Al Mohler Embraces Christian Nationalism, Drawing Criticism

5:13 PM ETDeveloping

Faith Desk

In Short: Al Mohler, longtime president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, has shifted his stance to support Christian nationalism, a move that has drawn criticism from fellow Southern Baptists.

Al Mohler, the longtime president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, has embraced Christian nationalism, a shift that has caused consternation among some conservative Southern Baptists, according to Religionnews.

At a roundtable on Christian nationalism held at the University of Idaho last month, Mohler discussed his views, drawing attention to his support for a new constitution that would require non-Christians to acknowledge the Christian foundations of the republic, Religionnews reports.

This stance has particularly upset Richard Land, former president of the SBC’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, who questions how Mohler’s requirement for non-Christians to acknowledge Christian foundations does not constitute a religious test, as stated in the denomination’s 2000 Baptist Faith and Message.

The shift in Mohler’s position has sparked debate within the Southern Baptist community, with some expressing concern over the potential erosion of church-state separation.

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The participants in the roundtable were four of the contributors to “ Five Views on Christian Nationalism,” a book recently published by Christian nationalist pastor Doug Wilson’s Canon Press.
In his talk, Mohler harks back to the longstanding criticism of the U.S.
To be sure, the new constitution “would allow non-Christians, specifically Jewish citizens, to enjoy full citizenship and comprehensive participation in the political order, retaining the full measure of religious liberty and requiring only their formal acknowledgement of the Christian foundations of the republic, its constitution and its laws,” Mohler writes in his contribution to the book.
Land quotes from Article XVII of the denomination’s 2000 Baptist Faith and Message, which says, among other things, “Church and state should be separate” and “The church should not resort to the civil power to carry on its work.” How, he asks, is Mohler’s acknowledgement requirement not a religious test?

Sources

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