A key pressure point from Conservative Christians is a seeming call for “Christian Nationalism.” That idea suggests some version of domination and control by Christianity and Christian concepts. I understand that not everyone who is a Conservative politically feels this way, and even some who are Christians who are Conservatives would argue they don't mean "Christian Nationalism." However, as I have explained in the podcast episodes so far, when we look at the general idea typically expressed (at least as how I have heard it or read it), they do mean some level of governing and cultural control, even dominion (hint, hint) over society. So, another way to say what is being asked for is to say they want a version of “Christendom.”

The concept of Christendom emerges in the years after the Roman Empire collapsed in the West. So…we can say “its been done before" and there are lessons for us in the early 21st century. I urge us not to try this again. In a careful examination of what Christendom was, the evidence from history demonstrates that the Christian faith became a warped or devolved version of the faith that Jesus described and was lived out by adherents in the first 300 years after Jesus.

To figure out what happened, we need to do some examination of Roman Empire history, looking at the impact of the Emperors Diocletian and Constantine. It is with Constantine that everything shifts, one of those major moments in world history where a single individual makes a decision upon which the story changes. His decision relative to Christianity will impact both the Empire and the Christian faith itself.

I hope that you are enjoying the podcast so far. Please send any questions to carl@carlcreasman.com if you'd like Matthew and I to answer. We are thinking there might be interest in a Q&A episode, and we'd love to oblige.

Following episode 3, we go deeper into the historical documents about the Christian past, looking at the connection of an earlier moment when “God’s people" were the majority culture but suddenly find themselves as ‘exiles’ and "the minority culture.” Last episode we got to this point after seeing the two groups at the center of the current US churn, and I think it accurate to suggest the “conservative Christians” might be the principal agent stirring the pot.

To me, they/me [remember, I am a Christian, former pastor and current theologian who still attends church and often speaks at churches] will say things like 'feeling an exile in my own land’ or ‘unhappy discovering to be the minority culture, especially after what seemed to be a renewal in the 1980s.’ These primary documents from antiquity provide us a way to understand how we could feel, and that includes whether one is a Christian or not. There are many in the "conservative" side who are not necessarily Christian or even religious.

So this episode will be taking a dive into some of the specifics about what the historical documents show us about God’s people, His demands, and what those who claim His name ought to have done or be known for.

We will specifically look at a writing from a Jewish writer, Isaiah, and then later another named Jeremiah. For the writing from Isaiah, I have modernized it for 21st century Christians which you will hear me read, following Matthew reading the original text. Here is what I said:

Isaiah 5:11-12--you spend your time in frivolity, getting up early in the morning NOT to commune with God, but to look for a drink of alcohol, to waste time on TV, to engage in social media…spending all day wastefully. You have food and drink, often in your worship…you have lovely big parties with hip current music…but you NEVER think about the Lord and the things He is doing, the things and people He cares about.

Isaiah 5:18-19--you drag your sins around in the open, tied to you by lies that you assume no one can see, but yet everyone sees. Your wickedness, both the open wickedness like accepting modern-day slavery in your town or addiction to porn among your male church leaders, and the “you-think-its-hidden” wickedness like a failure to pray, a failure to pursue justice, a failure to care for the widow or the orphan—that wickedness is proclaimed openly on bumper stickers of your car. You mock God acting pious, saying things like “even so come quickly Lord” and “one day we’ll all be in Heaven” or “Hurry Up, Lord and do something.”

Isaiah 5:22-23--you think you are heroes because you claim the excess of gaming, ESPN, fantasy sports, Netflix binge watching, gambling, success as your video games, alcohol…that you can live large, equal to anyone in the community…you can “drink anyone” under the table with your excellence in fantasy sports or gaming or knowledge of the latest TV show…and yet you know nothing of God’s word, His ways. You look the other way when political leaders from “your side” act wickedly because you think “the other side” is evil. It is you, Christian, who is evil for not protecting the innocent.

Episode three further examines the context of what I perceive as a crisis in which USA society is in peril. It is my remise that there are two groups struggling at the center of the national tension, and both have incorrect grasp on history. That tension is one of worldview, and a passion for finding the best path forward for the nation. That is laudable, and yet due to the historical forgetfulness, I believe both are thinking in terms that are misguided.

These two characters the "Conservative Christian" and the "Progressive." Neither are bad or evil or trying intentionally to "do wrong" or "bring harm" to the other or to the society.