Errors in Christian Nationalism Doctrines and Philosophy: Part 1
The truth about the lies they tell.
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Christian Nationalists claim that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and savior of man.
Carefully Crafted Doctrines are Based on Lies, Wrong Interpretations of the Bible and False Interpretations of History
Christian Nationalists justify and explain their movement as conformance to select literal words of the bible and their understanding of American history. These claims fail to pass the test of faithful agreement with both the bible and recorded history. Since they have chosen to make public statements about the bible and history, it is fair and reasonable to critique their statements with respect to both sources.
Regarding the bible, Christian Nationalists try to create the impression that everything they say and do is directed by God and unquestionably righteous. To do this, they use their interpretations of the literal words of the bible to justify who they are and what they do. They do this out of ignorance that God's written word and his voice are not the same.
Even though the bible makes it very clear, Christian Nationalists do not understand that the bible is a mystery in which the literal words are full of secrets, Symbols, Signs, Types, Parables, Allegories, Copies, and Shadows. It is blasphemy, therefore, to say that obedience to the literal words of the bible is the same as obedience to God's spoken word as revealed in those secrets, Symbols, Signs, Types, Parables, Allegories, Copies, and Shadows. This flaw in Christian Nationalism doctrines nullifies and discredits everything they saw, believe and do.
It is true that some words in the bible may be interpreted and applied literally. These are discussed in length in the website Make the World Better: Love Your Neighbor and appear as Substack blog posts in Make the World Better: Love Your Neighbor.
Unfortunately, loving your neighbor is not a doctrinal feature of Christian Nationalism. That is the main reason the movement is misguided and dangerous.
More than a flaw, obedience to the literal words of the bible constitutes a lie when compared to obedience to God's spoken word as revealed in the correct interpretations of Symbols, Signs, Types, Parables, Allegories, Copies, and Shadows. This a fair and reasonable assessment since God's spoken word is the standard for truth.
Admittedly, differences between the written words of the bible and God's spoken word are very difficult to understand. See these links for a detailed introduction to the principles of listening to God's spoken voice while reading the bible:
The implications of the differences between the written word and God's spoken word are immense. The implications are magnified many times over in the matter of the Christian Nationalism movement which adopts select bible verses and then self-righteously appropriates them to Oppress and Afflict others who are not like them in terms of skin color, sexual orientation, education, culture, social standing, politics or religion. In other words, they use the bible as a weapon to justify their concept of a Godly life and manipulate others to adjust their own lives to conform to their interpretation. They call this protecting their religious rights. They call this obedience to God’s word. God calls it injustice.
Regarding history, Christian Nationalists claim that their movement is in agreement with America's religious history. Furthermore, they claim that their movement is justified and righteous because it focuses on restoration of the religious beliefs and practices of early Americans. Just like what they do with respect to the bible, Christian Nationalists are selective in the history they choose to replicate in these modern times. They are also careless in how they interpret history and deceptive in how they report it. It is fair to say, therefore, that justifications for their movement have no basis in truth.
It is not an exaggeration to say that America is on the precipice of losing its democracy because many Americans have fallen prey to these deceptions. Therefore, this post presents arguments that do the following:
Identify Christian Nationalism dogmas/doctrines/beliefs that are based on literal interpretations of select scriptures and used to justify and inform their political/social/legislative policies and practices.
Report the correct interpretations of those select scriptures.
Report faulty understanding of American history.
Report the logical fallacies of claims about the bible and history.
Report the factual, historical truths that dispute the statements about American history.
The truths outlined below expose Christian Nationalists’ deceptions, lies and hypocrisy. The topics chosen for comparison are found in Christian Nationalism's own published documents. Here are the biblical and historical rebuttals for each of their claims:
Christian Nationalists claim that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and savior of man.
The truth is: Christian Nationalists’ understanding of the biblical Jesus is totally wrong. See Jesus for deep study of who Jesus was and what he did.
The truth is: The claim that Jesus is the savior of man is a religious doctrine that is not universally accepted by all religions or all Americans.
The truth is: The bible says clearly that there is only one God and there is no savior other than him.
The truth is: Jesus never imagined himself to be equal to God
The truth is: Jesus always put God ahead of himself and said no one was good except God.
The truth is: Jesus typically referred to himself as a “son of man” and only once as a “son of God.
The truth is: Jesus was both “son of man” and “son of God.”
The truth is: References to Jesus as son of man and son of God should not be interpreted as unique to Jesus. They should be interpreted as generic, symbolic terms where humans are simultaneously sons and daughters of human mothers and fathers and sons of God. Only those humans who have been born again by the spirit of God are sons of God. Like Jesus, Sons of God speak for God as true prophets, angels, messiahs, high priests, witnesses and warriors, but they are not God. All of these labels applied to Jesus and are applied to all New Covenant disciples who are born again by the spirit of God.
The truth is: Jesus was a savior only in the sense that he spoke God’s words — not his words — to people who could not otherwise hear God’s spoken voice.
The truth is: Jesus did not possess any divine power or authority in his human body. He was a model/example of all New Covenant disciples with messianic authority to speak for God because they have been baptized by the spirit of God.
The truth is: Even if the claim that Jesus is the savior of man was true, it has no relevance to politics and government. References to Jesus and God in politics is a shameful use of the bible, God and Jesus as weapons to give religious cover to the purely human enterprise of advancing Christian Nationalism for greedy, selfish, political purposes.
The truth is: This statement is a shameful, thinly veiled attempt to use Jesus' name as religious cover for the human purpose of advancing the political reputations of Christian Nationalist politicians.
Christian Nationalists claim that all life, from conception until death, is sacred and the right to life is paramount.
The truth is: Biblical references to "life" are always to spiritual life -- not to physical life.
The truth is: Biblical references to the beginning of life are to the moment that people are born again by the power of the spirit of God's word -- not to the beginning of physical life in the human womb.
The truth is: Death in the bible is a symbolic reference to spiritual death -- not physical death.
The truth is: Christian Nationalists have conveniently and shamefully perverted and distorted biblical words to support their philosophical opposition to abortion.
The truth is: Christian Nationalists have exploited a wrong interpretation of the literal words of the bible held by many Christians to establish a feeling of political and religious solidarity on the abortion issue so that those Christians will support the Christian Nationalists with votes and money.
Christian Nationalists claim that these United States of America were founded by Christian men upon Christian tenets. Freedom of Religion is not an excuse to divorce the American culture from its origins. We will defend our rights as Christians in all aspects of American life.
The truth is: Christian Nationalists contrive these beliefs to justify legislation that gives Christian Nationalists authority to control all aspects of American culture.
The truth is: Christian Nationalists organize and mobilize to control government and shape legislation because they do not trust God to protect them or their religious rights.
The truth is: Lacking trust in God, Christian Nationalists trust legislation, control of elections and even civil violence to defend their religious rights.
The truth is: There is dispute among scholars about the quality and content of the beliefs of the founding fathers.
The truth is: Several founders of the Constitution were deists and others were marginally religious.
The truth is: Saying that all founders were Christian is a misogynistic slight of women and their influence in the founding of America and the quality and content of its religion.
The truth is: The beliefs and practices of Christian Nationalists typically align with Pentecostalism and other 20th century religious spinoffs that embrace beliefs and practices that contrast radically with many beliefs and practices of 18th century Christianity.
The truth is: There is dispute between scholars about church attendance in the 18th century.
The truth is: The statement about how America was founded carefully avoids mention of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and Amendments to the Constitution which are the legal documents on which America was founded.
The truth is: Failure to mention the Constitution and Bill of Rights in a statement about America's origins and the rights of Christians devalues these legal documents and creates the erroneous impression that America is founded solely on Christian tenets.
The truth is: When Christian Nationalists challenge how to interpret and apply the Constitution, they show that they don't really trust the work of the founding fathers they otherwise praise as enlightened Christian men.
The truth is: The second and third sentences (Freedom of Religion is not an excuse to divorce the American culture from its origins. We will defend our rights as Christians in all aspects of American life.) of the statement reveal the real intents of the Christian Nationalists in the first sentence (These United States of America were founded by Christian men upon Christian tenets.) By claiming to value America's origins, Christian Nationalists cannot be selective of which origins to value and which origins to ignore. By claiming the right and desire to preserve America's origins, Christian Nationalists acknowledge their religious history regarding slavery and oppression of Blacks and American Indians, and misogynistic attitudes toward women. Accordingly, they reveal and justify their present-day attitudes about oppressing and marginalizing all minorities and women for whom they give no credit for having no for founding Christianity.
The truth is: The statement "We will defend our rights as Christians in all aspects of American life" Reveals the desperation Christian Nationalists feel regarding holding on to their religion and culture. This desperation and willingness to defend religious rights shows that they do not trust God for their security and well-being. That makes them hypocrites.
The truth is: Christian Nationalists emphasize preservation of their religious rights at the expense of the rights of others that are guaranteed in the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights.
The truth is: America has a history of punitive legalized practices (e.g. Jim Crow, housing, women’s suffrage, voting rights, murdering indigenous cultures, etc.) that are totally inconsistent with God’s commands to love your neighbor. Identification with that history automatically includes approval of those unloving, unbiblical practices and reveals a desire to restore those practices in contemporary culture and government.
Christian Nationalists claim that marriage is an institution sanctioned by God between one man and one woman.
The truth is: They reference this understanding to justify punitive, restrictive legislation regarding sexual orientation because they hold prejudice against people who are not like them.
The truth is: There is no scripture that says marriage is between one man and one woman.
The truth is: Biblical references to marriage symbolize the relationship of God to man -- not human marriages.
The truth is: Biblical references to men and women are to his generic people -- not to literal men and women.
The truth is: Biblical references to marriage fidelity symbolize God's relationship to his people -- not to the human institution of marriage. This relationship is represented in Hosea 1-14
The truth is: God does not distinguish between men and women. They are all equal in his eyes.
The truth is: There is no need for God to instruct humans about marriage, because marriage is a human, cultural issue -- not a spiritual issue.
The truth is: There is a need for God to instruct humans about their intimate relationship to him.
The truth is: The statement by Christian Nationalists that "marriage is an institution sanctioned by God between one man and one woman" is a doctrine conceived and promoted by Christian Nationalists. This idea does not exist in the bible.
The truth is: The idea of marriage sanctioned by God is the perfect, heart-to-heart relationship between God and man/woman. See this link for the spiritual understanding of this relationship.
The truth is: Christian Nationalists shamelessly use scripture to condemn all people who do not share their religious and political beliefs.
These truths powerfully and effectively disqualify Christian Nationalism as a legitimate political/religious movement. Readers who are concerned about the influence of Christian Nationalism would do well to share these truths by sharing this blog. See Strategies for reasons to share these truths and ideas about how to share them.
These truths are only a small sample of truths that disqualify the Christian Nationalism movement. See Dominionism Doctrines and Philosophy: Lies and Truth
People who understand these truths but fail to share them become accomplices to the movement.