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Is there such a thing as a Christian nation? I think the answer is yes—but it depends entirely on what we mean by the word nation.
In ordinary conversation, we use the word nation to mean a country. More particularly, when we say “the nation,” we usually mean the United States. Holy Scripture, however, uses the word in a very different way.
Throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, the word we translate as nation refers to a people—those who can be identified as members of a tribe or ethnic group, regardless of where they live or whether they are gathered under a single ruler. It does not mean a nation-state: a country with defined borders and a particular form of government. The nation-state, as we know it, is a relatively recent development in human history, beginning to emerge in the late Middle Ages.
When the Hebrew text speaks of “the nations,” it usually means all the peoples of the world who were not Israelites. These peoples were identified by ethnic identity, not by political borders. Moses’ father-in-law was a Midianite. David’s general Uriah was a Hittite. The Cushites lived south of Egypt. Among the Greeks, anyone who was not Greek was called a “barbarian”—simply meaning they belonged to the nations outside Greek culture. At the height of the Roman Empire, the army was largely drawn from Germanic tribes; yet there was no such place as Germany.
A turning point came with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. After decades of devastating wars among dukes, kings, and emperors, these agreements helped establish the idea of defined territories under centralized rule. They did not create the modern nation-state overnight, but they marked an important step in a long development toward what we now recognize as nations.
These European states were “Christian” in the sense that Christianity was the official religion. Each ruler determined which form of Christianity would be practiced in his territory—usually Roman Catholic, Lutheran, or Calvinist. Individuals might be allowed to practice a different form of faith, but only under limited conditions and often at some personal risk.
Were these truly Christian nations? Not really. They were countries in which one form of Christianity was officially established. Whether the people—or their rulers—actually followed the way of Jesus Christ, or even understood what that meant, is another question entirely. They fought under the banner of Christ, but often against one another. They declared themselves Christian, yet persecuted those who were not, or who practiced Christianity differently. Church attendance might be required by law; whether it was an act of faithful worship was beside the point.
A similar pattern appeared in colonial America. In New England, Calvinism—of the Puritan and Pilgrim varieties—was dominant. In the South, the Church of England was established. Church attendance was often required, and taxes supported the church. Maryland became a haven for Roman Catholics. Parts of Pennsylvania welcomed Quakers. Rhode Island was home to Baptists. German Lutherans settled in New Jersey. Each colony set its own boundaries of tolerance, but none was especially hospitable to Jews or Muslims. Protestants distrusted Catholics, Catholics returned the favor, and nearly everyone found reason to harass the Quakers.
So, is there such a thing as a Christian nation?
Yes—but only in the biblical sense.
A Christian nation is not defined by geography, borders, or government. It is a people. It is those, wherever they live, who confess faith in Christ crucified and seek to walk in the way of the cross. They strive, however imperfectly, to love God with all that they are, and to love their neighbor as themselves. They are not bound together by ethnicity or citizenship, but by their life in Christ.
They may belong to this country or that one, but that citizenship is always secondary to who they are as members of this people.
The author of the First Letter of Peter puts it this way:
“You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people… Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people.”
As John Howard Yoder observed in his 1984 book The Priestly Kingdom, the people of Jesus bear a moral and ethical responsibility within the societies where they live.
A Christian nation is the people of God following Jesus Christ—collectively known as the Church—residing in every country. Wherever they go, they are united in faith with others who follow the way of Christ, regardless of denomination.
They are a people who seek to encounter every person, and all creation, as made in the image of God and beloved by God. They invite all to join them. They exclude no one. They honor the ways in which God is at work in the lives of others, even when that work is named differently.
For all of that, they remain an imperfect people—well aware of their weaknesses and failings, both as individuals and as a community. Their life is one of continual correction and reform, as they seek to embrace all that God is still speaking.
The nation of Christians has nothing in common with today’s Christian nationalism. Nationalism is exclusive, xenophobic, and antagonistic toward any who differ. It is not a religious movement but an attempt to impose its own social norms through political power on an unwilling people.
Whatever it is, it is not Christian—no matter how boldly it claims the name.