New article:

Naselli, Andrew David. “Politics, Conscience, and the Church: The Why, What, and How of Political Disagreement.” Christ Over All, 9 September 2024.

It updates an article I coauthored with Jonathan Leeman four years ago by tweaking it throughout and by adding a new section at the end: “Test Case: May Christians in America Vote for a Pro-choice Candidate?”

Updates:

1. Kevin McClure reads the article aloud for the Christ Over All podcast—with an introduction by David Schrock (52 minutes).
2. On 9/23/2024, Christ Over All released a 61-minute podcast episode in which I discuss this article with David Schrock and Steve Wellum.

David Schrock—along with either Trent Hunter, Brad Green, or Steve Wellum—recently conducted twelve interviews about Christian nationalism for Christ Over All. I copied the transcripts of those twelve interviews into a Word document, and that document is 200 pages single-spaced. That’s a lot to sort through. After listening to the twelve interviews and reading the transcripts, I offer the following twelve reflections or observations in this article:

Naselli, Andrew David. “Twelve Reflections on Twelve Interviews on Christian Nationalism.” Christ Over All, 27 November 2023.

Here are the twelve headings:

• Reflection 1. The interviewees are basically within views 4 and 5 in my taxonomy of political theology.
• Reflection 2. The interviewees disagree on whether it would be good to have a Christian government.
• Reflection 3. The interviewees agree that America had a Christian founding.
• Reflection 4. The interviewees know what time it is.
• Reflection 5. The interviewees agree that a Christian culture in a society is good.
• Reflection 6. The interviewees basically agree on the strategy of what faithful Christians should do right now.
• Reflection 7. The interviewees disagree on how to talk about the Ten Commandments with reference to political theology.
• Reflection 8. The interviewees disagree on how to define “good” and “bad” in Romans 13:3.
• Reflection 9. The interviewees disagree on whether the label “Christian nationalism” is helpful.
• Reflection 10. The interviewees who fit within view 5 do not put most of the load-bearing weight for their view on postmillennialism or theonomy.
• Reflection 11. The interviewees disagree on whether some nations (other than Israel under the Mosaic covenant) may be in a covenant with God.
• Reflection 12. The interviewees all interacted as Christian gentlemen and modeled how to discuss political theology.

You may listen to Kevin McClure read my article on the Christ Over All podcast here. (For block quotes, the podcast features audio clips from the original interviews.)

Update on 12/4/2023: Christ Over All released a 68-minute podcast episode in which I discuss this article with David Schrock and Steve Wellum.

Related: Andrew David Naselli, “What Is the Spectrum of Major Views on Political Theology? A Proposed Taxonomy of Seven Views on Religion and Government,” Christ Over All, 10 November 2023.

Christ Over All has been consistently publishing outstanding articles and interviews.

The theme for October was “‘Just One More Thing’: Getting the Facts on Christian Nationalism(s).”

The theme for November is “Toward Biblical Nationhood: A Baptist View of Church and State.” David Schrock introduces it at the end his article “October Intermission: From Christian Nationalism(s) to Biblical Nationhood.”

I am planning to contribute two articles this month. Later this month I plan to reflect on the interviews on Christian nationalism. But first I am attempting to add some clarity by framing a debated topic with this new article:

Andrew David Naselli. “What Is the Spectrum of Major Views on Political Theology? A Proposed Taxonomy of Seven Views on Religion and Government.” Christ Over All, 10 November 2023.

*43-minute audio version (minus footnotes—read by Kevin McClure)

Here’s the outline for the article:

Part 1. Starting with Definitions: Religion, Politics, and Political Theology

Part 2. Seven Views on Religion and Government

• • Introductory Qualification
  • View 1. Secular Suppression: The secular government suppresses religion.
  • View 2. Religious Separation: Religion must radically separate from the government.
  • View 3. Religious Neutrality: The government must be religiously neutral.
  • View 4. Religious Influence: The government should not promote only one particular religion, yet religion may influence the government within limited parameters.
  • View 5. Christian Government: The government and religion overlap.
  • View 6. Religion over Government: Religion governs the government and directs the government to enforce religion.
  • View 7. Government over Religion: The government governs and enforces religion.

Part 3. Seven Concluding Reflections

• • 1. My taxonomy is describing rather than evaluating.
  • 2. Trying to systematize the various views on political theology is challenging, but that should not prevent us from trying.
  • 3. There is a lot more to say.
  • 4. My taxonomy may mislead one to think that the various views on the spectrum are distinct in neat and tidy ways.
  • 5. Christians are becoming more interested in political theology because what seemed to be a neutral public square is now an increasingly polarized battleground.
  • 6. Christians should beware of prematurely separating from each other based on different political theologies.
  • 7. No civil government will be flawless until King Jesus returns.

Updates:

1. 11/13/2023: Christ Over All released a 66-minute podcast episode in which I discuss this article with David Schrock and Steve Wellum.
2. 11/27/2023: Christ Over All published my article “Twelve Reflections on Twelve Interviews on Christian Nationalism.”
3. 12/4/2023: Christ Over All released a 68-minute podcast episode in which I discuss my article “Twelve Reflections on Twelve Interviews on Christian Nationalism” with David Schrock and Steve Wellum.
4. 3/12/2025: Steve Wellum, editor of Southern Seminary’s journal, reprinted the article in an issue devoted to Christian nationalism: Naselli, Andrew David. “What Is the Spectrum of Major Views on Political Theology? A Proposed Taxonomy of Seven Views on Religion and Government.” Southern Baptist Journal of Theology 28.2 (2024): 168–90.

I attempt to answer that question with help from Francis Schaeffer in this short article:

Naselli, Andrew David. “Chapter 2: Foundations for Faith and Morality.” Christ Over All, 7 October 2022.

The article is part of Christ Over All’s October theme: “A Christian Manifesto for the 21st Century.”

In 1981 Crossway published Francis Schaeffer’s A Christian Manifesto. In his analysis of church and culture, Schaeffer brought a word of prophetic warning to a church threatened by the rising tide of statism, or encroaching government control. Four decades later many of his concerns have been validated, and we will listen to and reflect upon this critical work.

Crossway Publishers is graciously providing a free PDF of Schaeffer’s A Christian Manifesto to readers of Christ Over All for the month of October.

Christ Over All is a new fellowship of pastor-theologians—including David Schrock, Steve Wellum, Trent Hunter, and Brad Green (good men!). More info here.

Like most people who were following the presidential election, I was shocked that Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton.

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing as I watched The New York Times “Live Presidential Forecast.” Here’s how much the “chance of winning presidency” shifted last night from about 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. (I took this screenshot at 10:27 p.m. CT.)

Wow. [Read more…] about Now What? Four Helpful Articles on President Trump