The Christian Bible includes a series of books written by many writers over hundreds of years. These are not chapters of a book, as is implied when you order a Bible. Jewish authors wrote the 27 books we call The Old Testament, and they called it the Masoretic Text or Hebrew Bible. It was part of their canon by 20 C.E. Christian authors wrote the 24 books we call the New Testament. The canonical Christian Bible that includes both texts was confirmed by the Council of Laodicean in 363 C.E. The King James translation includes a section called the Apocrypha that is used by the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church and some Protestant Churches. It is still one of the most used editions because of the archaic language.

Evangelical Christians consider the Bible to be the final authority regarding theology as well as the teachings of Jesus. They take a literal, word by word approach, while mainstream churches take a more nuanced approach. The final authority to the Catholics is the Catechism and the edicts of the Pope. They have hedged a bit on his infallibility.

The War in Gaza
Isn’t a War Between Judaism & Islam

Seventy-six years of wars, peace treaties, conferences, and cease-fires over small scraps of land are about two opposing forces that cannot compromise in their grasp for power. Those who criticize Israel for its conduct of the war are not anti-Semitics. They are concerned about disproportional response to the attack by Hamas. For millennia, the Jews taught “an eye-for-an-eye,” that is, a response to an injury that was comparable to the original injury. What we have now is revenge, not a defense.

We’ve had so-called “religious wars” between Protestants and Catholics in Europe. Except for infidels who can claim anything in the justification for war, the primitive thinking in the past about religion justifying war has no place today. The costs are too high, and the rational is false.

To try to define Christian Nationalism, you must break down the broad scope of religion and governance. Christianity is more of a historical perspective of a religion than a unified theology, and our democracy is only one form of governance.

Trying to separate the concepts of power, dominance, religion, politics, theology, and rationality is impossible because they all converge into social norms. Iran is a simpler form of theocracy, and some claim that the United States is moving in that direction. Who is supposed to be in charge?

In the 1920’s America was dominated by isolationism, racism, misogyny, unfettered capitalism, economic inequality, and small government. Today, the same beliefs still function but with different labels. Those with most extreme political views believe their mindset should dominate everything, including abolishing religious freedoms. It’s my way or the highway reasoning. When they criticize science, they are simply avoiding the idea of rational thought.