The National Gospel
By Jim Cassidy - Posted at The Heidelblog:
Published August 17, 2026
In a recent episode of Presbycast, the host and three guests considered a letter written by J. Gresham Machen in 1925 to a missionary in the Southern Presbyterian Church.It did not take long for the conversation on the podcast to turn to “muscular Christianity” and Christian nationalism. And why not? The subject is very much on everyone’s mind.
At first glance, listeners may miss the connection between the liberal missions Machen addressed in the letter, on the one hand, and Christian nationalism, on the other. But the guests made the connection quite clearly, and I would simply like to underscore it here.
The comparison may initially seem ridiculous. After all, most of those promoting Christian nationalism in the Anglophone Protestant world could hardly be described as typical theological liberals. Many advocate it from an avowedly traditional Christian perspective. Indeed, many are admirers of Machen and of the doctrine of Scripture he defended. These are not card-carrying despisers of the Bible or historic Christianity.
Still, the connection needs to be emphasized. The point may appear subtle, but it is highly significant for the present because it exposes a serious weakness in Christian nationalist theology. What is that weakness?
