Calvinism, the teachings of 16th-century French Protestant theologian John Calvin, undergirds some mainline Protestant denominational beliefs but is represented most prominently in various evangelical groups that bear the name “Reformed.” As political and cultural polarization has deepened over the past decade in the U.S., it has attracted the Theobros and other ultraconservative Christians because Calvin’s theology also inspired early American religious colonists such as the Puritans.
Christian nationalism has become a hot topic among these Christians. In its extreme form, the ideology claims special privileges for Christians — including the right to rule, no matter what the outcome of elections — and often views Jews, Black Americans, immigrants and progressives as God’s enemies. Early forms of Christian nationalism were outspokenly antisemitic and racist and were especially opposed to interracial marriage.
A bestselling book, “The Case for Christian Nationalism,” published in 2022 by Canon Press — which was founded as a ministry of Christ Church, an influential Calvinist congregation in Moscow, Idaho — argued that “interethnic” marriage can be sinful and that America should be run by Christians. The author, Stephen Wolfe, has since clarified that he does not think “interracial marriage, interethnic marriage, or intercultural marriage” is sinful.
Canon is now a private company whose authors include Douglas Wilson, pastor of Christ Church. Wilson also owns a minority share of Canon. In 2022, he blurbed a book on Christian nationalism by Torba, who is known for expressing antisemitic and white nationalist views.
Strachan said that Wilson had a responsibility to call out racist ideas in Reformed churches. “I’m very interested — with a lot of people — to see how Moscow operates in days ahead,” Strachan said. “Because I think they bear a real duty.”
In a phone interview, Wilson said he agreed with Strachan that he has a responsibility to speak about racism or antisemitic ideas. He also said that he has seen glimpses of racism in Calvinist circles. “I see guys flirting with something I don’t want them flirting with,” he said.
Pastor Douglas Wilson of Christ Church at his office in Moscow, Idaho, on Feb. 5, 2023. RNS photo by Jack Jenkins
He rejected the ideas proposed by Walsh that white Christians needed to have more white babies to save the country or any notion that interracial marriage is sinful.
“You can have an ethnic affection for your people,” he said. “The problem would come when you mandate or say we are going to discipline you or come down on you hard if you marry outside the tribe.”
Wilson also pointed to a pair of 2022 statements issued by the Knox Presbytery of the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches, of which Christ Church is a part. Those statements condemn both antisemitism and kinism, which claims that God wants different ethnic groups to be segregated.
“While an ethnic heritage is something to be grateful for, and which may be preserved in any way consistent with the law of God, it is important to reject every form of identity politics, including kinism—whether malicious, vainglorious, or ideologically separatist/segregationist,” read one of the statements, which are published on Wilson’s blog.
