Tucker Carlson interviews Douglas Wilson on Christian Nationalism
Okay, so I watched the Tucker Carlson’s interview with Douglas Wilson about Christian Nationalism.
My verdict is this: Douglas Wilson’s version of Christian Nationalism is a kind of “God, King, and Country” variety, less extreme than Stephen Wolfe’s version, and more amiable to a political pluralism in wider society, but still carries immense problems.
To give some background, Douglas Wilson is a Presbyterian pastor and I first came across Wilson in the early 00s when he was part of a movement called The Federal Vision, which aimed for a more consistent covenantal view of church and family life, through theonomy, a bigger emphasis on good works (via Norman Shepherd), a stronger emphasis on the visible church as the church, and things like paedocommunion (giving communion to children). Many of my Reformed friends found Wilson interesting, even enticing though not always convincing. So it was no surprise to me when Joe Rigny (associated with John Piper’s church, seminary, and ministry) joined Doug Wilson’s franchise.
There was for a time a strange association between the Federal Vision and the New Perspective on Paul as both emphasized the covenantal element to Christian Theology. In fact, N.T. Wright spoke at the Auburn Pastors conference back in 2005, which spawned the Federal Vision, and Doug Wilson interviewed him. Wilson has a curious little video saying what he likes and doesn’t like about Wright. For a time, the Federal Vision and the New Perspective on Paul were the two arch-heresies according to conservative American Presbyterianism back in the 00s, as if Wilson and Wright were the two heads of the same monster. Presbyterian theologian Guy P. Waters was deployed to write books against both of them.
Wilson is a cross between Theodore Beza and P.T. Barnum, he’s a conservative Presbyterian, a maverick within Presbyterianism, but also something of a showman who knows how to draw a crowd and say things that for better or worse get attention: with famous quotes about atheism, slavery, confederacy, spanking, empathy, and marital sex. Hence the documentary he made with Christopher Hitchens called Collision and his annual attention-seeking gimic No Quarter November. In addition to the church he pastors, Christ Kirk, his fiefdom includes St. Andrews College, Cannon Press, digital media, and even a streaming service.
Wilson has been accused of leading a personality cult, harboring abuse in his church, promoting patriarch and misogyny, and several other untoward things which you can find alleged all over the internet, I recommend the piece on Slate to start your search.
So in his interview with Tucker Carlson, what did Wilson say about Christian Nationalism and what are we to make of it? Well, see a one-minute short I made that shows the problem: Which type of Christianity gets to be in charge?
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg!
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