A review by david_rawls
One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America by Kevin M. Kruse

5.0

Christian Nationalism seems to be a hot topic for many Americans today. The idea that America is a Christian Nation debated fiercely by those for and against this idea. Kevin Kruse in his book "One Nation Under God" makes a case that the idea of seeing ourselves as a Christian Nation does not so much go back to our founding but is a more recent phenomenon. Kruse shows how during the Cold War many politicians and Christians felt threatened by the outside forces of communism and the decay of morals within the culture which led to a push to see God as a part of our Nations beginning. Hence much of our debates about who we are and what role Christianity plays today are not as old as our founding but much more recent. Whether Kruse is right or not I will leave it up to the reader. I believe the greater issue is not so much how the nation identifies but rather whether this identification has corrupted the church. On this issue I believe the answer must be a resounding yes. One of the things that Kruse Chronicles in his book is the influence of America's beloved Billy Graham on the Nixon White House. Graham took positions that promoted much of Nixon's policies. Certainly his hope was to see America return to Christ. But historically Graham would eventually move himself away from this type of posturing as I believe he saw the damage that it had done to Christianity. The church cannot be a prophetic light to the country when it is simply a chaplain for the state. America may see itself as a Christian Nation but Christians must see the church as something separate from the Nations they live in. Nations can never be Christian but only those who follow Jesus. I give this book a five out of five stars because it helps us challenge our ideas of how we see the church and the state. I believe that the Church offers America a hopeful future but it will not be on the backs of our favorite politicians or political parties but it will be us being the salt and light in our communities. Anything else is idolatry.