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Another Gospel: Christian Nationalism and the Crisis of Evangelical Identity
Joel Looper offers his fellow evangelicals a theological rationale for resisting Christian nationalism.
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—not that there is another gospel, but there are some who are confusing you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.
So wrote Paul to the Galatians who demanded the circumcision of gentile converts. Such rigid adherence to the old law prioritized one culture over the universal church. Joel Looper hears an urgent message for American Christians today in this biblical controversy. Though evangelicals emphasize fidelity to the gospel above all else, many have fallen in step with “a different gospel”—that of Christian nationalism.
Analyzing Scripture, church history, and current events in the United States and Russia, Looper shows how the nation can supplant the church as Christians’ primary allegiance—and why Jesus calls us to a different kind of community. He also engages directly with Christian nationalist authors, exposing their distortions of theology.
Looper communicates a fresh, insider’s perspective on how this false gospel has colonized American evangelicalism. He also shows us how we can revive the traditional Christian vision of community, drawn together by the Holy Spirit. Thoughtful and balanced, Another Gospel offers listeners a way out of the rut of a well-worn argument—and a way forward for the American church.
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—not that there is another gospel, but there are some who are confusing you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.
So wrote Paul to the Galatians who demanded the circumcision of gentile converts. Such rigid adherence to the old law prioritized one culture over the universal church. Joel Looper hears an urgent message for American Christians today in this biblical controversy. Though evangelicals emphasize fidelity to the gospel above all else, many have fallen in step with “a different gospel”—that of Christian nationalism.
Analyzing Scripture, church history, and current events in the United States and Russia, Looper shows how the nation can supplant the church as Christians’ primary allegiance—and why Jesus calls us to a different kind of community. He also engages directly with Christian nationalist authors, exposing their distortions of theology.
Looper communicates a fresh, insider’s perspective on how this false gospel has colonized American evangelicalism. He also shows us how we can revive the traditional Christian vision of community, drawn together by the Holy Spirit. Thoughtful and balanced, Another Gospel offers listeners a way out of the rut of a well-worn argument—and a way forward for the American church.
168 pages, Paperback
Published August 27, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 25, 2025
“Notice that revoking the church's tax-exempt status is not a status confessionis. The legalization of gay marriage is not a status confessionis. Neither is the popularization in certain urban areas of "drag queen story hour" or local schools including LGBT materials in their curricula. Such things happen in the world. That should hardly surprise us. The critical consideration is that they do not warp the message of the kingdom. Our job is not to make the world into the church.
It is to call people out of the world through the proclamation of the gospel message, and in particular calling Americans out of the darkness of national politics as usual and into the wondrous light of the politics of the church”
It is to call people out of the world through the proclamation of the gospel message, and in particular calling Americans out of the darkness of national politics as usual and into the wondrous light of the politics of the church”
September 10, 2024
The United States has had an interesting church-state relationship. Officially the state is neutral. It neither establishes nor disallows religious expressions to exist. Yet, forms of civil religion have existed since the nation was founded. Since the 1950s the national motto is "In God We Trust," and politicians regularly ask that God bless the nation. For the most part, this civil religion is vaguely Christian but only because Christianity is the majority religion in the nation. That said, no denomination dominates, though certain denominations have an influential presence in some states. Consider the role the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints plays in Utah, though the Mormon influence isn't as great today as it once was. We are a religiously diverse nation but it is a rather religious nation as well, though that is changing as well.
Forms of Christian nationalism have been present in the United States from the time the nation was born, though nothing official was established. However, we are seeing the growing influence of Christian nationalism that has affected the identity of certain movements, especially White Evangelicalism. Numerous books have emerged, each with its own take and vantage point. Joel Looper's "Another Gospel" is another addition to the collection. The subtitle speaks of "Christian Nationalism and the Crisis of Evangelical Identity." In this book, Looper, an evangelical himself, tackles the relationship between Christian Nationalism and Evangelical identity. Looper comes to this topic from the vantage point of a teacher at Baylor University and as coordinator for Shalom Mission Communities.
As a reader who is post-evangelical and a retired Mainline Protestant (Disciples of Christ) pastor, I recognize that this book is not directed at me (though perhaps it does speak to me of forty-five years ago). Looper writes as an evangelical to evangelicals calling on them to abandon Christian nationalism, which he believes leads to the deformation of the church, and return to what he calls the "politics of the church." He's not the first person to speak of this understanding of the church, which I struggle to fully understand. That said, I appreciate the reminder that the church can easily get coopted by the culture, including the political culture. I found Looper's presentation challenging in that at times I was fully on board and at others I found myself in a very different place. Regarding the latter, I'm a Mainline Protestant pastor who is politically liberal, open and affirming when it comes to LGBTQ rights and concerns, and lean pro-choice, though I've never been comfortable with that wording. He believes that same-sex relationships are sinful and that gays should remain celibate. He also believes that abortion is sinful. What distinguishes him from Christian Nationalists and culture war evangelicals is that he doesn't believe it is the church's role to push for laws that abolish abortion or limit the rights of LGBTQ persons.
His starting point involves defining the church as a Gospel people who are defined by Jesus, not American culture. The current politicized gospel that has merged with Trumpism is another gospel, and thus a deformed version of Christianity. So, while he might be theologically and even politically conservative, he strongly rejects the impact of Trump on evangelicalism. The result will be, given time, "most of us in the evangelical movement---or, at any rate, our children---will just be traditionalist, individualist, conservative, and passionately patriotic Americans. But not Christians." (p. 20). If Chapter 1 asks whether evangelicalism today is a gospel people, Chapter 2 speaks of "Baptizing the National Body." Here he takes us on a bit of a historical tour from the New Testament to the present, revealing the ways church and state have merged together, and the implications. While the United States has never been a Christian nation, a form of civil religion has taken root within the churches. Chapter 3 is titled "The Scandal of the Evangelical Church," a chapter that begins exploring the impact of Trump on the evangelical church and the embrace of Christian nationalism such that churches are defining themselves by political realities and not Jesus.
This takes us to what I believe is one of the two most important chapters of the book, the other is the final chapter has parallels to Chapter 4 ---"Putin's Christian Nationalism." While I was surprised that Looper didn't discuss Victor Orban's version of Christian nationalism, in many ways Orban is an acolyte of Putin who has embraced the Russian Orthodox Church, making the church essentially an expression of the state. While the vast majority of Russians don't attend church or even believe, Russian Orthodoxy has become an expression of what it means to be Russian. With that in mind, Putin is using religion to create a foundation for his war on Ukraine, such that he seeks to protect the motherland of Russian Orthodoxy, which includes the Crimea, where Vladimir the Great, the Grand Prince of Kyiv was baptized, effectively making the Kievian Rus Christian. What makes Putin so important is that many American evangelicals look to Putin as a model protector of Christian supremacy. Putin is no fool. He's a former KGB agent who knows how to manipulate people, including religious people to sustain his power. There are warnings here that need to be attended to.
Chapter 5 is titled "Gospel Politics." Here Looper offers his vision for the politics of the church. Here he lays out his vision of a path defined by Jesus that steers clear of becoming subservient to the state or the culture. This discussion of a gospel politics that is not connected with the state, but one that follows Jesus in loving the neighbor, going the second mile, feeding the hungry, and more, but most importantly preaching the gospel of Jesus and not a political system.
That leads us to the final chapter "Trump and the Gospel of America." Here, Looper writes as an evangelical to evangelicals telling them that voting for Donald Trump is not appropriate. Why, essentially, he suggests that by doing so Christians embrace this Gospel of America that replaces Jesus as Messiah with Donald Trump. He shows how Trump presents himself in messianic terms as the only one who can save America. Not only that but he is on trial as a substitute for his followers. In other words, he has embraced penal substitutionary atonement and made himself the one who atones for his followers. Interestingly, he shows that many who consider themselves evangelicals who follow Trump no longer feel the need for the church. They may continue believing traditional Christian ideas, including that the Bible is the Word of God and even that it is inerrant, but it has become nothing more than a totem to place on the coffee table. He writes that his point in writing the book is not to show that evangelicals have been treated fine even as they have been pushed to the periphery of American culture, rather, "It's that we never should have made it our business to fight for a seat at the nation's table." (p. 121). He sees only two paths out of this situation -- repentance or judgment.
As I noted at the top, this is a book speaking to a different audience than the one I inhabit. He makes it clear he has little interest in liberal Mainline Protestantism. He believes that we also have lost our way, but he doesn't feel it's his place to correct us. Nevertheless, there are helpful words here that while I might not embrace at points can help us look at ourselves to discern whether we also have embraced an American gospel over the Gospel of Jesus. Mainliners may want to read this book along with Baptizing America: How Mainline Protestants Helped Build Christian Nationalism by Bryan Kaylor and Beau Underwood (Chalice Press). Their book speaks directly to Mainline Protestants, who they suggest set the wheels in motion for the current version of Christian nationalism.
Forms of Christian nationalism have been present in the United States from the time the nation was born, though nothing official was established. However, we are seeing the growing influence of Christian nationalism that has affected the identity of certain movements, especially White Evangelicalism. Numerous books have emerged, each with its own take and vantage point. Joel Looper's "Another Gospel" is another addition to the collection. The subtitle speaks of "Christian Nationalism and the Crisis of Evangelical Identity." In this book, Looper, an evangelical himself, tackles the relationship between Christian Nationalism and Evangelical identity. Looper comes to this topic from the vantage point of a teacher at Baylor University and as coordinator for Shalom Mission Communities.
As a reader who is post-evangelical and a retired Mainline Protestant (Disciples of Christ) pastor, I recognize that this book is not directed at me (though perhaps it does speak to me of forty-five years ago). Looper writes as an evangelical to evangelicals calling on them to abandon Christian nationalism, which he believes leads to the deformation of the church, and return to what he calls the "politics of the church." He's not the first person to speak of this understanding of the church, which I struggle to fully understand. That said, I appreciate the reminder that the church can easily get coopted by the culture, including the political culture. I found Looper's presentation challenging in that at times I was fully on board and at others I found myself in a very different place. Regarding the latter, I'm a Mainline Protestant pastor who is politically liberal, open and affirming when it comes to LGBTQ rights and concerns, and lean pro-choice, though I've never been comfortable with that wording. He believes that same-sex relationships are sinful and that gays should remain celibate. He also believes that abortion is sinful. What distinguishes him from Christian Nationalists and culture war evangelicals is that he doesn't believe it is the church's role to push for laws that abolish abortion or limit the rights of LGBTQ persons.
His starting point involves defining the church as a Gospel people who are defined by Jesus, not American culture. The current politicized gospel that has merged with Trumpism is another gospel, and thus a deformed version of Christianity. So, while he might be theologically and even politically conservative, he strongly rejects the impact of Trump on evangelicalism. The result will be, given time, "most of us in the evangelical movement---or, at any rate, our children---will just be traditionalist, individualist, conservative, and passionately patriotic Americans. But not Christians." (p. 20). If Chapter 1 asks whether evangelicalism today is a gospel people, Chapter 2 speaks of "Baptizing the National Body." Here he takes us on a bit of a historical tour from the New Testament to the present, revealing the ways church and state have merged together, and the implications. While the United States has never been a Christian nation, a form of civil religion has taken root within the churches. Chapter 3 is titled "The Scandal of the Evangelical Church," a chapter that begins exploring the impact of Trump on the evangelical church and the embrace of Christian nationalism such that churches are defining themselves by political realities and not Jesus.
This takes us to what I believe is one of the two most important chapters of the book, the other is the final chapter has parallels to Chapter 4 ---"Putin's Christian Nationalism." While I was surprised that Looper didn't discuss Victor Orban's version of Christian nationalism, in many ways Orban is an acolyte of Putin who has embraced the Russian Orthodox Church, making the church essentially an expression of the state. While the vast majority of Russians don't attend church or even believe, Russian Orthodoxy has become an expression of what it means to be Russian. With that in mind, Putin is using religion to create a foundation for his war on Ukraine, such that he seeks to protect the motherland of Russian Orthodoxy, which includes the Crimea, where Vladimir the Great, the Grand Prince of Kyiv was baptized, effectively making the Kievian Rus Christian. What makes Putin so important is that many American evangelicals look to Putin as a model protector of Christian supremacy. Putin is no fool. He's a former KGB agent who knows how to manipulate people, including religious people to sustain his power. There are warnings here that need to be attended to.
Chapter 5 is titled "Gospel Politics." Here Looper offers his vision for the politics of the church. Here he lays out his vision of a path defined by Jesus that steers clear of becoming subservient to the state or the culture. This discussion of a gospel politics that is not connected with the state, but one that follows Jesus in loving the neighbor, going the second mile, feeding the hungry, and more, but most importantly preaching the gospel of Jesus and not a political system.
That leads us to the final chapter "Trump and the Gospel of America." Here, Looper writes as an evangelical to evangelicals telling them that voting for Donald Trump is not appropriate. Why, essentially, he suggests that by doing so Christians embrace this Gospel of America that replaces Jesus as Messiah with Donald Trump. He shows how Trump presents himself in messianic terms as the only one who can save America. Not only that but he is on trial as a substitute for his followers. In other words, he has embraced penal substitutionary atonement and made himself the one who atones for his followers. Interestingly, he shows that many who consider themselves evangelicals who follow Trump no longer feel the need for the church. They may continue believing traditional Christian ideas, including that the Bible is the Word of God and even that it is inerrant, but it has become nothing more than a totem to place on the coffee table. He writes that his point in writing the book is not to show that evangelicals have been treated fine even as they have been pushed to the periphery of American culture, rather, "It's that we never should have made it our business to fight for a seat at the nation's table." (p. 121). He sees only two paths out of this situation -- repentance or judgment.
As I noted at the top, this is a book speaking to a different audience than the one I inhabit. He makes it clear he has little interest in liberal Mainline Protestantism. He believes that we also have lost our way, but he doesn't feel it's his place to correct us. Nevertheless, there are helpful words here that while I might not embrace at points can help us look at ourselves to discern whether we also have embraced an American gospel over the Gospel of Jesus. Mainliners may want to read this book along with Baptizing America: How Mainline Protestants Helped Build Christian Nationalism by Bryan Kaylor and Beau Underwood (Chalice Press). Their book speaks directly to Mainline Protestants, who they suggest set the wheels in motion for the current version of Christian nationalism.
October 11, 2024
One of the more serious attempts to reckon with Christian nationalism but still a bit of a confused mess with appeals to a largely undefined “evangelicalism.”
September 27, 2024
I normally steer clear of Christian political books due to my lack of comfort in the intermixing of faith and politics. However, the allure of a traditional Evangelical making an argument against voting for Trump is one that I could not resist.
This book is mainly targeted as a two-fold argument against the American Christian right's historical and recent embrace of Christian Nationalism, and the idea of voting for Trump to "free the nation from the tyranny of Leftists and liberals". Being an active church-goer, the argument against Christian Nationalism is one that pops up frequently in the various sermons I've heard. However, what I find the sermons often fail to address are the following:
1. Usually the sermons address the reasons why we should be against Christian Nationalism (with Galatians often cited), but they don't really address what it means to be against Christian Nationalism in this day in age. Putting Jesus and His Church above nations is an obvious point, but how far does that extend in our citizenship of the US?
2. Trump is a unique figure in American politics due to the degree that he embraces messianic claims toward himself. Yes, politicians are often given idol-like status, but it's rare for one to say, "I alone can fix it." "I am the chosen one." and things of that ilk. How, as a Christian, should we respond?
This book addresses both questions and is highly provocative in both of its answers. To its first point, Looper provides an expansive definition of Christian Nationalism. This definition spans ideologies embraced from a range of different perspectives from those of Vladimir Putin to Dr. Martin Luther King. Such a broad definition is designed to convict even those that are left-leaning who may embrace Christian Nationalism without even realizing it. I will not spoil this book by telling you how he makes his arguments, but they are all entirely Scripture-based and he takes the reader on a historical journey that I found to be quite enriching an enlightening. It is for these arguments that I hope that this book endures even beyond these years, and that I hope that even Christians that already have their mind made up against voting for Trump will read it.
To the second point, Looper argues that not only is it Christian to not vote for Trump, but it is also unchristian behavior to vote for him. This argument does not extend to who you should vote for (he offers no advice on that), nor does it make arguments about Trump being a threat to democracy (in the context of this book you'll see why). He simply argues that voting for Trump would severely damage the witness of the Church and that voting for him is akin to voting for an alternative gospel.
I find Looper's arguments to be very persuasive. His arguments are all Scripture-based and he relies on an extensive knowledge of history and current events that I found impressive (the Putin chapter was wonderful). What I found most impressive though is that he challenged and convicted me on my own views in some of the ways that I have embraced Christian Nationalism without realizing it (and I am someone who is keenly aware of the dangers of those issues). It definitely has made me look at this topic in a particularly new light.
For Christians that are thinking of voting for Trump, I hope that you go into this with an open mind and are persuaded. For those Christians that can't even fathom voting him, I hope that you read this and find that you are challenged even by your own perspective. Furthermore, I hope that this book gives you the tools to challenge your Brothers and Sisters in Christ with humility and grace. For those that aren't Christian, I hope that you read this and realize that what has taken ahold of some sects of Christianity today (and some extent historically) is a sickness that ails the Church rather than what the Church is meant to be.
This book is mainly targeted as a two-fold argument against the American Christian right's historical and recent embrace of Christian Nationalism, and the idea of voting for Trump to "free the nation from the tyranny of Leftists and liberals". Being an active church-goer, the argument against Christian Nationalism is one that pops up frequently in the various sermons I've heard. However, what I find the sermons often fail to address are the following:
1. Usually the sermons address the reasons why we should be against Christian Nationalism (with Galatians often cited), but they don't really address what it means to be against Christian Nationalism in this day in age. Putting Jesus and His Church above nations is an obvious point, but how far does that extend in our citizenship of the US?
2. Trump is a unique figure in American politics due to the degree that he embraces messianic claims toward himself. Yes, politicians are often given idol-like status, but it's rare for one to say, "I alone can fix it." "I am the chosen one." and things of that ilk. How, as a Christian, should we respond?
This book addresses both questions and is highly provocative in both of its answers. To its first point, Looper provides an expansive definition of Christian Nationalism. This definition spans ideologies embraced from a range of different perspectives from those of Vladimir Putin to Dr. Martin Luther King. Such a broad definition is designed to convict even those that are left-leaning who may embrace Christian Nationalism without even realizing it. I will not spoil this book by telling you how he makes his arguments, but they are all entirely Scripture-based and he takes the reader on a historical journey that I found to be quite enriching an enlightening. It is for these arguments that I hope that this book endures even beyond these years, and that I hope that even Christians that already have their mind made up against voting for Trump will read it.
To the second point, Looper argues that not only is it Christian to not vote for Trump, but it is also unchristian behavior to vote for him. This argument does not extend to who you should vote for (he offers no advice on that), nor does it make arguments about Trump being a threat to democracy (in the context of this book you'll see why). He simply argues that voting for Trump would severely damage the witness of the Church and that voting for him is akin to voting for an alternative gospel.
I find Looper's arguments to be very persuasive. His arguments are all Scripture-based and he relies on an extensive knowledge of history and current events that I found impressive (the Putin chapter was wonderful). What I found most impressive though is that he challenged and convicted me on my own views in some of the ways that I have embraced Christian Nationalism without realizing it (and I am someone who is keenly aware of the dangers of those issues). It definitely has made me look at this topic in a particularly new light.
For Christians that are thinking of voting for Trump, I hope that you go into this with an open mind and are persuaded. For those Christians that can't even fathom voting him, I hope that you read this and find that you are challenged even by your own perspective. Furthermore, I hope that this book gives you the tools to challenge your Brothers and Sisters in Christ with humility and grace. For those that aren't Christian, I hope that you read this and realize that what has taken ahold of some sects of Christianity today (and some extent historically) is a sickness that ails the Church rather than what the Church is meant to be.
August 23, 2024
Amazing book detailing the problem of Christian Nationalism (for any nation) and the inconsistency of a conservative Republican looking identical and no different from a self-claimed follower of Jesus.
October 8, 2025
Compelling. Convicting.
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