Millennial Christians on Nation-States and Patriotism

A Christian Exhortation to American Citizens

Richard Mouw is an American, and he loves his country the most, according to his newly released How to be a Patriotic Christian: Love of Country as Love of Neighbor.

To Be a Christian in America
To Be a Christian in America

Is it possible for a Christian to love his or her country too much? Is America itself even deserving of a Christian’s loyalty? If Christians have anything to offer the civil kingdom, how should they go about it?

European Nationalism: Defining the Problem
European Nationalism: Defining the Problem

True patriotism is not about establishing the external borders of your love so much as the ordering of it. For the Christian, who has access to an unending source of love in God, no one ought to be excluded from this love—neither your neighbor, nor fellow countrymen, nor other peoples around the globe.

The City and the Nation: Searching for a Theological Politics
The City and the Nation: Searching for a Theological Politics

Given the state of contemporary discourse surrounding the nation, it’s no wonder so many young evangelicals are disillusioned with it. What we need is a return to a political theology that rejects this false dichotomy, seeking to recover the practical role of temporal political institutions in light of the eternal.

Incarnational Nationhood
Incarnational Nationhood

An incarnational nationhood deepens and overcomes the weaknesses of both the nation-as-idea and nation-as-ethnicity visions.

The Nation-State as Guarantor of the Protestant Religion
The Nation-State as Guarantor of the Protestant Religion

The nation-state emerged in Western Europe out of the Wars of Religion as a tool of the Protestant movements.

The American Nation-State, Cosmopolitanism, and Identity Politics in the Millennial Imagination
The American Nation-State, Cosmopolitanism, and Identity Politics in the Millennial Imagination

The very idea of the American nation-state seems to be losing its importance. In its stead, Americans have unfortunately moved toward cosmopolitanism and—for millennials especially—identity politics.

For God and Country, Part 2: Not Necessarily the Nation-State
For God and Country, Part 2: Not Necessarily the Nation-State

Should Christians promote nation-states in all places at all times? No.

For God and Country, Part 1: Christian Patriotism
For God and Country, Part 1: Christian Patriotism

Works by C.S. Lewis and Tim Keller can help us understand the outlines of a healthy Christian patriotism—a righteous love of one’s imperfect country and home, including the people there and much more.

“The Future of Patriotism”

There are a number of questions which animate the current political climate. They are age-old questions as to the function of nations, responsibility of citizens, purview of leaders, and mindset of Christians toward this world. The future of American vitality and its effectiveness in the world will be predicated on how the coming generation answers these questions. Providence exists to provide a forum not only to equip the American mind to engage the real world but also for the coming generation to debate these questions and concerns within the light of Christian convictional history. By having these debates and addressing these questions, it is our hope to be a light of certainty amidst the confusion of this present dark age.

To that end, we wanted to know, is patriotism wrong? Is nationalism valid? What role is there for religion in America? Is religious freedom at odds with liberal democracy? We challenged some leading millennial writers and thinkers to step into the arena and assess their generation and their nation in this current moment.

Explore The Latest

2020 Presidential Election (8) Abraham Kuyper (5) Alliances (130) American Exceptionalism (19) American Revolution (9) Anti-Semitism (16) Apologetics (24) Biden Administration (114) Brexit (11) Cancel Culture (3) Catholic Church (65) character formation (20) Chemical Weapons (4) Christian Ethics (525) Christian Realism (382) Christianity & Crisis Archives (118) Civil Religion (22) Civil-Military Relations (21) Climate Change (6) Cold War (67) Communism (108) Coptic Church (15) Corruption (32) COVID-19 Pandemic (42) Cybersecurity (15) Democracy (359) Deterrence (45) Dictatorship (54) Diplomacy (143) Education (6) Episcopal Church (5) Evangelical Christians (34) Freedom (50) Freedom of the Press (13) Genocide (12) History (231) Holocaust (17) Human Flourishing (51) Human Rights (271) Immigration (29) Integralism (11) Intelligence & Espionage (50) International Religious Liberty (313) Islam (61) Islamic State (ISIS) (117) Just War Tradition (249) Kurds (10) Liberalism (102) Millennial Christians on Nation-States and Patriotism (16) Missile Defense (13) Missions (9) Moral Injury (6) Nationalism and Patriotism (158) Nuclear Weapons (88) Obama Administration (49) Pacifism (32) Peace (147) Political Theology (76) Political Theory (104) Race (10) Refugees (27) Revolutions (13) Russian Orthodox Church (23) Socialism (5) Soft Power (35) Strategy (10) Syrian Civil War (36) Technology (21) Terrorism (156) The World in 2020 (4) Theology (96) Trade & Economics (108) Trump Administration (269) United Nations (UN) (14) US Military (51) US State Department (19) Vietnam War (23) War (222) Zionism (11)