Marquette University e-Publications@Marquette Dissertations (2009 -) Dissertations, Theses, and Professional Projects Chosen Nation: Biblical Theopolitics and the Problem of American Christian Nationalism Braden P. Anderson Marquette University Recommended Citation Anderson, Braden P., "Chosen Nation: Biblical Theopolitics and the Problem of American Christian Nationalism" (2010). Dissertations (2009 -). Paper 64. http://epublications.marquette.edu/dissertations_mu/64 CHOSEN NATION: BIBLICAL THEOPOLITICS AND THE PROBLEM OF AMERICAN CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM by Braden P. Anderson, B.A., M.A. A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School, Marquette University, in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Milwaukee, Wisconsin December 2010 ABSTRACT CHOSEN NATION: BIBLICAL THEOPOLITICS AND THE PROBLEM OF AMERICAN CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM Braden P. Anderson, B.A., M.A. Marquette University, 2010 Christian theopolitics presupposes that every salvation narrative entails a politics, and that every politics presumes a story of salvation. This means that the church faces a host of theopolitical structures contending with the Christian story for the allegiance, formation, and identity of Christians. However, theopolitical scholarship has largely overlooked or misunderstood one of the church’s major challenges today: nationalism. Moreover, this scholarship is unable to properly address the challenge of nationalism due to an inadequate engagement with biblical theopolitics—particularly that of Old Testament Israel—which, in distorted form, is central to nationalism emanating from within the church. In order to supplement theopolitical studies in this regard, this dissertation engages nationalism scholarship to better understand the phenomenon and its relationship to Christianity. It finds that within certain nationalist movements, theological moves are at work that make possible both the formulation and propagation of a national identity that places the nation squarely within the Christian salvation narrative, usually as an extension of Israel, and thereby supplanting the church. In response to this problem, the study develops a biblical theopolitics from both Old and New Testaments of the Christian Bible. This theopolitics presents Israel as the elect and covenanted People of God whom Yahweh establishes as a visible sign of salvation to the nations, the definitive social, political, and economic human community. While Israel diverges from this vocation, Yahweh still provides for its fulfillment by incarnating both Israel and Yahweh in the person of Jesus Christ, culminating in Christ’s suffering and exaltation. Christ subsequently establishes the church to carry on the embodiment of covenant fulfilled, opening it to the rest of humanity. By way of example for the theopolitical scholarship it is intended to supplement, the final part of the dissertation examines Christian nationalism in the United States, both in the form of popular narratives put forth by the American Christian Right, as well as more sophisticated academic political theologies. It evaluates these discourses, determining that their attempts to authenticate a particular national identity inevitably distort Christian understanding of the biblical narrative, and thus the identity and practices of the ecclesia. i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Braden P. Anderson, B.A., M.A. An endeavor of this magnitude can never be credited solely to the person whose name appears on the front. There is always a communal element—usually multiple communities—that helps to shape one’s understanding and articulation of the question under examination, and to sustain and discipline the student during the course of study. Here, I wish to take account of those communities and persons who have done just that, and to express my gratitude to them for their ongoing direction, support, and encouragement not only in crafting this project but also in keeping life real in the process. My graduate education began in political science at the University of Kansas, a program that I hoped would be my entree, ironically, into professional national security policy development. It was there that I met Dr. Thomas Heilke, my graduate director and one who would become a mentor to me, and simultaneously became involved in the graduate-faculty chapter of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, carefully nurtured by Bob and Debbie Clark, who would become dear friends to my family. Thomas, along with our InterVarsity reading group, introduced me to the writings of John Howard Yoder and Stanley Hauerwas. In their work, and in our discussions, I became aware of the significance of the lordship of Jesus Christ in such a way that most of my theological, political, and academic assumptions were upended or drastically reoriented. By the end of my master’s degree there, I could only imagine myself entering theology to further explore this new world. In addition to Asbury Theological Seminary, where I had my first satisfying taste of theology done in community, I thank the Department of Theology at Marquette University for enabling this exploration, for supporting me academically—and financially at points—and for directing my study in a substantive, ecumenical theological setting where genuine faith is considered to be part and parcel of the academic theological enterprise. I thank my peers for their ii tremendous friendship, fellowship, and friendly argument. I also thank my advisor, Dr. Michael Duffey, and my various professors, for guiding my understanding both of Christian theology and of the mechanics of the programs through which I have, incredibly, arrived at this point. This department is unusual for its collegiality, mutual support, and commitment to faith, and I consider myself deeply honored and privileged to have participated in it over the course of six years and two degrees. I am truly thankful. Of course, special thanks are due to my dissertation board, who has overseen my education here with particular attentiveness and grace. I am thankful to Dr. Deirdre Dempsey for her careful review of my biblical engagement and for exercising discipline over my writing, as well as for her practical advice and encouragement in my studies and teaching for the past several years. I thank Dr. Lowell Barrington of Marquette’s Department of Political Science for introducing me to nationalism studies, and thereby indirectly to the topic of this dissertation; for his enthusiasm for, and vigorous interaction with, my growing understanding and engagement of nationalism scholarship; and also for crossing disciplinary boundaries to contribute to the direction of this project. I thank Fr. Thomas Hughson, who since before my entrance into the department has been an unfailing source of heartfelt support, encouragement, and advice—even as we sharply disagreed on political theology—and who, although newly retired, consented to serve on this board. He has been for six years a teacher, graduate director, and wise counselor, and for that I am truly grateful. I especially thank Dr. Steve Long, who has directed my dissertation progress step by step, reading multiple versions of multiple chapters, responding promptly, fairly, and substantively at every turn. He has provided throughout both wise and intelligent guidance on how to understand and articulate matters that are at the very heart of my theological passions, and he has continually pointed me toward further study and deeper understanding. I look forward to many more years of his friendship and mentorship. I also wish to thank Meadowbrook Church of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, who welcomed my family and me with open arms a month into our relocation to Milwaukee, and where we have iii been a part of the congregation ever since. Meadowbrook has been an ecclesial space of considerable love, hospitality, and support, both to me in my academic work and to my wife and children as we live in and through this rigorous and often surreal stage in our journey together. I thank the pastoral leadership, our New Life Community, and our cell group for caring deeply for my family, for providing me space to teach where other churches fear to tread, and for engaging with me in many conversations over who we are as a church and the implications of that for our life together and in all of our other communities. Meadowbrook has been for us our home away from home, our second family, and a source of enduring friendship. I especially wish to thank my parents, Ken and Evelyn Anderson, and my sister, Kerri Anderson, for constantly encouraging and sustaining us in so many ways over the past years. As well my parents-in-law, Jim and Annette Singletary, who, even in being deprived of the presence of their daughter, continue to support our life and vocation here. We are particularly thankful for the loving relationships our children enjoy with their grandparents, which have been a lifeline for us when we have missed home the most. To our children, Benjamin and Madelyn, I give my love. Through those two precious souls, in whom I genuinely delight, I am learning much of what is important in human life together. May they grow to find their place in the People of God. To my wife, Elizabeth, I give my love and gratitude for enduring a process that has consumed nine of the eleven years of our marriage, and that has changed both of us in significant and often unexpected ways. She agreed in our first year to my leaving secure and lucrative employment in order to follow a better calling, and she has all along held us together with her even temperament and grace under pressure, her patient love, and her very hard work. I am, and will always be, a better person because of her. Finally, I give thanks to the Triune God, who while redeeming and sustaining the cosmos, has condescended to carry on to eventual completion a work in me that is very much still in process. I do not merely thank him for carrying us this far, but I submit this small work to him as what I pray is an acceptable sacrifice, which, if not for our Lord and his Kingdom, is nothing.