The State of Christian Nationalism
Dr. James Emery White
Audio By Carbonatix
By James Emery White, Crosswalk.com
Once upon a time, there was a nation founded by Christians, established on Christian principles and ideals, in order to be a Christian nation. A city upon a hill; a new Jerusalem. God smiled on this nation and placed His hand of providence on her. He led her and helped her grow. Soon, she became the greatest nation on the planet and took stands against moral evil and political tyrants. She came to the rescue of other nations and fought against the spread of godless ideologies.
But then, that nation turned away from God, chose leaders who didn’t honor God, and passed laws that didn’t honor God. That nation gave herself over to sin and deception. It soon went from a new Jerusalem to a new Sodom and Gomorrah.
As a result, God took His hand of blessing off her, waiting for her to repent and once again turn to Him. To once again elect the right officials, pass the right laws, do away with accepting sin and immorality, and again become the Christian nation she was established and intended to be.
Since then, good, God-fearing, country-loving Christians have had a singular target on the wall: to get their country back to being a Christian nation through any and every means possible. The lowest-hanging fruit? Doing it from the top down through the political process. In other words, get a Christian in office—or at least someone who will stand for and vote for Christian values.
This is the essence of “Christian nationalism.” Let’s bracket off whether this is a true or false narrative, or some mixture of both—meaning, how it holds up under analysis historically, biblically, or even culturally. (If you can’t bracket that off, you can read that evaluation here.)
Instead, let’s ask, “How widespread has this idea become?”
Now we know, thanks to a survey from the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI). Around three in 10 Americans qualify as Christian nationalism “adherents” (11%) or “sympathizers” (21%). This compares to the two-thirds who qualify as “skeptics” (37%) or “rejecters” (27%).
Here were the five questions, each weighted in terms of response, that formed the results:
(1) The U.S. government should declare America a Christian nation; (2) U.S. laws should be based on Christian values; (3) If the U.S. moves away from our Christian foundations, we will not have a country anymore; (4) Being Christian is an important part of being truly American; and (5) God has called Christians to exercise dominion over all areas of American society.
So what marks those who make up the 33% of the American population deemed adherents/sympathizers? They tend to be white evangelical protestants and Hispanic protestants. These are the only two major religious groups among whom a majority hold Christian nationalist beliefs.
Christian nationalism is also strongly linked to five other dynamics: political party, media habits, age, education, and race. For example:
- A majority of Republicans qualify as either Christian nationalism adherents (21%) or sympathizers (35%), compared with one-quarter of Independents (7% adherents and 18% sympathizers) and less than one in five Democrats (5% adherents and 12% sympathizers).
- Two-thirds of Americans who most trust far-right news sources qualify as Christian nationalism adherents (34%) or sympathizers (31%), as do a majority of those who most trust Fox News (18% adherents and 37% sympathizers).
- Support for Christian nationalism is positively associated with lower education levels and older age; AAPI Americans are far less likely to be Christian nationalists than other Americans.
There are geographic dynamics as well:
- The states with the highest levels of support for Christian nationalism – which includes about half of their residents – are Arkansas (54%), Mississippi (52%), West Virginia (51%), Oklahoma (49%), and Wyoming (46%).
- Three states emerge with more than half of their white, non-Hispanic residents supporting Christian nationalism: Arkansas (59%), Mississippi (54%), and West Virginia (53%).
PRRI also found that Christian nationalists are more likely than other Americans to support political violence, believe that “immigrants are invading our country and replacing our cultural and ethnic background,” and that mandatory vaccines for children should be illegal in all or most cases.
So, what to make of these findings? Clearly, while held by a minority of Americans, Christian nationalism and various ideological beliefs attached to it are here to stay.
And while I have engaged Christian nationalism biblically, historically, and culturally in other places, the larger question is how Christians should feel about nationalism in general.
There are two kingdoms. There is the kingdom of men (of nations, power, politics, and economies) and the Kingdom of God, which is about souls and spirits, sin and forgiveness, peace and justice.
In the Old Testament, Joshua, the great leader of the people of Israel and successor to Moses, was leading the people into the Promised Land. After crossing the Jordan River, the very first city they encountered was the city of Jericho, a city hostile to the coming of the Israelites. It soon became clear this was going to be an armed conflict.
God had something else in mind.
To demonstrate that the Promised Land was going to be His gift and His doing, He told Joshua through an angel to march around the city seven times, blow his horns, and then watch as the fortified walls of the city miraculously fell down. But something happened just before the angel delivered that message. When Joshua first engaged the angel, before being told of the marching plan, they had an interesting discourse.
Now, when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”
“Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lord have for his servant?” (Joshua 5:13-14, NIV)
The angel put Joshua and the people of Israel in their place. The Kingdom of God was larger than any one people, or nation, or the petty affairs of human conflict. God’s work on this planet, His redemptive plan, His movement throughout all of history to call human beings into relationship with Himself – ultimately through the cross-work of Christ – that is His side.
Jesus understood this better than anyone. Consider the events at the end of His life as He stood before the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate:
“Are you the king of the Jews?” he asked him.
Jesus replied, “Is this your own question, or did others tell you about me?”
“Am I a Jew?” Pilate retorted. “Your own people and their leading priests brought you to me for trial. Why? What have you done?”
Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world.” (John 18:33-36, NLT)
Jesus makes it clear He is a King, and He does have a Kingdom—but not one with soldiers or maintained by military might. It is not a national or political kingdom at all. It is a Kingdom that is not even of this world.
In fact, making His mission about the kingdoms of this world – about ruling and nations and politics – was one of the temptations Satan put before Jesus at the start of His ministry:
Next, the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. “I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will kneel down and worship me.”
“Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’” (Matthew 4:8-10, NLT)
Jesus knew that the Kingdom of God was so much more than the kingdoms of men.
And so should we.
Sources
Paul D. Miller, “What Is Christian Nationalism?” Christianity Today, February 3, 2021, read online.
“Mapping Christian Nationalism Across the 50 States: Insights from PRRI’s 2025 American Values Atlas,” PRRI, February 17, 2026, read online.
“Webinar | Mapping Christian Nationalism Across All 50 States: Insights from PRRI’s 2025 American Values Atlas,” PRRI, February 17, 2026, watch online.
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Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Anastasiia Stiahailo
