The Case for Christian Nationalism
1. Nations Before the Fall | V. Conslusion
Previously:
More could be said about the state of integrity, but this suffices to describe the nature of prelapsarian man and his potential social life.1
Here is a brief summation of the more notable assertions made in this chapter:
Different regions of earth, because of variance in food sources and climate, produce disparate levels of objective beauty and adroitness in human beings, at the group level. These differences, both on the micro and macro levels, produce a natural hierarchy.2
The knowledge of good (and, therefore, the knowledge of evil) was a natural gift given to man by the Creator, which transfers from the pre- to post-fall state.3
“Taking dominion” is a natural function of man that “cannot be rescinded, even by God”.4 For the “natural aristocracy” that would form among prelapsarian man, this dominion would not solely rest above nature. These select few would “dominate and rule weaker men”.5
This political theory rests on an accurate account of “human society in the state of integrity”6, yet God’s direct communion and walking with man, in that state, is not of much, if any, consequence.
Should Adam have passed the probationary test and populated a sinless earth, the people of that world would still hold the potential for murderous, warlike violence, both as “sinful individuals and groups”. Man would somehow be allowed to degrade to this state, yet remain in this world to war with unfallen man.7
Prelapsarian society would require the enforcement of both the eternal and temporal kingdoms. This would be (presumably) as envisioned by Calvin, who saw a clear distinction between the two organizations, and not in accordance with other Reformation theologians, such as Huldrych Zwingli, who pushed for much more ecclesiastical power within the civil magistrate.8 This contradicts the common, Reformed position that Adam served as humanity’s prophet, priest, and king.
Stephen Wolfe, The Case for Christian Nationalism (Moscow, Idaho: Canon Press, 2022), 79.
Ibid., 66-68.
Ibid., 47.
Ibid., 53.
Ibid., 72-73.
Ibid., 56.
Ibid., 75.
Though I highly doubt that Wolfe derives his theory from The Book of Mormon, I am struck by how similar this postulation of prelapsarian violence is to the narrative of war between the Nephites and Lamanites.
Matthew J. Tuininga, Calvin’s Political Theology and the Public Engagement of the Church: Christ’s Two Kingdoms, Cambridge Studies in Law and Christianity (Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2017), 41-47, 75-81.