I subscribe to Jeff Fountain’s weekly newsletter and this week his title was:
The Constantine Trap (Click on link to read the full newsletter).
Here are the headings (but I recommend a full read):
- The first danger of a ‘Christian empire/nation’: Faith is shaped by power, not obedience.
- The second danger: Faith becomes compulsory rather than voluntary.
- The danger deepened: War itself was given sacred meaning.
- The pattern repeats: Christianity becomes civilisational identity, not just personal faith.
- The danger is exclusion: Outsiders are seen as threats to Christian identity, rather than neighbours to be loved.
- The danger is clear and present: Christianity has become weaponised to ‘make America great’ rather than to offer freedom to all peoples.
A nation may be shaped by Christian values—justice, truth, dignity, compassion—but it cannot be Christian in the way individuals or communities can. The state wields power.
Following Jesus Christ, the church must be the state’s conscience. Not merely its chaplain.