Questions
Was America a Christian Nation?
To answer this question, we need to clarify what we mean by “Christian.” If we define “Christian nation” simply as a nation influenced by ideas drawn from Christianity, populated largely by those who call themselves Christian, or formed by those professing to be Christian, then it might be possible to describe America as “Christian” in a loose cultural sense. American culture has certainly been influenced by certain ideas taken from Christianity and abstracted from its theological convictions.
The trouble with this understanding is that it drains “Christian” of its theological content. The meaning of “Christian” shifts so that Christ is no longer essential to it. Describing America as a Christian nation should not suggest that the United States has some sort of special, covenantal relationship with God. That relationship belongs to the Church. To underscore the difference, think about the difference in meaning between the following phrases:
- Christian doctrine— the shared beliefs of the community united in Christ by faith
- Christian worship— the reverence and submission given to the Triune God by those united in Christ by faith
- Christian nation— a political community defined by geographic, ethnic, historical, and/or cultural associations with Christianity, in which “Christian” functions as a descriptor of collective identity or heritage rather than denoting an intrinsic union with Christ.
While we may affirm the distinction between these uses formally, we need to recognize that confusion that can occur when Christians—those united by Christ in faith—label America “Christian” with no additional description. To the extent that language orients us to reality, we need to take care in our use of “Christian” so that the distinction between a biblical and theological use and a broadly cultural use is apparent.