Wyatt Graham

When Christian Nationalism went Wrong — Ansbacher Ratschlag

November 28, 2022 by wagraham Leave a Comment

I explained my theological reasons for rejecting Stephen Wolfe’s “The Case for Christian Nationalism” in my review. Here, I want to point to similar arguments made by Christian nationalists in the last century, which did not stand the test of time.

These principles are: God wills that a people order itself according to natural relations of family, people, and race and thereby exclude others; that the church’s obligation to the natural order remains the same but positive law or changing societal norms can change the shape of how the church integrates into a specific place and time; and that a völkisch society is a necessary, natural good. [Read more…] about When Christian Nationalism went Wrong — Ansbacher Ratschlag

Stephen Wolfe’s Christian Nationalism: A Review

November 26, 2022 by wagraham 6 Comments

Canon Press published Stephen Wolfe’s The Case for Christian Nationalism at an opportune time. After two and half years of COVID, people are ready to resist the state’s imposition on their freedoms. Yet the book has undergone its fair share of controversy. Accusations of racism and kinism or at least an association with it have arisen. I do not fully understand the details of these accusations, and it may be that by the time my review comes out such matters will come to light.

My goal in this article is to review the book Christian Nationalism because it represents a conclusion that many people have intuited over the last decade. As Christians struggle to resist societal pressures and reassert the faith, they have developed an under-defined notion of Christian Nationalism, one likely borne out of the realization that Christians now live in a society that no longer privileges Christian moral norms.

Put more simply, a lot of people feel that the Canada or the USA of their youth no longer exists. The moral structure of their country, the Christian baseline for discourse, and more besides has been replaced with something else. Should we then find ways to survive these transitions as pilgrims or attempt to re-establish a Christian national consensus? [Read more…] about Stephen Wolfe’s Christian Nationalism: A Review

Does Government only Restrain Evil or also Commend the good? the Question MAID Forces

November 12, 2022 by wagraham Leave a Comment

Canada will assist the mentally ill by terminating their life, starting in March of 2023. This assistance euphemistically takes the name, medical assistance in dying (MAID). MAID is euthanasia. It terminates life. The mentally ill in March 2023 and those impoverished due to disability can now choose to receive a sponsored death from the state. [Read more…] about Does Government only Restrain Evil or also Commend the good? the Question MAID Forces

Should We mock Those We Disagree with?

October 10, 2022 by wagraham Leave a Comment

Recently, I saw a Christian Journalist by the name of Megan Basham write, “I make no apologies for mocking people who claim the name of Christ but have pronouns in their bio.”

Basham later reinforced her view by invoking Jesus’s words in Matthew 23 and Luke 13 and saying: “These are Jesus’ words for some of his neighbors. The only-gentle, only-soft Christ is a myth, perpetrated to allow wolves to come into church and lead some to Hell by preaching a Jesus who did not harshly confront the sin of those who were brazenly rewriting God’s law.”

Jesus indeed calls the pharisees white-washed tombs and Herod a fox. And more besides. It is worth reflecting on what Scripture says about mocking to understand if Jesus here models a normative rhetorical technique to mock people who, in Basham’s language, “claim the name of Christ but have pronouns in their bio.” And by extension, to mock people for other similar claims. [Read more…] about Should We mock Those We Disagree with?

Is God Relational? On the Intra-Baptist Debates regarding the Trinity

October 6, 2022 by wagraham 2 Comments

Dr. Strachan here (and elsewhere) may be subtweeting Craig Carter, who has written on God not being “relational.” Dr. Strachan names the God of the Bible as both “personal and relational.” In the regular sense of relational, that is true.

For further context, here are a set of tweets by Dr. Strachan that prompted this short article.

[Read more…]

On the Obligations of the Four Cardinal Virtues and the Grace of the Three Theological Virtues

September 24, 2022 by wagraham 1 Comment

After the assassination Julius Caesar, Cicero wrote “On Obligations” to his son Marcus, who was studying in Athens. He obviously meant it for the public as well, but it has the sense of a father writing to a son.

It might be the most important book on ethics in the West, at least until recent years. Yet it’s recent decline in popularity does not gainsay its classic status or the reason why it become a classic—classics become so because they have a sense of excellence.