Christianity & Christian Nationalism

This page compiles a sampling of videos, courses, articles, and other ICJS resources on Christian nationalism. Includes links to the ICJS short film, Spiritual Warriors: Decoding Christian Nationalism at the Capitol Riot, Matthew D. Taylor’s podcast, Charismatic Revival Fury, and media clips featuring ICJS expertise.

In this short documentary based on three years of research, ICJS Protestant Scholar Matthew D. Taylor describes the central role the New Apostolic Reformation, a relatively new charismatic Christian movement, played in instigating the Capitol riot. 

Activities and discussion questions to accompany the video, Spiritual Warriors: Decoding Christian Nationalism at the Capitol Riot.

In this five-episode podcast, Matthew D. Taylor uses his own deep reporting and dozens of audio clips to examine the history of the independent charismatic Christian leaders associated with Christian nationalism and the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Even as the conversation about Christian nationalism has proliferated, there are raging debates about how to define it and understand its impact on American politics. This minicourse tries to understand these debates while not taking our eyes away from the peril of Christian nationalism.

Howard Thurman was arguably the most important 20th century African American religious leader before Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and is universally acclaimed as the moral anchor to the modern Civil Rights Movement. This minicourse introduces participants to Thurman in the contexts of African American religious and cultural activism.

Today some Christians also identify as being Jewish (a.k.a., Messianic Jews), and many Christians, known as Christian Zionists, support the modern state of Israel for theological reasons. This minicourse examines the background and present-day complexities of these Christian identifications with (or attachments to) Judaism.

Is the United States a “Christian nation,” a “Judeo-Christian nation,” or a “secular nation?” This minicourse explores the theological and historical ideas that underpin the American Christian nationalist narrative, examining both the deep roots and the present-day realities of this Christian nationalist identity in the U.S. and consider the threat that it poses to American religious pluralism.

On Jan. 8, 2023 thousands of supporters of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro stormed government buildings in the capital city of Brasilia, seeking to overthrow the new administration of Luis Inácio Lula da Silva and reinstall Bolsonaro. The insurrection had eerie echoes of the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot.

In his book, Scripture People: Salafi Muslims in Evangelical Christians’ America, ICJS Protestant Scholar Matthew D. Taylor explores the experiences of the Salafi community in America after 9/11 through a comparison with American Evangelicals. Matt shares his insights on this growing and morphing American Salafi movement.

In this online forum led by ICJS Protestant scholar Matthew D. Taylor, taking place on the second anniversary of the Capitol Riot, Onishi will talk about his new book “Preparing for War: The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism—and What Comes Next,” in which he maps the origins of White Christian nationalism, with its steady blending of White grievance politics with evangelicalism, and traces its offshoots.

A panel discussion on Christian nationalism, its impact on the midterm elections, and how it stands to influence the presidential elections in 2024.

From crosses to nooses, shamans to shofars, it can be hard to make sense of the wild mix of religious, civic, and conspiracy-theory images and symbolism that came together in Jericho Marches protesting the election results and culminating at the U.S. Capitol on January 6. What’s followed in terms of response and analysis has, in many cases, raised even more questions.