Unraveling the Strands of Christian Nationalism - Part 5

Opening Prayer

We wake to the forgiveness of a new day. We wake to the freedom to begin again. We wake to the mercy of the sun’s redeeming light. Always new, always gift, always blessing. We wake to the forgiveness of this new day.

• John Philip Newell, Praying with the Earth – A Prayerbook for Peace, p. 34.

Unraveling the Strands of Christian Nationalism:

What is Christian Nationalism? When did it emerge? What interpretation of scripture regarding the End Times drives Christian Nationalism? How does systemic racism undergird it? Can you be a patriot without being a Christian Nationalist?

What is a Judeo-Christian Nation? – Part One

Report from the House of Bishops Theology Committee [The Episcopal Church] (cont’d)

“Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.” (Matthew 5:14, KJV)

“The God of Israel is among us, when tenn of us shall be able to resist a thousand of our enemies, when hee shall make us a prayse and glory, that men shall say of succeeding plantacions: the lord make it like that of New England: for we must consider that wee shall be as a City upon a Hill, the eies of all people are upon us.” (John Winthrop, from a sermon written on board the Arrabella, on a passage from Great Britain to New England, 1630.)

“Lord God Almighty, in whose Name the founders of this country won liberty for themselves and for us, and lit the torch of freedom for nations then unborn: Grant that we and all people of this land may have grace to maintain our liberties in righteousness and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.” (The Collect for Independence Day, The Book of Common Prayer, 1979.)

“For four hundred years, the words of Matthew’s Gospel, directed toward Jesus’ listeners as a part of the Sermon on the Mount, have been adopted by many people in the United States to support the belief that God has looked with a particular favor on the people who originally colonized and now live in the central part of North America. An early example was its use in a sermon by John Winthrop [chief figure among the Puritan founders of New England] as he headed to America in 1630 to serve as first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Subsequent generations of political leaders, including presidents John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, and Barack Obama, have called upon its imagery. It is alluded to in The Episcopal Church’s Collect for Independence Day, with its image of a torch of freedom being lit by the founders of the United States. After all, torches as signals are lit on hills, on locations where they can be seen by all.”

“But four hundred years have also seen a troubling use of this saying of Jesus – as well as Winthrop’s quote – as justification for Christian Nationalism, a claim that fuses church and politics.”

“What it means to be a ‘City upon a Hill’ – The sermon that John Winthrop wrote on his voyage to America was not centered on Anglo-Saxon exceptionalism or a desire to hold up the new dwellers in America as better than other people. Rather, his reminder to his fellow travelers was that the eyes of the world would be upon them to see if they lived up to the model of Christian charity that his sermon laid before them. More than once, he reminded his listeners of the golden rule of Matthew 7:12, that they do unto others as they would wish done to them. He reminded them that if they were to seek greatness for themselves, God would force them to pay a price. Instead, they were to follow the counsel of the prophet Micah to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.”

“Being a city on a hill was therefore a responsibility, not a right. As Winthrop stated at the end of his sermon, if their hearts turn away and they do not obey, if they are seduced by their own pleasures and profits, they would perish out of the good land toward which they journeyed.”

• The Crisis of Christian Nationalism, 2024, pp. 15-16, 31-32.

Who Were the Puritans?

“It is a tricky question, a bit like defining ‘evangelical’ today. The term encompassed a wide range of theological positions and various forms of religious community. . . . If there was one thing the Puritans took seriously though, it was their Bible. They just did not read the Bible. In a way, they read themselves into the Bible. For the Puritans understood themselves as – literally – a ‘New Israel,’ and they slowly came to see New England as their ‘Promised Land.’ Not all at once or from the outset. The first Puritan settlers still saw New England as a ‘howling wilderness.’ England was their real home, their Promised Land, and they expected to return there one day. Like the God-fearing Israelites whom the Babylonians had cast out of Jerusalem, so, too, would they one day return to their homeland and capital city and be restored to honor and glory. But that day would never come. Puritans – and Catholics – did rule premodern England, but only briefly. England would ultimately remain in the hands of the cooler sort of Protestants, the very sorts the Puritans desperately sought to escape. If the Puritans were to have a Promised Land, it would have to be New England.”

• Gorski, Philip S., Samuel L. Perry, and Jemar Tisby, The Flag and the Cross: White Christian Nationalism and the Threat to American Democracy, 2022, pp. 49-50.

For this week: For reflection: How has the biblical reference to “a city that is set on a hill” been used to justify Christian Nationalism in the United States?

An invitation to our virtual participants: Discussion and comments are very much encouraged and welcomed. Online discussions can be held in the comments section in the upcoming post on Social Media for this week’s Deacon’s Reflection which is part of adult formation at St. Francis Episcopal Church.

Closing Prayer – Prayer of Blessing

The blessings of sun, the blessings of moon, the blessings of east and west, to guide us on the way, to lighten our eyes, to strengthen our will and our loving. The blessings of earth, the blessings of air, the blessings of fire and of water, to fill us with heaven, to free us with mercy, to stir us with flames of compassion.
May the light of God illumine the heart of my soul.
May the flame of Christ kindle me to love.
May the fire of the Spirit free me to live this day, tonight, and forever. Amen.

• John Philip Newell, Praying with the Earth - A Prayerbook for Peace, p. 36.

“Unraveling the Strands of Christian Nationalism,” Deacon Joe Dzugan, St. Francis Episcopal Church, 2025.