Discussion on Christianity and Politics

Hello, how are you?

Good. Uh, my name is Nick. I'm an aerospace engineering student here.

Um, got a couple questions-

Awesome

... if that's all right. So I'm particularly concerned about your

brand

of Christianity, as a Christian myself.

Um, Christian nationalism I do not agree with

at all.

Um, I think it's antithetical to the values of

the early church,

and I think, how do you reconcile

the, espec- especially white Christians in this

America marrying politics

and power with their faith in this country?

Well, there's a lot there. I've never described myself as a Christian

nationalist.

So I'm a Christian and a nationalist, so I d- I've never used those two terms.

And then right there, that, "and nationalist," where in the scriptures

does a

Christian-

Well, thank you.

Just wondering.

Jeremiah 29:7, "Demand the welfare of the nation

that you are in, 'cause your

welfare is tied to your nation's welfare."

Da- uh, l- l- let me continue. Daniel fasted and prayed for his nation.

Esther and Mordecai cared for their nation, they were counsel to the king.

Right.

Nehemiah, Jeremiah, Joseph, Jacob. I could keep on going.

Moses, Aaron. In fact, Moses was so political

that he wrote an entire book

of the Torah all about how to set up a government. It's the Book of Deuteronomy.

So in fact, the b- the, the Bible is an explicitly political

text amongst many other things.

Now, can we interpret those texts in the light

of the revelation of Christ?

Because you just cited all Old Test- Old Testament texts, but you have not once

cited Saint Paul.

Okay, yeah. I, if you want me to also, by the way, just so we are-

Yeah, cite, cite Saint Paul about the kingdom of

heaven and the government

... just, t- t- time out. L- just so we're clear, do you think, like,

the New

Testament, like, is greater than the Old Testament?

It is.

Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

It is greater because the revelation of Christ dictates how we interpret-

See, that-

... the Old Testament.

So you think that all of a sudden, like, Genesis 1 is not as great just because of

the New Testament?

The Old Testament was a type and shadow of the things to come,

and now we live in

the full revelation of Christ.

Again, that, that, that is su-

So it is by definition lesser

... that is such a dangerous theological-

That's not true. That's Christological theology

... stop. Hold on. Of course I believe in the resurrection.

Okay.

But to all of a sudden say that, like, "In the beginning, God created the heavens

and the Earth," is, like, somehow inv- like, lesser

because of the revelation of the New Testament?

Christ even said, "I did not come to abolish the law of the

prophets, I came to

fulfill the law." In fact, he said, "All the laws of the prophet hang on the

two

teachings, Leviticus 19 and D- Deuteronomy 3 through 5." However,

to use a New

Testament example, as you asked, says in 1 Timothy, "Pray for your

leaders and authority by name that they might-

That's great. That's wonderful

... make right- just great decisions." I'm gonna continue.

Christ our Lord said, "On this rock, build my" what?

Church.

Wrong. Ecclesia. It's not the word church.

The word church-

Okay, English translations of common Bibles say

church, so my bad.

Well, actually, it, it shouldn't, because the original Greek term says,

"On this

rock, build my government structure." Ecclesia

was a secular word

used in that time which was all about the advancement of freedom

and

liberty, which are the two words in Greek, eleutheria and isonomia, which-