The Nietzsche quote is quite precise of much of the theonomic, postmill, Christian nationalist ends up for the benefit of one group at the expense of many. What upsets me is that Wolfe thinks that ethno-spatial boundaries are a Gospel good. I'm Filipino and an immigrant who is naturalized as an American who is married to my beautiful bride who is white. If Wolfe truly believed in what he believes (and he does) then my marriage is largely sinful. I never thought I would see the day that American Christianity would have bad apples like Wolfe and Wilson who advocate for this non-sense.
I came here to comment on your quote, "There is the problem that people receive just enough Christianity to be inoculated against it,” and see that Stan beat me to it, lol. This quote sounds very Lewisian! But my observation has been that, not only does cheap, plausible “Christianity” lead to deconstruction for many, but it also leads to going along to get along. This creates a “Christian” club or even cult, where the social group is more important than the true gospel, although the members would never allow for that. There is enough Christian jargon bandied about that they can convince themselves they really are growing in the Lord, and serving Him, and making good Christians of themselves. They are the “good kids” who obey their “authorities” in the Lord, although of course their authorities have abdicated their true authority, but would never admit to that. This happens even when Christian nationalism is not present, but follows many of the same errors. Thanks for your excellent review!
This reminds me of Man in the High Castle, which I recently finished, which I think (for all of its flaws) did a great job of depicting how this "social club" pressure works in real time. Few are actually beholden to the authoritarian political regime in power in the US at the time in the show, but are forced to project it for the sake of one's own protection, and may continue to believe they are becoming more noble and just citizens as they go along and become numb to what they are doing. Of course modeling a real pattern of behavior found in many authoritarian and power-hungry regimes, I think it's an illustration of just how church leaders and laity alike would "just get along" to protect themselves in this violent fantasy world of Wolfe's.
This hyper-focus on power also screams a Church that races toward an end that looks like Dostoyevsky's Grand Inquisitor, where Christ's humble love and service get in the way of the aims of the "Church" and placating the public into a better moral and social order than Christ's teachings could provide on their own. If this isn't too harsh, I'd say that Wolfe and many others adhering to this violent, angry philosophy would react with the same terror and anger as the Grand Inquisitor does when Christ merely kisses him in silence and demonstrates unaffected love.
This book is truly one of the most terrifying things I've ever laid my eyes upon, made worse because it is a true lens into that millions and millions of American Christians and cultural faith adherents would be more than willing to agree with or accept if provided with this template. Maranatha, God help our church.
"There is the problem that people receive just enough Christianity to be inoculated against it. They see Christian authority imposed, and that makes them increasingly resistant. " Worse yet Christians see a political party or person to be their Savior. In the midst of our political, emotional pain I am reminded of the words of Lewis, " Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world! "
One has to wonder if he really reads the Bible. Does he understand that salt and light are influence and not an iron fist? That Jesus won the victory over evil through humility, serving and sacrifice? Has he even read history? Or considered for instance that Muslims moving to western countries are eschewing such a religiously controlled society? Sheesh!
IMO, Fea’s “Court evangelicals” are where much of the problem here lies and they are not remotely representative of the average American Evangelical nor their church. And, yes, the Puritan experiment ended in failure and the now infamous Salem witchcraft trials.
The Nietzsche quote is quite precise of much of the theonomic, postmill, Christian nationalist ends up for the benefit of one group at the expense of many. What upsets me is that Wolfe thinks that ethno-spatial boundaries are a Gospel good. I'm Filipino and an immigrant who is naturalized as an American who is married to my beautiful bride who is white. If Wolfe truly believed in what he believes (and he does) then my marriage is largely sinful. I never thought I would see the day that American Christianity would have bad apples like Wolfe and Wilson who advocate for this non-sense.
Brian, I hear you, Wolfe has even tweeted that inter-racial marriages are sinful, see my recent video on you.tube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdvgXgddHjE&t=1285s
I came here to comment on your quote, "There is the problem that people receive just enough Christianity to be inoculated against it,” and see that Stan beat me to it, lol. This quote sounds very Lewisian! But my observation has been that, not only does cheap, plausible “Christianity” lead to deconstruction for many, but it also leads to going along to get along. This creates a “Christian” club or even cult, where the social group is more important than the true gospel, although the members would never allow for that. There is enough Christian jargon bandied about that they can convince themselves they really are growing in the Lord, and serving Him, and making good Christians of themselves. They are the “good kids” who obey their “authorities” in the Lord, although of course their authorities have abdicated their true authority, but would never admit to that. This happens even when Christian nationalism is not present, but follows many of the same errors. Thanks for your excellent review!
This reminds me of Man in the High Castle, which I recently finished, which I think (for all of its flaws) did a great job of depicting how this "social club" pressure works in real time. Few are actually beholden to the authoritarian political regime in power in the US at the time in the show, but are forced to project it for the sake of one's own protection, and may continue to believe they are becoming more noble and just citizens as they go along and become numb to what they are doing. Of course modeling a real pattern of behavior found in many authoritarian and power-hungry regimes, I think it's an illustration of just how church leaders and laity alike would "just get along" to protect themselves in this violent fantasy world of Wolfe's.
This hyper-focus on power also screams a Church that races toward an end that looks like Dostoyevsky's Grand Inquisitor, where Christ's humble love and service get in the way of the aims of the "Church" and placating the public into a better moral and social order than Christ's teachings could provide on their own. If this isn't too harsh, I'd say that Wolfe and many others adhering to this violent, angry philosophy would react with the same terror and anger as the Grand Inquisitor does when Christ merely kisses him in silence and demonstrates unaffected love.
This book is truly one of the most terrifying things I've ever laid my eyes upon, made worse because it is a true lens into that millions and millions of American Christians and cultural faith adherents would be more than willing to agree with or accept if provided with this template. Maranatha, God help our church.
"There is the problem that people receive just enough Christianity to be inoculated against it. They see Christian authority imposed, and that makes them increasingly resistant. " Worse yet Christians see a political party or person to be their Savior. In the midst of our political, emotional pain I am reminded of the words of Lewis, " Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world! "
Stephen Wolfe seems to be campaigning for another January 6 DC riot. Hasn’t read the beatitudes it seems.
One has to wonder if he really reads the Bible. Does he understand that salt and light are influence and not an iron fist? That Jesus won the victory over evil through humility, serving and sacrifice? Has he even read history? Or considered for instance that Muslims moving to western countries are eschewing such a religiously controlled society? Sheesh!
IMO, Fea’s “Court evangelicals” are where much of the problem here lies and they are not remotely representative of the average American Evangelical nor their church. And, yes, the Puritan experiment ended in failure and the now infamous Salem witchcraft trials.