Religious Enemies of Liberalism and Christian Realist Defense: The Battle for the Soul of American Democracy
R. Ward Holder
St. Anselm College
Date: Monday,听September 30, 2024
Time:听12 - 1pm
Location:听24 Quincy Road, Conference Room
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In 2023, David P. Gushee published听Defending Democracy from Its Christian Enemies. Gushee鈥檚 diagnosis was familiar 鈥� that conservative and fundamentalist White Christian movements in America and abroad threatened democracy. Gushee termed this movement 鈥渁uthoritarian reactionary Christianity.鈥� Gushee鈥檚 solution, however, is politically problematic. Gushee finds the solution in renewing the democratic covenant, a process that would draw on the Baptist democratic tradition and the Black Christian democratic tradition in the United States. Both of these offer significant flaws.听
A different solution comes from Reinhold Niebuhr in his听The Children of Light and the Children of Darkness. In that work, Niebuhr sought to craft an argument about two ways of being in the world, two human paths.听 That different diagnosis, Holder will argue, allows for a different proposed resolution that is more politically realistic. He wrote, 鈥溾�ome of the greatest perils to democracy arise from the fanaticism of moral idealists who are not conscious of the corruption of self-interest in their professed ideals. Democracy therefore requires something more than a religious devotion to moral ideals. It requires religious humility.鈥� Niebuhr鈥檚 religious and democratic humility, sometimes called his two-fold test of tolerance, provides a far more practicable solution.
R. Ward Holder is professor of theology and politics at Saint Anselm College, and Director of the Center for the Study of Religion and Public Life at the college. Among his other works, he has authored John Calvin and the Grounding of Interpretation: Calvin鈥檚 First Commentaries, Brill, 2006; Crisis and Renewal: The Era of the Reformations, Westminster John Knox, 2009; and has edited A Companion to Paul in the Reformation, Brill, 2009; and John Calvin in Context, Cambridge University Press, 2019. Among his political theological studies he has co-authored The Irony of Barack Obama: Barack Obama, Reinhold Niebuhr, and the Problem of Christian Statecraft, Ashgate, 2012; and Reinhold Niebuhr in Theory and Practice: Christian Realism and Democracy in America in the Twenty-First Century, Lexington, 2019. His essays have appeared in Christian Century, Church History, Politics and Religion, and Society. His latest book is John Calvin and the Christian Tradition: Scripture, Memory, and the Western Mind, Cambridge, 2022.
Gushee, David P. Defending Democracy from Its Christian Enemies. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2023.
Herrmann, Andrew F. 鈥淧urity, Nationalism, and Whiteness: The Fracturing of Fundamentalist Evangelicalism.鈥� International Review of Qualitative Research 13, no. 4 (2021): 414-432. https://doi.org/10.1177/1940844720937813
Holder, R. Ward. 鈥淩einhold Niebuhr, Virtue and Political Society: A Key to the Christian Character of Christian Realism.鈥� In Paradoxical Virtue: Reinhold Niebuhr and the Virtue Tradition, edited by Kevin Carnahan and David True. New York: Routledge, 2020.
Hunter, James Davison. 鈥淩eligion and Political Civility: The Coming Generation of American Evangelicals.鈥� Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 23, no. 4 (1984): 364鈥�80. https://doi.org/10.2307/1385725
Josephson, Peter, and R. Ward Holder. Reinhold Niebuhr in Theory and Practice: Christian Realism and Democracy in America in the Twenty-First Century. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2018.
Lovin, Robin W. 鈥淐hristian Realism for the Twenty-First Century.鈥� Journal of Religious Ethics 37, no. 4 (2009): 669-682. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9795.2009.00407
Paipais, Vassilios. 鈥淩einhold Niebuhr and the Christian Realist Pendulum.鈥� Journal of International Political Theory 17, no. 2 (2020): 185-202. https://doi.org/10.1177/1755088220979001
Zhou, Shaoqing. 鈥淎merican Evangelical Nationalism: History, Status Quo, and Outlook.鈥� International Journal of Anthropology and Ethnology 7, no. 22 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41257-023-00101-3
On June 30, 2024, concerning a new Louisiana law that requires the Ten Commandments to be displayed in all public classrooms. The law is part of a more significant movement of conservative Christians to incorporate religion into schools. The law has been challenged and brought to court, but if it stands, teachers will be required by law to post the Ten Commandments in their classrooms. However, the punishment for not doing so remains unknown. The source of the funds for the Ten Commandments displays remains undetermined, with some lawmakers saying donations will fund them. However, the law also leaves room for government funding. This case in Louisiana offers a glimpse into the threat religious nationalism poses to democracy, as exemplified by their attempts to impose their religious beliefs on secular and non-Christian groups and their willingness to disregard religious tolerance in a country where religious freedom is paramount. Holder鈥檚 lunch colloquium will unpack the problem that white Christian Nationalism poses to democracy.
Dr. R. Ward Holder delivering his luncheon colloquium.
Photo credits: Christopher Soldt, MTS
On September 30th, the Boisi Center welcomed back R. Ward Holder, a professor of theology and politics at Saint Anselm College, to host a luncheon colloquium titled 鈥淩eligious Enemies of Liberalism and Christian Realist Defense: The Battle for the Soul of American Democracy.鈥� Holder started the event by emphasizing the impact of Christian nationalism abroad and in the United States, and by offering examples of the rise of Christian Nationalism. For instance, he discussed Victor Orban, the Prime Minister of Hungary, who supports a 鈥淐hristian Democracy鈥� where equal rights are not guaranteed. He stated that Christian Nationalism is one of the most important current issues for theologians studying religion and public affairs.
Holder鈥檚 presentation focused on three American authors 鈥� Stephen Wolfe, David Gushee, and Reinhold Niebuhr 鈥� whose works concern Christian Nationalism and the role of religion in the United States. Stephen Wolfe, the author of the bestselling book, The Case for Christian Nationalism, is attempting to reinvigorate Christendom, grow cultural Christianity, and revolt against tyrants that promote secularism. In response to Wolfe鈥檚 arguments, Holder pointed to the contradictions in Wolfe鈥檚 belief in Calvinist teachings. According to Holder, the doctrine of the lesser magistrate is essential to Calvinism, and the idea of a popular revolution contradicts the very teachings of Calvin. Next, Holder discussed David Gushee and his book, Defending Democracy from its Christian Enemies. Gushee offers three resources for defending democracy 鈥� the Baptist Democratic Tradition, the Black Christian Democratic Tradition, and the renewal of the Democratic Covenant. While agreeing with Gushee鈥檚 desire to argue against Christian nationalism, Holder pointed out flaws in all three resources. For example, Holder argued that the renewal of the Democratic Covenant did not take into account non-Christians who were part of the authoritarian movement or offer a critique of a Christian viewpoint.听
Holder finished his presentation by discussing Niebuhr, the author of The Children of Light, The Children of Darkness: A Vindication of Democracy and a Critique of Its Traditional Defense. Holder emphasized Niebuhr鈥檚 insight about the conflict between self-interest and general interest, which requires balance. Niebuhr rejected Christian nationalism and thought of it as a form of 鈥渄arkness鈥� because it destroys the individual, harming the balance of self-interest and general interest. Niebuhr saw democracy as necessary because it holds self-interest and general interest together. Finally, Holder mentioned the two-fold test of tolerance: Christians must make a stand based on their religion but must show humility and accept that their view may be wrong. For Holder and Niebuhr, a part of the solution to Christian nationalism is recognizing that religion needs humility; without humility, democracy fails. Holder also said that Niebuhr knows there is no final solution because human sinfulness will always persist, and humans need to establish democratic principles to combat this.听
After his presentation, audience members engaged Holder about whether Christian nationalism is a new civic religion, whether democracy is too much to ask of fallen beings, and the role of mega-churches. The scope of the Q&A demonstrates the broadness of Christian nationalism and its wide-ranging impact.听