Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Christian Author Issues Dire Warning About 'Unhinged' Right-Wing Christian Nationalism

Christian Author Issues Dire Warning About 'Unhinged' Right-Wing Christian Nationalism
Baker Publishing Group/YouTube

A Canadian-American philosopher and author condemned far right Christian nationalism in a new book.

Christian nationalism has become synonymous with White Christian identity politics in the wake of the January 6 Capitol insurrection spurred on by former Republican President Donald Trump.


Those who refer to themselves as Christian nationalists believe the US is meant to be a Christian nation, and they support right-wing politicians and promote social policies–including legislation pertaining to immigration, gun control, and poverty–under the guise of a divine mission to "take back" the United States for God.

Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene and fellow Congresswomen Lauren Boebert and Mary Miller described themselves as Christian nationalists.

However, many scholars and philosophers argued proponents of Christian nationalism "are adrift from the Christian faith’s historic teachings and practice on several significant counts," according to Yahoo News!.

Author James K.A. Smith warned about the far-right religious movement in his new book, How to Inhabit Time: Understanding the Past, Facing the Future, Living Faithfully Now.

You can hear Smith's intro for an interview about his new book in the clip, below.

How to Inhabit Time - Available Now | Interview with James K. A. Smith - Introyoutu.be

Smith, a philosophy professor at Calvin University–a private Evangelical college in Grand Rapids, Michigan–touched on Christian nationalism and provided theoretical insight into the cause of the underlying movement.

He argued many religious conservatives are led to believe they are “wholly governed by eternal ideas untainted by history.”

Speaking to the Yahoo News podcast, The Long Game, Smith said that Christian nationalists “have forgotten something very, very fundamental” about what the faith says about the apocalypse and that it “is not something that is engineered by us."

Smith suggested that the term mentioned in the New Testament, the "Kingdom of God," is often misinterpreted.

Every single day in the Lord's Prayer, Christians pray ‘Thy kingdom come,’” Smith said.

“But as long as we are praying that, it's not here. So you are praying for it to come."
"You are laboring in line with it, you hope. But there's not the sense that we are bringing it about.”


In the Christian faith’s teachings about “awaiting the arrival of the kingdom, never is there any hint that we are supposed to sort of colonize Earth as if we knew exactly what the kingdom looked like," Smith continued.

“In fact, instead what you get a lot from prophetic and apocalyptic literature in the Scriptures is deep, deep cautions about not confusing our imagination with what is to come."
“I do think what is so … legitimately terrifying about the discourse of Christian nationalism in our country is it is able to sort of wear the cloak of a theological language but is completely unhinged from actual accountability to the theological guardrails of what Christian eschatology is.”

Smith is among many scholars who believe Christians misinterpret the Book of Revelation–the final book of the New Testament.

According to the media outlet, Smith argued that a misreading of Revelation "intersects with evangelicalism’s self-certainty to create Christian nationalism, which he describes as a misdirected political movement that is absolutely sure of itself and unaware of how much it does not understand."

However, he does not believe Christians should disassociate from politics.

“There's no question that we are laboring to bend the arc of justice as much as we can,” said Smith, adding:

“There has to be such a tempered expectation and a tempered epistemic humility.”

How To Inhabit Time, which Publishers Weekly promised was an “incisive and eloquent volume will expand readers’ minds,” is available in stores now.

More from News

Screenshot of Stephen Colbert
CBS

Stephen Colbert Makes Somber Plea To Americans In Wake Of Charlie Kirk's Death

Late-night host Stephen Colbert had a somber message for Americans as he addressed the assassination of far-right activist Charlie Kirk, stressing that "political violence only leads to more political violence."

Kirk died after an unidentified gunman shot him in the neck as he—ironically enough—mocked victims of gun violence at an event in Utah Valley State University. Kirk's murder has galvanized the far-right, with President Donald Trump and his surrogates claiming without evidence that rhetoric from Democrats is responsible for Kirk's death.

Keep ReadingShow less
a woman sunbathing on rocks.
a person sitting on a towel on a beach
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

People Share The Weirdest Flexes They Heard Someone Say With A Straight Face

It is never attractive to gloat.

Even so, some people can't help but brag, or "flex" as it is sometimes known, about certain accomplishments or attributes.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from @thedowntheredoc's TikTok video
@thedowntheredoc/TikTok

TikToker Hilariously Calls Out Target After Champion Pants Feature Awkwardly-Placed Front Pleat

Sometimes you can just tell when something was designed *for* women, but was not actually designed *by* women.

Take, for instance, the new pleated pants available at Target from the Champion clothing line. While there's nothing wrong with pleated pants and they certainly have a suitable spot in the workplace, the latest rendition of Champion pleated pants are, shall we say, NSFW.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from @kaicutch's Instagram video
@kaicutch/Instagram

Woman Flips Her Car After Belting Out Ironic Britney Spears Lyric In Wild Viral Video

Whether we want to admit it or not, we've all had our fair share of carpool karaoke and maybe even imagined our car as our own personal recording studio.

But TikToker and Instagrammer Kaitlynn McCutcheon may have gotten too into her performance of Britney Spears' classic, "Hit Me Baby, One More Time," when the road and her car both said, "Bet."

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from ​@lynnshazeen's TikTok video
@lynnshazeen/TikTok

Woman Goes Viral After Revealing How Her Obsession With Matcha Landed Her In The Hospital

Let's be honest: Too much of anything isn't good for us. It's all about the balance!

But the media and social media trends have taught us that certain things are really good for us, encouraging us to be like the "very mindful and very demure" girls and take care of ourselves. One such example is drinking more matcha, especially if you really like coffee or think you have a caffeine addiction.

Keep ReadingShow less