There’s an ongoing debate about whether or not the United States is a Christian nation. You get comments back and forth about what the founders intended, etc. I think we need to step back at least one step before we can begin to address that question.
We need to ask, “What is a Christian nation?” How do we define that phrase? What makes a nation Christian versus being a secular nation or being of another religion?
What nations of the world would we define as Christian? You’d probably have to put Vatican City into that group, right? With the Pope the head of the country, is there any doubt? What others would be included? Unless it’s changed recently, Argentina’s constitution clearly states: “The Federal Government supports the Roman Catholic Apostolic religion.” I’m sure many other countries have similar declarations. Are all of them Christian nations?
Are all of the nations where the majority of the people claim some form of Christianity Christian nations? Is that how we make the determination?
Some say that upholding certain Christian teachings makes a country Christian. Which principles, in your opinion, have to be upheld for a country to be considered Christian?
How would you define “a Christian nation?”
[Congrats to Scott McCown, winner of the certificate for a Mosaic Bible. Special thanks to Dr. Mads Haahr of the School of Computer Science and Statistics at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland for choosing our winner (through his random.org website.)]
I guess it would be kinda like the”Sooner Nation” in Oklahoma. If you follow the Oklahoma football team, you belong to the Sooner Nation.
( even if we did kick their butt) :)
If you follow Jesus Christ, you belong to the “Christian Nation.”
Great post Sir! Seems we have the characteristics of a “Christian Nation” when it’s convienent. (ex..terrorist attacks, disasters…etc) Otherwise, things tend to be tossed up and done according to the desire of those who “think” they are in control. When it will “help” those in control, they will claim Christianity when trying to prove a point or run for office, otherwise it’s non- existent.
I may be a bit harsh, I apologize if so. But as you said we are labeled as a Christian nation vs. those labeled Islamic, jewish, Hindu…etc….according to man we are a Christian Nation by mere label.
Sorry, you didn’t say we are labeled, it was just the direction you pointed me in as I thought about it. Didn’t want to mis-quote you Sir…
this pushed me over the top to be totally convinced we are NOT:
http://reasonweekly.com/reasonweekly-originals/are-americans-faking-religiosity
we are a democracy, so I guess if we can get 51% to claim faith in God and occasionally enter a church building or say a pray, Yea! for us. We are a xn nation!
I think apart from the nation of 1 Peter 2:9, anything nation labeled “Christian” is an oxymoron. As I see it, to label America, Britain, Spain or any nation for that matter as “Christian” is the antithesis of what Jesus intended.
Reasonweekly is a website by atheists, for atheists. It’s safe to assume that they are biased to take any available data and display it in the worst possible light to the religious in America and elsewhere.
What’s in the DNA of the culture? I’ve visited and lived in a lot of places around the world. There is a lot of “Christian DNA” in the way Americans think–a lot more than most people seem to assume. And there’s a lot less “Christian DNA” in other countries than we Christians tend to assume.
Interesting thoughts, guys.
Brian: I’d like to see Barna or Pew do the same study to see how the results match up.
Jon: That’s an interesting criterion, the DNA of a culture. Let’s pin that down a bit: what would that look like? What do you see more of here that you see less of in other countries? Just trying to define terms here.
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I just have some half-baked thoughts. It’s late, and I want to explore this topic more on Simply Gospel (have for a while in fact). Just haven’t had the energy/willpower:
1. Most of the time I hear the argument come back to “being founded on Christian values,” and that may have been true of the colonies, but our nation was actually founded on taxation principles. I think Jesus would have told our founding fathers to pay their taxes and cool down.
2. I think we sometimes confuse Christian values with “conservative” values, i.e. militarization, patriotism, capitalism, 2nd amendment, etc. We then see any threats on those as threats to being a “Christian nation.” Often, when I hear Christians bring up the idea of a “Christian nation,” they are really emphasizing political values as opposed to spiritual ones.
3. The more I study, the more I’m convinced that the term “Christian nation” in the geo-political sense is inconsistent with new testament doctrine. “My kingdom is not of this world,” and the like. I sometimes think it is a holdover from the OT that we want to cling onto because it reinforces our adherence to point number 2.
4. I think Laymond sums it all up better than I did.
Tim,
Thanks for making me think again on this topic.
Can a family be Christian? As far as I know all my children and their spouses and children will be worshiping with other Christians on any given Sunday. Are we a Christian Family? I would say YES, thankfully. I come from a larger family still. Not only do we have six children but I come from a family of six children and all six of us are Christians and each one of our families are Christian. Do you see where I am headed with this? When I say Christian, I mean those who do not give lip service to following Jesus. A couple of years ago I read a study in Christianity Today that basically divided those who said they were Christians into five groups. From information given on those five groups I concluded only about 40 % truly were trying to follow Jesus. From that stand point NO we are not a Christian nation. But I am convinced that we were at one time a Christian nation based on the commitment level that once existed. I need to clarify here, this is not the same as saying,”We are a Muslim nation”, for the muslim believes in a Theocracy. They believe or give lip service to the idea that Allah is calling the shots. I do not think any of our founding fathers have ever believed that. So when the term Christian Nation has been used it is not in such a manner.
Interesting to me is the fact that the “Deist” Benjamin Franklin called on those who were gathered to write the constitution to daily prayer and those present went along with the idea.
God bless,
Gerry Parker
I love it!
The answer is actually very simple. Characteristics of a Christian nation.
1. A Christian Nation is a Republican form of government. Article IV Section 4 (representative government)
2. Sepration of Church and State. The State does not dictate a religion
3. Freedom of Conscious- able to speak freely without fear of reprisal.
4. Is able to distinguse between theology and behavior. (The Ten Commandments are a behaviorial not a theological statement and are thus displayed in government buildings as opposed to churches.
5. Has a free market approach to religion—-no coercion
These constitute a “Christian Nation” and are the principles upon which is the uniqueness of America and are also the characteristics to which a christian should adhere in his relationship to society as a whole.
J,
While I appreciate the input, it sounds to me like you started with what the United States is and worked backwards. Or are there Scriptures you would have us look at to support these assertions?
Grace and peace,
Tim Archer