IS THE UNITED STATES A CHRISTIAN NATION?

 I have been an American citizen since my physical birth in 1950 and a Christian since my spiritual birth in 1969. I do not believe the United States (hereafter called America) is a Christian nation. My reasoning is as follows.

Much of the support for America being a Christian nation rests upon the false notion that America is the New Israel- the Israel of the Hebrew Scriptures, not the current State of Israel. By being the New Israel, America is under the same covenantal obligations to worship and honor God and suffer punishment if it does not. While God can punish nations (America among them) via God’s mysterious ways, America is not in covenantal relationship with the biblical Creator.

The premise often cited that America is in such a covenantal relationship stems from the statement from Puritan governor John Winthrop in 1630 as the Puritans set to land in the Massachusetts Bay colony. The Puritans were to be in covenant as God’s people and they were likened as a “city upon the hill” (a popular phrase even today). 2 Samuel 7:10 was a key verse taken from the Hebrew Scriptures to compare the Puritans taking land in America to the ancient Israelites taking land in Canaan. However, God in the Hebrew Scriptures always initiated a covenant, not people. Thus, Winthrop was in effect making God a “silent partner” in the Puritan endeavor, a position I suspect God would not accept.

Also, Winthrop could not have spoken for the motivations of other colonists- past, present, and future- to the North American shores. Indeed, numerous motivations drew the colonists. Prisoners were sent to the Georgia penal colony. Folks desiring opportunities to make money went to Virginia. Religious dissenters fleeing persecutions established colonies in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Rhode Island as well as Massachusetts. Religion, upward social mobility, and economic opportunities all played a part in the European settlement in early America. Sometimes a desire to glorify God had a part, sometimes not.

Moreover, America is a secular constitutional republic composed peoples of all faiths with guaranteed protection of worship (or lack of worship) and which requires no religious test for holding political office. Our Declaration of Independence makes only a general reference to God while our Constitution establishes that “we the people” are responsible for our nation’s destiny with no reference to any deity. In contrast, ancient Israel was a theocracy of unity between political governance and religious faith. God was to be in charge.

The thought of “American Exceptionalism” is often defined around America being a Christian nation. What really makes America exceptional is representative government, laws applied equally to all persons, property rights, independent courts, equal opportunity to reach our dreams, etc. Sometimes we Americans live up to our values and sometimes not. I do believe that God has been involved in America and has been involved in other nations where human rights and dignity have also been upheld. However, divine involvement does not make a nation Christian.

Many folks point to statements from our presidents and other national leaders about God and God’s providence in our nation’s founding and development. At best they are aspirational statements appealing to the “better angels” of our nature. At worst they are attempts to manipulate our emotions. Two of the most used statements are-

·       “So help us God”- I often wonder how much effort was put into seeking God’s wisdom before deciding upon a course of action rather than merely requesting God’s assistance after a decision for action is reached

·       “God bless America (or the United States of America)”- If said after a wise decision is reached, I am all for its utterance. At the same time God blesses all nations in similar situations

Another major flaw in the assertion that the United States is a Christian nation is the relative absence of the Church, even the mention of the Church much less the Church’s involvement in the situation, by many advocates of this view. This omission apparently stems from the New Israel analogy from the Hebrew Scriptures rather than from the New Testament with the focus on the Church. If any institution is the “New Israel” it is the Church, a multinational body of believers following Jesus Christ. Christians are “resident aliens” in this world who give primary allegiance to God and secondary to nationality.

The Pentecost event recorded in the second chapter of Acts is instructive for us here. The Holy Spirit like a rushing wind descended on the disciples of the Risen Jesus and the disciples are able to speak in the languages of the Jewish pilgrims from many nations staying in Jerusalem for Pentecost. The Apostle Peter began preaching to the astonished pilgrims proclaiming to them the Good News through texts from Joel and a Davidic psalm from the Hebrew Scriptures. As a result, about three thousand accepted the message and were baptized.

The followers of Jesus, old and new, devoted themselves to learning from the Apostles, to fellowship, to common meals, and to prayer. They worshipped in the Temple, met in their homes, shared possessions, and were a common witness to others. Thus, this Pentecost is considered by many to be the “birthday” of the Church. From the beginning, the Church was multinational, and believers were to be separated from the corrupt generation of the world. God thus passed on the carrier of God’s hope of salvation from the singular nation of Israel to a multinational and multicultural body- The Church.

Similarly, Hebrew Scriptures commonly misapplied to the renewal of America (or any other nation) should be correctly applied to the renewal of the Church. For example, 2 Chronicles 7:14- if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and...turn from their wicked ways...I will forgive their sin and will heal their land- is often misused in this regard. “My people” today in the biblical sense are Christians and not all Americans because of the many and varied faiths in America. Nevertheless, if the Church in any nation is renewed that nation can be renewed. 

It is for these reasons that I do not believe that America is a Christian nation. But do not be mistaken- I do believe that America is the greatest nation that ever existed, and that America is the “last best hope of the world.” May God bless America and other nations as Christians seek to extend divine righteousness, mercy, and love throughout our world.