Baptist historian and son explore faithful opposition to Christian Nationalism
By Aaron Weaver
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — A Baptist historian and her son brought historical insight and generational perspective to a shared conversation on Christian nationalism at a recent Baptist conference.
Dr. Carol Crawford Holcomb, longtime professor of church history and Baptist studies at the University of Mary Hardin‑Baylor, joined her son Daniel Holcomb, a 21-year-old senior at Belmont University, to explore what faithful opposition to Christian nationalism looks like for Baptists today.
The Holcombs led the discussion during a breakout session of the Tri-State CBF Assembly called “TAG,” a gathering of Cooperative Baptists from Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee held at First Baptist Church in Chattanooga, Tenn.
“This is not an easy subject and it’s actually heavy and can be even discouraging,” Daniel admitted. “But I care deeply about this issue and I’m not alone. Many of my generation are also paying attention, asking hard questions, and looking for faithful ways forward.”
Daniel shared that he grew up in a politically aware household and realized early on that theology affects people in tangible ways. Study and conversations with pastors convinced him that the fusion of faith and nationalism demands a careful, Baptist response.
Carol clarified what Christian nationalism is not.
“You can serve your country and love your country and celebrate your country and not be a Christian nationalist,” she said. “It’s also not a matter of political party,” noting that believers on both sides of the aisle are concerned. Nor, she added, should the term become a pejorative label.
“We live with family and friends and we are going to have to swim in these waters where we have differences of opinion and we can’t contribute to division by reducing people to one label,” she said.
Daniel then offered his working definition.
“American Christian nationalism is a worldview that identifies America as a Christian nation,” he said. “It holds that America has been ordained by God and seeks to integrate Christian beliefs into public policy and law.”
Such thinking, Daniel said, merges faith and political power, suggesting that “for one to be a true American, one must be Christian.” The ideology feeds an us‑versus‑them mentality and often assumes a white Protestant norm. “It’s idolatry, masked in Christian language and symbolism,” he concluded. “Frankly, Christian nationalism is not Christianity.”
To counter the claims of Christian nationalism, Carol rooted the conversation in Jesus’ summary of the law.
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and all your mind,” she quoted, warning that Christian nationalism “promotes a shallow understanding of love and of God by making God generic and making love anemic.”
Loving God, she said, should never be used to advance political ambitions, and loving neighbor means practicing justice rather than baptizing selfishness.
Daniel identified what he called “utilitarian evangelism” — using the gospel to serve political ends. He recalled a friend who defended a nationalist activist by saying the activist “may have been rough around the edges … but he’s bringing people to God.”
Daniel’s reply was blunt: “Once we make empire do our evangelizing, we lose the gospel itself.” “We cannot fulfill the Great Commission with the Great Commandment,” he said.
Daniel’s second theological concern was what he termed the “gospel of triumph.” “The gospel of triumph preaches glory through domination and empire building,” he explained, whereas “the gospel of the cross preaches glory through humility and suffering on a cross.”
In his analysis, triumphalism relies on “violence, vengeance, cruelty, fear and hate,” while the crucified Christ embodies mercy and forgiveness. “The cross is ultimately an inversion of power, while Christian nationalism is very much a utilization of power,” Daniel said.
The Holcombs also addressed Baptist history.
Carol called Christian nationalism “historical amnesia,” noting that Baptists and other dissenters were jailed in colonial America. When Christians romanticize a state church, she said, the result is a loss of spiritual integrity. Quoting Baptist statesman James Dunn, she said wedding the church to the state is like “being hugged by a bear: At first it’s warm and fuzzy and then it kills you.”
The TAG breakout session closed with practical advice.
“Pray without ceasing,” Carol urged, and “resist the algorithm‑driven divisions of social media.”
Daniel left listeners with a provocative charge. “The church doesn’t exist to win. It exists to be faithful,” he said. The real danger, he added, isn’t secular culture but “a church that wants Caesar’s throne more than Jesus’s towel and basin.” Rather than trying to “save America for Christianity,” he said, Christians should witness to God’s kingdom. “We resist not to save the kingdom, but because the kingdom already reigns.”
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