Christian Nationalism

I think I have gone down the rabbit hole. I set out to find a clear definition of the term “Christian Nationalism.” In the end, I decided there isn’t one. It is more of a bugbear used to silence and scare. The term “Christian Nationalism” is most often used to describe someone else’s political and religious beliefs rather than a label that folks use for themselves. Yet some apparently do embrace it.

I asked Google which Christians in the United States identified themselves as “Christian Nationalists.” It gave me the names of Doug Wilson, Andrew Torba, and Charlie Kirk.

In a New York Times interview, Doug Wilson stated, “…I would call myself a theocratic libertarian” but in a CNN interview he indicated he would not outright reject the other label since “it’s better than the other names he gets called.” In other words, it is not a self-chosen identity for Wilson.

Andrew Torba is not someone I was familiar with, but it seems he embraces the view. Charlie Kirk rejected the label as a slur intended to mislabel Christians who are patriotic. If Torba is truly a Christian Nationalist, then his definition may carry some weight: He defines Christian Nationalism as a “spiritual, political, and cultural movement comprised of Christians who are working to build a parallel Christian society grounded in a Biblical worldview.”

In his book The Case for Christian Nationalism, Stephen Wolfe gives this definition: 

“Christian nationalism is 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.”

If Christian Nationalism is going to mean anything, it can’t mean everything. If it means everything, it means nothing. It seems to me that a true Christian Nationalist must be someone who wants to enforce Christianity as the religion of the country, and make violations of that punishable by law. Christians who simply support Christian principles as best for our society are not Christian Nationalists, though the left rushes to label them such. Everyone (even atheists and agnostics) has views that are based on something they believe in! Most Christians who are patriotically engaged in civic duty want to infuse good Christian principles into the warp and woof of the texture of society in the United States. Everyone (even Christians) has views that are based on something they believe in! For example, we oppose abortion because the Bible is pro-life (and life begins at conception). We oppose murder and theft because the Bible teaches these things are wrong. We don’t want to fine or jail folks because they are atheists, agnostics, or heretics. Apparently, a true Christian Nationalist may want to do the latter. By labeling a politically-active patriotic Christian as “Christian Nationalist,” the left proves they do not want an honest conversation, they just want to win by default. Shame, shame.

Saint Bartholomew’s Day massacre

The response to heresy, error, and blasphemy should be witnessing, not coercion; intercession and instruction, not intimidation; prayer and preaching, not persecution; testifying and teaching, not torture; evangelism, not execution.

This is not to say that there is no place in the church to admonish, mark, and separate from heretics. There is (Titus 3:10; Romans 16:17; 1 Corinthians 5:13). However, it has been the wicked wont of certain who call themselves Christians – as well as Muslims and others – to “evangelize” with the sword, coercing confessions and killing dissenters. This time of year in 1572 (August 23-24) brings to mind one such historical record, the slaughter of the French Huguenots. The pope of Rome rejoiced over the slaughter of some 30,000 Huguenots (the Saint Bartholomew’s Day massacre). Pope Gregory XIII sent King Charles IX of France a Golden Rose (a “blessed” golden ornament). The pope ordered a “Te Deum” to be sung in thanksgiving for and rejoicing over the massacre. Additionally, the pope had a gold medal struck to memorialize the occasion, containing the motto Ugonottorum strages 1572. (The Latin translates to something like “Massacre of the Huguenots 1572.”) Pope Gregory XIII also commissioned the artist Giorgio Vasari to paint three frescos (related to the massacre) in the Sala Regia (a state hall in the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City).

Revelation 17:6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

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Note: The Huguenots were French Protestants of the Reformed tradition. France was ruled by Catholics aligned with the church in Rome.

Always with you

Jesus did not convey to his churches, “I’ll leave you to it. I’m sure you’ll do just fine!” No, he gave command and then promised, “I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” (Matthew 28:18-20).

Shades of Love

1. We are often bowed with a load of sorrow,
When our loved ones fall asleep,
But we’ll meet again on the glad tomorrow,
Where the shades of love lie deep.

2. With the cares of life we are always bended,
And the hills are rough and steep;
Praise the Lord, we know it will all be ended,
Where the shades of love lie deep.

3. We will have more faith on the pilgrim journey,
And our vows to Jesus keep,
He will welcome us to the land of Eden
Where the shades of love lie deep.

Chorus:
It will be a grand tomorrow (tomorrow)
In that land of rapture sweet (of rapture sweet).
Hallelujah I’ll be present be present,
Where the shades of love lie deep.

As best I can tell, this song was first printed in the 1931 Tennessee Music Publishing book Radiant Gems. (I have not located a copy of the book in order to check.) The words were written by Oren Adolphus Parris (1897-1966). He was a native of Jefferson County, Alabama, born December 26, 1897 in Warrior, Alabama, the son of Oscar Hayden Parris and Ada Ovelia Morris. He served as a bugler in World War I. O. A. Parris and Mae L. Lewis married in 1919. Parris was a skilled songwriter, writing well in several different styles. He wrote many 7-shape note songs, both gospel and Christian Harmony, as well as 4-shape songs in The Sacred Harp. He was an important figure in gospel song publishing. With John Deason, Parris produced a revision of Walker’s Christian Harmony in 1958. It was often called the “Alabama Book.”. In 1997 O. A. Parris was inducted into the Southern Gospel Music Hall of Fame. Parris died April 13, 1966. He and his wife buried at New Prospect Baptist Church Cemetery, Jasper, Walker County, Alabama.

One especially meaningful experience for me was at a Christian Harmony singing we had at the old Redland Church in Rusk County, Texas. During the introduction of the singing, I announced that a son of O. A. Parris was present, Heflin T. Parris. I said some things about Mr. Parris and his songs, after which Heflin Parris added, “And he was a good father, too.” You can’t say it much better than that!

The tune/music of the song was written by Eugene Hilton Wright (1907-1943), a somewhat younger co-laborer with Parris. For example, Wright and Parris were elected President and Vice-President, respectively, for the 1942 Walker County Fourth Sunday Singing. Eugene Wright was born September 16, 1907 in Walker County, Alabama, the son of James Louis Wright and Ida Estes. He married Nora Elizabeth Crump and they had two children. Wright was a singer, songwriter, and singing school teacher. He died of heart trouble July 2, 1943 at the young age of 35. He was buried at New Prospect Baptist Church Cemetery, Jasper, Walker County, Alabama.

You can listen to Where the Shades of Love Lie Deep on YouTube HERE and HERE. To me a later Christian Harmony song – I Won’t Turn Back by S. Whitt Denson – bears some stylistic similarities.

Steven Wright quotes

Quotes from Steven Wright:

“Borrow money from pessimists - they don’t expect it back.”

“Half the people you know are below average.”

“99% of lawyers give the rest a bad name.”

“A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.”

“The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.”

“Eagles may soar, but weasels don’t get sucked into jet engines.”

 

The meaning of the biblical text

“No matter how valid your point may be, you do not have a right to change the original meaning of a biblical text in order to make your point. In any biblical text, God’s point is the ONLY point that matters.

“The biblical text can never mean NOW what it never meant THEN.”

Tom Buck, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Lindale, Texas

Scoring songs

I was looking at the Protestia website and noticed that they have a series in which they analyze songs and recommend whether they are good songs to use in churches. I found their method interesting and even consider that it might be applicable to the new song choices for The Sacred Harp. When they analyze a song, they consider five areas.

1. Doctrinal fidelity – are the words/meaning biblically accurate? “Corporate worship should not require the pastor to add a footnote afterward explaining the congregation’s singing.”
2. Doctrinal specificity – is the song direct and specific in the doctrines it presents, or is it vague and elusive? (For example, Could a Mormon be comfortable with the words? An agnostic?)
3. Focus – is the song focused on God or man (is it directed Godward or manward)?
4. Associations – do the associations or connections of the authors bring along possible baggage that is a distraction? With whom is it associated (for example, if it is written by an heretic or immoral person, it can distract or lead in the wrong direction). 
5. Musical usefulness – is the song singable for a congregation, and what is its musical effectiveness? (Note: this category received the least weight, and the first category, doctrinal fidelity, received the most weight.)

The author made this interesting point:

“Every song chosen excludes another, so merely being catchy, popular, or technically orthodox in parts is not enough. The song should justify its place through doctrinal fidelity, specificity, focus, associations, and musical usefulness.”

In other words, when the use of a particular song is included, the use of some other song is excluded. Is the included song good enough to justify excluding the other?

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Note: The last paragraphs do not suggest that every song we use is of equal value, but rather that there are some songs that do not have enough value to be considered.

Jerome of Stridon’s Problem

Sometime after his conversion, probably about AD 374, Jerome of Stridon took to the desert of Chalcis (known as the “Syrian Thebaid”) to practice an ascetic lifestyle.[i] He removed far from the fleshly temptations associated with the city life of Rome. His experience teaches an important lesson. Writing to Eustochium (Letter 22, AD 384), Jerome related the following problem.

“7. How often, when I was living in the desert, in the vast solitude which gives to hermits a savage dwelling-place, parched by a burning sun, how often did I fancy myself among the pleasures of Rome. ... Now, although in my fear of hell I had consigned myself to this prison, where I had no companions but scorpions and wild beasts, I often found myself amid bevies of girls. My face was pale and my frame chilled with fasting; yet my mind was burning with desire, and the fires of lust kept bubbling up before me when my flesh was as good as dead.”

In this desert wasteland, fasting and praying, he conjured up the sins of the flesh in his mind – a vision of dancing girls which caused him to “burn with desire.” If you carry yourself along on the trip, you cannot find a place to escape temptation.[ii] One cannot completely flee from his greatest enemy, himself. We must instead flee to Jesus Christ and him alone for our rescue and our safety.

All that is in the world
Love not; from it comes strife—
Lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh,
And, oh, the pride of life!

My greatest enemy
I carry in my breast;
The battle clash is sore and strong,
A constant wrestling test.

To Jesus Christ I flee
For rescue in his breast;
The only safety I could find—
The only secure rest.

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[i] Jerome of Stridon (Stridon being his place of birth) lived circa AD 342 to 420. Also known by his Latin name Hieronymus (and “St. Jerome” among Anglicans, Greek Orthodox, Lutheran, Roman Catholics, et al.), Jerome is perhaps best known for translating the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures into Latin (AD 382–405).
[ii] Consider 1 Corinthians 6:18 with 1 Corinthians 7:2-3.

The path that I feared

An excerpt from the song, “In The Valley.”

When the path that I feared
Is the way God has set
And I long to give in, and retreat;
Still to Jesus I hold
As I face every step
For the Lord, he will give me his peace.

(Credits: Tim Challies, Jonny Robinson, Rich Thompson)