But the careful reader will recall that in a footnote on page 119, he assures us that his is not a white nationalist argument (119). One need not be Jefferson Davis to discern how such an approach might go astray. Still, the whole episode does suggest something about the relationship between Christian nationalism and Americas racial history. My kingdom is not of this world, Jesus affirmed (John 18:36). 41 Categories. I am sympathetic to Reformed theology, so I read past page 20. There is no conflict over land usage between communities thousands of miles apart, who share no particular land. Observing the historical fruit of a given ideology is fair game for discerning its true nature. How is this not tyranny? he asks. Wolfe compares progressive governance to military occupation and calls the ruling class the enemies of the human race, while extolling the virtues of a strong and austere aesthetic, and calling on his Christian prince to nullify unjust federal laws. 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. The Case for Christian Nationalism: Wolfe, Stephen: 9781957905334 The Case for Christian Nationalism by Stephen Wolfe | Goodreads Intellectual honesty demands that Baptists who are tempted to make Wolfian Christian Nationalism compatible with the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 should stop. With even a cursory knowledge of history, we know what this is. Wolfes agenda becomes clear in his epilogue, in which he drops the scholarly tone. But the governing virtues of America are feminine vices, associated with certain feminine virtues, such as empathy, fairness, and equality. Agreement or disagreement with these kinds of implied premises goes some of the way to explaining the extreme reactions to this book. With respect to religious liberty, Wolfe contends that the prince should not attempt to compel belief, but he certainly has the authority to punish public heresy. His writing has appeared in Modern Reformation, Mere Orthodoxy, Chronicles Magazine, and History of Political Thought. Indeed, Wolfe's own plea for Natural law likewise offers a universalist alternative. Get the best from CT editors, delivered straight to your inbox! After all, there is no further authority to ensure the states authority is used for Wolfes Christianity rather than Bidens or Putins or anyone elses, never mind some other religion. 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. Free church denotes an ecclesial tradition that insists that a church should be composed only of those who are self-consciously Christian. Since every people-group has internal differences (e.g., class-based differences), nation is used to emphasize the unity of the whole, though no nation (properly speaking) is composed of two or more ethnicities (135) [all italics in quotations are in the original]. Earlier this year, just months apart, two books on Christian nationalism hit shelves. Projek itu dijangka siap sepenuhnya pada pertengahan 2021. Readers hoping for a practical manifesto will be disappointed by Stephen Wolfes intellectually serious book. The same is true of communities: balance between necessary difference and similarity must be maintained and nations must be balanced as well. Editors note: This review was submitted based on the contents of the book alone, and is not intended to address any outside controversy. Through all the syllogisms and Thomistic argumentation, Wolfes recapitulation of Magisterial Protestantism ends with a nation that has never existed in ur-form. Wolfe has a lot to say, and there's a lot that can be said in response. November 28, 2022 | Kevin DeYoung Advertise on TGC Editors' note: Read this review in PDF format. In studying the history of the churchs relationship to civil polity, a consistent error throughout, whether of conservative or liberal varieties, is making Christs kingdom co-equal with the nation-state. Stephen Wolfe (PhD, Louisiana State University), is a 2021-2022 Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the James Madison Program at . I first encountered Stephen Wolfe, through his writing, when I was doing my . There is no absolute right to religious liberty and restrictions should be justly determined by legitimate public authorities. Not only is the United States governed by women, the country has been captured by global elites and is better understood as the globalist American Empire [which is] centered in Washington, DC, and wields US diplomatic, military, and economic power to advance modern liberal ideology across the globe (440). Book Review: The Case for Christian Nationalism, by Stephen Wolfe : 9Marks Book Review: The Case for Christian Nationalism, by Stephen Wolfe Article 12.09.2022 I am not attempting to write a typical review of The Case for Christian Nationalism by Stephen Wolfe. Interrogating Dr. Stephen Wolfe & His Book, "The Case For Christian Wolfes section on Christian Culture is one of the best defenses of the organic development of culture and why Christian culture is not the bogeyman that some, even in my own Baptist tradition, make it out to be. Wolfe ought to have considered the same approach here. 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 His use of Christian language to defend political violence against a freely elected government should be bigger scandal than it is: It amounts to a call for holy war against democracy. Review of Stephen Wolfe's A Case for Christian Nationalism PDF, ePub, and Kindle files will be sent to this email address. One practical step in this direction would be for state governors to resist and nullify unjust and tyrannical laws imposed on the people by the federal government (473). The third chapter, Loving Your Nation, is particularly strong due to Wolfes effusive and endearing love of his own (478), which shines brilliantly throughout. Rich Men North of Richmond is disdainful towards people on welfare. Civil government ought to direct its people to the true religion, he argues. (Within days, the Ars Politica podcast was taken down and has disappeared from almost every distribution app.) Natural Resources Canada. Web Page by Stephen Wolfe. Formerly Nyack College, the school was in bad financial shape for several years. The unstated premise comes when Wolfe begins describing why a civil government would be necessary under these conditions. Wolfe wants to enlist the power of the state and the pressure of social conformity to bolster Christian nationhood. As Jesus reminds us, By their fruit you will recognize them (Matt. Second, mankind is limited in how much he can know (63). Released at the height of media furor over (white) Christian Nationalism, Wolfe's book is an ambitious attempt to provide a substantively positive account of this particular brand of Christian political theory. Wolfe is neither exaggerating for shock value nor writing ironically to demonstrate absurdity. According to them, my argument about the blurriness of cultural boundaries means that I deny the goodness or even the reality of cultural particularity, and that I treat cultural identity as trivial and easily changeable. Stephen Wolfes The Case for Christian Nationalism (Canon Press, 2022) caught the cultural moment. In particular his contention that what Christian nationalism needs is a Christian Prince to mediate the national will for itself (278). 3.42 163 ratings56 reviews Want to read Kindle Unlimited $0.00 Rate this book Evangelical elites and the progressive media complex want you to think that Christian nationalism is hopelessly racist, bigoted, and an idol for right-wing Christians. He recently finished a postdoctoral. On the other hand, Wolfe did promote Achords book about the virtues of segregation. He tweets at: @Klenkstuart. But, again, the most that Wolfe does is make inferences from an unfallen Adam to the role of government today. Given Wolfes defense of group identity and the right of groups to advocate for themselves, a reader may reasonably wonder if Wolfes argument leads even more directly to white nationalism.
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