A Puritan Critique of Contemporary Christian Nationalist Proposals

By John S. Simons - Posted at Reformed Faith and Practice:

Various Christian Nationalist proposals have received significant attention over the past few years. Several of these have explicitly or implicitly referenced New England puritanism in support of their argument that governments should implement moral legislation based on the Christian faith. However, the discussion of these proposals has not considered the ways in which the puritan founders of Massachusetts Bay, Connecticut, and New Haven would have critiqued the proposals. Those essays that have drawn parallels to puritan thought have largely done so by referencing a handful of sermons without considering whether the sermons are representative of the broader conversations within early New England.

The issue of whether or not the puritans were Christian nationalists is complicated by the relationships between the various puritan colonies and the English monarchy. Additionally, the colonists were not seeking to form a new nation; rather, they continued to conceive of themselves as English citizens. The issue is also made complicated by the fact that different authors have different definitions regarding what constitutes Christian nationalism.

Many authors do not provide a clear definition of the term, instead choosing to identify the term with a cluster of views that they either affirm or oppose. Stephen Wolfe in his recent book The Case for Christian Nationalism, has defined the term as “a totality of national action, consisting of civil laws and social customs, conducted by a Christian nation as a Christian nation, in order to procure for itself both earthly and heavenly good in Christ.”[1] Wolfe’s defense of Christian Nationalism includes the establishment of Christianity as an official religion through the election of Christian government officials, the passing of explicitly Christian laws, as well as other steps to reinforce “social customs” that are consistent with a Christian national identity.[2] If one were to replace the word “nation” with “commonwealth” in Wolfe’s definition, then it would probably apply fairly well to the puritan founders of New England.

With that starting point, I am going consider several ways in which the puritans would respond to contemporary proposals in support of Christian Nationalism. More specifically, this paper will consider how the puritans of New England might respond to questions regarding the suitability of proposals for a more explicit Christian influence on government, calls for a strong executive power to protect the church and Christian belief, and arguments related to resistance and revolution against non-Christian leadership. The paper will draw on examples and arguments across the different puritan colonies in order to arrive at a broader critique of contemporary proposals.

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