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

Tonight people will gather for Burns Night to remember one of Scotland’s national heroes. But should this man’s flaws cause us to rethink his place in national mythmaking and nationalism in general?

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

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.

Imagine, if you will, a world full of completely unselfish people, of people who always thought of others first and not themselves; people who always sacrificed their own interests and looked for someone else to help. Paradise, right? Wrong.

Many millennial American Christians hold apathetic views toward patriotism, and even worse, they advocate for a perspective that sees the US as an empire.

Would those Catholics promoting integralism instead of liberalism support a nationalist-isolationist foreign policy, or empire?

Cosmopolitanism can be a particularly pernicious temptation because it invites us to love the idealized reality of humanity above our actual flesh and blood neighbors who live next door.

Despite his errors and overstatements, Cavanaugh is helpful for thinking through the perils of nations and nationalism in an era when both seem to be enjoying a renaissance. He is best read as a theologian, not a historian, and a polemical theologian whose strident claims are best met with a healthy dose of skepticism.