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MattF — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:10:02 +0000

kash: “Because if we call ourselves a Christian nation, and then go out into the world at large and do unChristian things (which we do) then we are hurting the witness of Christ.”

An excellent point, kash, in an excellent post. Teddy Roosevelt was against putting “In God We Trust” on American currency because of all the evil uses money is put to. Just try mention removing that motto in an American Christian community, though, and see what kind of response you get.

ADB: “I personally think that we’ve got a nice “cultural Christianity” going on that has some of the language of the church, but which denies any of the real power of the faith.”

I agree. And why shouldn’t we? We’ve spent decades making sure that we can create a “culture” with items that parallel every aspect of secular culture. We can go to Christian schools; listen to Christian radio; read Christian horror novels; and on and on. There is nothing wrong with any of these things per se, but one must remember that Christianity is only effective when Christ’s followers are reaching out to the culture; the tendency to surround ourselves with Christian paraphernalia as some kind of insulation must be avoided.

I confess that I see the American Patriot’s Bible as potentially becoming one more way that some people can remove themselves from the world Christ wants them to reach. Why address the pain and problems of the culture? My Bible says that we have a basically Christian society, so it’s okay.

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ADB — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 11:58:43 +0000

Great insight Kash. Not to mention the fact, that if all the polls are right, and church membership numbers are any indication we surely aren’t a “Christian nation” anymore. I personally think that we’ve got a nice “cultural Christianity” going on that has some of the language of the church, but which denies any of the real power of the faith.

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John — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 23:36:23 +0000

Good post Kash.

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kash — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 23:27:13 +0000

Like ADB, I would have to see the Bible before I made a judgement. However, in general, I think Americans know too little about the Bible and too little about American History so if this Bible really does teach American History (as opposed to American mythology) it can only be a good thing. The problem is not acknowledging that America was founded (mostly) by Christians, the problem is calling America a “Christian nation.” Because if we call ourselves a Christian nation, and then go out into the world at large and do unChristian things (which we do) then we are hurting the witness of Christ. For instance, if you are a Palestinian child whose parents were killed by Israeli bombs that were partially paid for by the Christian Nation America, then you might logically conclude that Christianity killed your parents. This is an obvious problem. Or for instance, if you are an Iraqi whose child was killed by mercenaries (such as Blackwater) under contract to Christian America, or your daughter was raped by a soldier fighting for Christian America. Or if you are a child in the Sudan and see the millions of dollars spent by Christian America on luxury items while you die from diarrhea and starvation. You get my point. Until America is a LOT closer to resembling the Kingdom of Heaven, we should not be quick to call ourselves a “Christian nation.”
Also, although I think being a Christian SHOULD make one a better (and more compassionate) patriot, I don’t think we should equate Christianity and patriotism, as there are many very committed patriots that belong to other religions (or no religion) and I think our founding fathers would be quite pleased with that outcome. They knew all too well the danger of mixing government and religion, and they knew that government would be better if the citizens were free to practice whatever religion their conscience dictated. Also, they knew that religion would be better if it were kept free from the corrupting influence of politics. Which brings me back to my original point: Americans would be better citizens if they read more of the Bible and more of actual history. Because the founding fathers definitely knew that the fate of our nation depended on the effective education of the democratic masses.

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ADB — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 22:04:42 +0000

Count me among the skeptics. There are probably too many specialty Bibles out there right now, and I haven’t seen one to look at it, but am leery of it. Reading America into Biblical passages most of the time would be what we called eisegesis back in seminary. More importantly, the church must always maintain a certain distance from the country so that it can always be positioned to speak prophetically. Tossing in “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” as a hymn on the Sunday after the 4th of July is fine, but I’ll never actually preach a “patriotic” sermon because I’m called to proclaim the Word of God. At times the exegesis and proclamation of a text will bring out points where America should be praised, but at times when our country is to be criticized (e.g. legalized abortion and state lotteries.) I can’t help but think of what happened in Germany in the 1930s. The national German church bought so much into Hitler’s program that they couldn’t criticize him, and state ideology influenced church doctrine instead of the other way around. This in no way equates America now with 1930s Germany, but the principle still applies I think.