Forgotten Luther IV

Discipleship in a Democracy: Responding to the Threat of
Christian Nationalism

A brief overview

As part of civil society, Christian congregations in many parts of the world are facing a very acute crisis today. Put simply, it is the global rise of authoritarianism that is threatening the institution of democracy, that is, government of, by and for the people. In many countries in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas, the danger of authoritarianism is increasing significantly. This anti-democratic phenomenon is also threatening the form of government that has been cherished during the 248-year history of the United States of America.

As in other countries, the move away from democracy is being fueled by religious nationalism, the use of religious symbols to justify a nation's claim to moral supremacy. In the United States the claim to be a "Christian nation", endowed by God with a superior ability to lead -- and to impose its will on other countries -- is supported by an ideology growing in popularity today. Because it is advocated by White people who fear losing their traditional position of privilege and power, it is known as White Christian Nationalism. Given the nation’s vast economic and military power, the threat to democracy in the U.S. has a special urgency.

The Symposium

The goal of this Symposium is to explore the factors that have given rise to White Christian Nationalism in the United States, to examine its present contours, measure its influence in the population generally and in the U.S. Congress in particular, and analyze its compatibility, or lack thereof, with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Speakers will take a close look at White Christian Nationalist beliefs, among them their skewered view of U.S. history, the assumption of White superiority and the erosion of the long-standing commitment to the separation of church and state. Although these issues belong to the present political discussion in the U.S., including attempts to undermine the rule of law and the role of the Judiciary itself, the Symposium will seek to avoid simply partisan political debates.

At the same time, the Symposium will ask what the Christian faith, especially as seen through lens of Reformation theology, has to say in response to White Christian Nationalism. What did Martin Luther have to say about the sovereignty of God over all the nations, the global meaning of the cross of Christ and the relationship of church to state? An underlying concern is how congregations, pastors and deacons deal with the presence of White Christian Nationalists in their midst.

History

The first Symposium in this series, “The Forgotten Luther: Reclaiming the Social-Economic Dimension of the Reformation” (2016), drew our attention to Martin Luther’s little-known but highly-consequential economic reforms, expressed visually in the common chest (Gemeine Kasten), an actual iron-clad wooden box which was the symbol or logo for wealth-sharing activities such as feeding the hungry and providing health care based not on the ability to pay but on need. In Luther’s view, the common chest was one way in which God’s grace could take on reality in daily life.

The second Symposium, “The Forgotten Luther II: Reclaiming the Church’s Public Witness” (study book published by Fortress Press, 2019), began with an historical reflection on the way Luther worked with the political authorities of his day, in particular with Frederick the Wise and the Wittenberg Town Council, to enact legislation that would ensure that all young people, including girls and poor children, would have access to publicly-funded education. The Symposium affirmed Luther's understanding of civil government as a gift from God, responsible to God for containing evil, maintaining peace and good order, and ensuring that no person would be hungry or in want.

This third Symposium, “The Forgotten Luther III: Reclaiming the Vision of World Community,” sought to draw the global implications of Luther’s holistic theology and the economic reforms built upon it. In particular, it listened to the ways in which some churches in the Global South have been inspired by Luther’s insights into the heart of the biblical message. Some of these churches, inspired by Luther, are addressing the difficult systemic issues that perpetuate illiteracy, hunger and poverty. They have shown convincingly how the establishment of more just economic and political structures is integral to the mission of the church.

The Symposium - 2024

The fourth Symposium, scheduled for October 25 and 26, 2024, will seek to gather the insights of previous symposia to address a specific threat to both church and society, namely, the rise of authoritarian government intent on misusing the role of the Christian church. Its focus will be on the rising popularity of White Christian Nationalism in the United States. At the same time, African, Asian and Latin American participants in an earlier seminar on this same theme, sponsored jointly by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission (FELM), a branch of the Church of Finland, will provide an important global dimension to our Symposium.

The Legacy of Carter Lindberg

This Symposium in 2024 will deeply miss Carter Lindberg, a pioneer in the effort to bring the theology of the Reformation to bear on the burning issues of the day. Carter was planning to be with us when he unexpectedly died earlier this year. Professor Emeritus of Church History at Boston University School of Theology, Carter inspired the Forgotten Luther project, of which this Symposium is a part, with his ground-breaking study, Beyond Charity: Reformation Initiatives for the Poor (Fortress, 1993). Carter documented in depth how Martin Luther was inspired in the reading of Scripture to move beyond acts of charity to address the systemic causes of human suffering.

In Luther’s time and in our time, according to Carter, these causes are directly linked to the economic and political systems of particular countries. As was the case for the biblical prophets, church leaders today, lay and clergy, have discovered that attempts to deal with the underlying economic structures have brought them into dialogue, and sometimes conflict, with their respective governments.

In the United States we have found that many church people are either a) unaware of Luther’s significant social-economic reforms or b) reluctant to engage the authorities of government because of the belief that the church should stay out of political life altogether. At times we have found that a deeply ingrained pietism, much of which was both beneficial and biblically-based, also produced a type of “quietism” (a refusal to get involved in public life), which was, in Carter's view, nothing less than an abdication of Christ’s call to discipleship.