On Friday, a group of Anglican men declared they would gather “for such a time as this” to oppose the selection of Sarah Mullally as the first female head of the Anglican Communion. Yes, they quoted from a Bible verse about a female leader using her power to save her people to oppose the idea of women in ministry leadership!
On Sunday, the Department of Homeland Security posted a picture of a “God Bless ICE” sign along with a verse from Psalm 28. However, the chapter is actually a lament from the psalmist asking God to save him from those who do evil against their neighbors. This isn’t the first time DHS kidnapped a verse to justify militarized hunting of immigrants, and the Department of War has similarly been co-opting verses.
In the midst of such weaponization of Scripture, The Bible According to Christian Nationalists officially releases today to point to better ways of reading and applying the Bible. It’s also “Banned Book Week,” so hopefully that’s not an omen!
There’s always that nervous moment for an author as a book lands out in the world: Will people like it, pan it, ignore it? So it’s been exciting to see early responses to the book, with mentions already by the Associated Press, Religion News Service, and Publishers Weekly. And it garnered pre-publication praise from Obery Hendricks, Drew Strait, Angela Denker, Caleb Campbell, and Beau Underwood. Robert D. Cornwall, who writes a weekly book review for us, also has a nice review out today.
To celebrate the launch of the book, it was fun to join Will Wright and Josh Burtram on their Faithful Politics podcast. In the episode, which was released today, we talk about the book and how Christian Nationalism distorts the Christian faith and witness.
To be honest, it’s hard to get noticed for a book when you’re not a celebrity author and don’t have a major publishing house. So with The Bible According to Christian Nationalists now out, here are a few ways you can help the book reach more people:
Buy it. And grab more copies to give to others. It’s available from Bookshop, Chalice Press, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Target, and pretty much anywhere else you buy books.
Once you’ve got your copy, share a photo on Facebook and encourage others to order it.
Write a positive review at Amazon and/or Goodreads. Regardless of where you buy it, these are the two most helpful places to leave a review.
Invite me to speak to your church or group (virtually or in person).
As the news demonstrates pretty much every day, Christian Nationalism is a threat to democracy and the Christian witness. And the Bible is too often being exploited for political power. Those of us seeking to follow the teachings and example of Jesus should not stand quietly by and allow Christian Nationalists to profane our sacred texts.
As a public witness,
Brian Kaylor