The Case for Christian Nationalism

1. Nations Before the Fall | III. Civil Fellowship

Previously:

The Case for Christian Nationalism

Since we can affirm or deny whether something would exist in the prelapsarian state (or at least conclude things above mere speculation), we might be able to construct some robust theory about prelapsarian social life… I contend that providing an account of human society in the state of integrity is essential to Christian political theory.¹

Can Wolfe tell us what it is like to live in the direct presence of God? If not, then there is no way he could achieve a “robust theory about prelapsarian social life.” He claims that, since we can identify things as good (friendship) or as sinful (slavery), we can affirm the former as existing before the fall and deny the latter.² Yet, later he will argue for the potential of violence in a sinless world, breaking with his own logic by injecting Sixth Commandment violations into this sinless sphere of existence.³ He claims this potential expires only in the future state of glory, but gives no explanation how the society of glory would differ from a post-probationary, non-lapsarian society, where Adam chose to obey God’s moral commandments.

Though Wolfe, earlier in the book, claims others lack understanding of the doctrine of Total Depravity, his insistence on one-to-one mapping of our postlapsarian societal norms to prelapsarian man exposes his accusation as a point of projection. As the Westminster Confession of Faith says, “By this sin they fell from their original righteousness and communion with God, and so became dead in sin, and wholly defiled in all the parts and faculties of soul and body.” (emphasis mine)⁴ There is not a single aspect of our behavior that is not tainted by sin, nor which does not have the potential of being nearly unrecognizable in comparison to any prelapsarian counterpart. Again, why does direct communion with the Creator (Genesis 3:8), undoubtedly the single most consequential factor in all of prelapsarian earth, not enter into every aspect of his social theory? Though it has the veneer of academic thought, in the end, Wolfe’s assertions are no more accurate than a Neo-Apostolic Reformation “prophet’s” claims of what they saw during a trip to heaven.

We are then given a brief explanation of prelapsarian marriage, where Wolfe accounts for the more egalitarian relationship that existed before God’s curse (Genesis 3:16).⁵ It would have also been worth pondering how much Jesus’s explanation of post-resurrection relations (Matthew 22:30) may describe aspects of this hypothetical, post-probationary society. Instead, we jump head-first into “households combine to form distinct civil societies.” Of course, that statement is absolutely true for our postlapsarian world, but Wolfe is still describing things he believes equally transfer between the two states.

In civil fellowship, man can exercise his distinctively human faculties to love his neighbor as himself.⁶

This sentence is ironic, given the previous statement that “much good would result in the world if we all preferred our own.”⁷ Wolfe has certainly cast himself as the lawyer asking, “And who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:29)

We are given a long description on the natural need for variance in vocations,⁸ something that is certain post-fall, and has some circumstantial Scriptural evidence for also being true in the state of glory in the Kingdom, since we may be given more responsibilities (Matthew 25:21). As with everything else in this section, there is no direct Scriptural evidence that should lead Wolfe to his surety that prelapsarian society would require multiple vocations, any more than it would be a world full of garden tenders. We can say that it is good for a postlapsarian civil society to have a diversity of vocations working together, and that this is naturally evident, but we cannot say its goodness is derived from it matching prelapsarian society. In fact, the curse laid upon man negatively modified vocation from the pre- to post-fall state (Genesis 3:17-19).

Everyday interactions with others are limited by a locale, and [man] is ignorant of events and individuals in faraway places and even in the next town over. The fall did not cause this.⁹

Though one cannot wholly disagree with this statement, once again, we cannot be entirely sure how post-probationary, non-lapsarian man would function, nor how direct communion with an omnipresent being would affect our global interactions. These absolute claims would be of small consequence if they did not explicitly serve as the ethical foundation of his theory. He again makes the claim that prelapsarian communities would develop different languages.¹⁰ As mentioned earlier, this goes against the Tower of Babel narrative in Scripture (Genesis 11:1-9).

Unfallen man is benevolent to all but can only be beneficent… to some, and this limitation is based not merely in geographic closeness but in shared understanding, expectations, and culture... Even the in-group/out-group distinction is good... effectively bounding particular expectations and preserving cultural distinctives.¹¹

While we certainly are, at most times, limited by our location and immediate relations, our Lord made a point to challenge his disciples to not develop an inward preference for people naturally inclined to return their affection, “For even sinners love those who love them” (Luke 6:30-36). Wolfe finishes this section by foreshadowing a later argument that “man, by his nature, requires particularity and must dwell among similar people to live well.”¹² There is a fine line between accepting the necessity for shared language and culture, in a fallen world, and developing a conspicuous preference for it. When this particularity escapes the realm of language and customs and moves into forcing others into silence, by the end of a sword, should they dissent with theological and doctrinal attestations, a Christian society begins to eschew its higher obligations (1 Peter 2:21-23).

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The Case for Christian Nationalism

1. Stephen Wolfe, The Case for Christian Nationalism (Moscow, Idaho: Canon Press, 2022), 56.

2. Ibid., 56.

3. Ibid., 75.

4. The Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms: As Adopted by the Orthodox Presbyterian Church : With Proof Texts (Lawrenceville, Ga.: Christian Education & Publications Committee of the Presbyterian Church in America, 2007), sec. 6.2.

5. Stephen Wolfe, 57-58.

6. Ibid., 59-60.

7. Ibid., 25.

8. Ibid., 60-63.

9. Ibid., 64.

10. Ibid., 64.

11. Ibid., 65.

12. Ibid., 66.