Christian Nationalism and the Republican Party
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Christian Nationalism and the Republican Party
Christian nationalism has become an important subject in research and debate about religion and Republican politics in the United States. The term generally refers to beliefs that connect Christianity with American national identity and, in stronger forms, support a governmental role in maintaining or promoting a specifically Christian character for the nation. Researchers, journalists, religious leaders, and political activists disagree over exactly where ordinary religious conservatism or Christian political participation ends and Christian nationalism begins.
The relationship between Christian nationalism and the Republican Party is therefore not simply a matter of formal party doctrine. It involves overlapping religious identities, political attitudes, voting behavior, cultural concerns, social movements, political organizations, and competing understandings of the United States' history and constitutional traditions.
Survey research included in the source material consistently finds that Christian-nationalist attitudes are substantially more common among Republicans than Democrats. At the same time, neither Republicans nor American Christians constitute a single ideological group. Some conservative Christians embrace the Christian-nationalist label, some support particular ideas associated with it without using the label, and others explicitly reject Christian nationalism while remaining politically conservative or Republican.
Defining and Measuring Christian Nationalism
Christian nationalism does not have one universally accepted definition. Academic researchers frequently measure it through survey questions concerning whether the United States should be considered a Christian nation, whether Christianity should have a privileged relationship with government, whether American identity is closely connected to Christianity, and whether laws should reflect Christian principles.
The Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) classifies respondents into categories such as Christian nationalism "Adherents," "Sympathizers," "Skeptics," and "Rejecters." Its surveys have found substantial partisan differences, with Republicans considerably more likely than Democrats to fall into the first two categories.
Other scholars have warned that a single scale can obscure meaningful differences among respondents. People may agree that Christianity historically influenced the United States while disagreeing about whether government should officially promote Christianity. Others may favor religiously informed political participation while strongly supporting constitutional protections for other religions.
For this reason, debates over Christian nationalism include a continuing methodological question: whether the concept identifies a coherent political ideology, a collection of related attitudes, a form of conservative identity politics, or several distinguishable political and religious traditions.
Christian Nationalism and Republican Identification
One of the strongest patterns across the research is the association between Christian-nationalist attitudes and Republican Party identification.
PRRI's 2025 American Values Atlas reported that a majority of Republicans were classified as either Christian nationalism Adherents or Sympathizers, compared with much smaller proportions of Democrats. State-level research has similarly found correlations among Christian-nationalist attitudes, favorable views of Donald Trump, and Republican representation in state legislatures.
The relationship reflects several long-term developments in American politics. White evangelical Protestants became increasingly associated with the Republican coalition during the late twentieth century, particularly through political movements concerned with abortion, school policy, gender and sexuality, religious liberty, and cultural change.
Over time, Republican identification and conservative Christian identity became increasingly connected for many voters. At the same time, religiously unaffiliated Americans and many religious minorities became more prominent within the Democratic coalition.
Christian nationalism represents one part of this broader partisan sorting, rather than the entirety of Republican religious politics.
Donald Trump and the Republican Coalition
Donald Trump's political rise intensified discussion of Christian nationalism because of his strong support among white evangelical Protestants and other conservative Christian constituencies.
Research in the uploaded material examines Christian nationalism as one factor associated with voting for Trump in the 2016, 2020, and 2024 presidential elections. Several studies report that Christian-nationalist beliefs remained associated with Trump support even when researchers accounted for other political, religious, demographic, and economic variables.
Trump has frequently presented himself as a defender of Christians and religious liberty. His campaigns have emphasized issues such as abortion, conservative judicial appointments, religious freedom, opposition to what Republicans describe as anti-Christian discrimination, and protection of traditional religious institutions.
Supporters frequently interpret these positions as legitimate protection of religious freedom and traditional values. Critics argue that some policies and rhetoric risk granting Christianity a privileged political status.
The relationship is also complicated by Trump's personal history and religious practice. Many evangelical supporters have described their support in pragmatic rather than theological terms, viewing him as a political ally capable of advancing priorities they believe other Republican leaders were unwilling or unable to achieve.
The Republican Party and Conservative Christianity
The relationship between conservative Christianity and the Republican Party predates the modern Christian-nationalism debate.
Organizations associated with the Christian Right became increasingly influential in Republican politics during the late twentieth century. Leaders such as Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and other evangelical activists helped develop voter-registration programs, lobbying organizations, media networks, churches, and political organizations capable of mobilizing conservative Christians.
Issues including abortion, school prayer, religious education, same-sex marriage, family policy, and religious liberty contributed to a durable relationship between many conservative Christian voters and the Republican Party.
The contemporary Christian-nationalism debate developed from this history but is not identical to the older Christian Right. Some Christian-nationalist activists explicitly call for a stronger Christian role in government and public institutions, while many traditional religious conservatives continue to emphasize constitutional religious liberty rather than formal Christian political authority.
State and Local Republican Politics
Much of the political activity examined in the source material occurs at the state and local level.
Researchers and journalists have studied Christian-nationalist themes in Republican politics in Texas, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Idaho, Michigan, Louisiana, Arizona, and other states. Issues include Bible instruction in public schools, Ten Commandments displays, school-board elections, curriculum disputes, abortion legislation, religious-liberty laws, and the role of Christianity in government ceremonies and public institutions.
Project Blitz became one frequently discussed example. The initiative encouraged state legislators to introduce model legislation dealing with religion in public life. Supporters generally portrayed such proposals as protections for religious expression and America's religious heritage. Critics described the strategy as an effort to expand governmental endorsement of conservative Christianity.
Education has become an especially important area of conflict. Republican officials in several states have supported policies encouraging greater use of biblical material or religious historical content in public schools. Supporters argue that biblical literacy is necessary for understanding American history and Western culture, while opponents raise constitutional and religious-pluralism concerns.
Church, State, and Religious Liberty
The Christian-nationalism debate frequently centers on competing interpretations of religious liberty.
One approach emphasizes protection of Christian individuals and institutions from government restrictions or discrimination. Republican leaders have frequently argued that schools, employers, federal agencies, and other institutions have sometimes treated traditional Christian beliefs unfairly.
Another approach emphasizes government neutrality among religions. Critics of Christian nationalism argue that religious liberty requires protecting Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, atheists, and other groups under the same constitutional principles rather than giving Christianity special governmental status.
Polling suggests that many Americans combine positions that do not fit neatly into either camp. A person may oppose establishing Christianity as an official religion while believing that Christian moral ideas should influence public policy. Another may believe that Christianity played an important historical role in the United States while supporting strict institutional separation between church and state.
These distinctions help explain why disagreements over the term "Christian nationalism" often begin with disagreements about what the term includes.
Race, Immigration, and National Identity
A substantial portion of the research examines relationships among Christian nationalism, race, immigration, and ideas about who belongs within the American nation.
Some studies find associations between Christian-nationalist beliefs and restrictive immigration attitudes, perceptions of cultural displacement, or concern about demographic change. Researchers have also examined connections between Christian nationalism and attitudes concerning racial inequality, policing, refugee resettlement, and race-conscious public policy.
Race significantly complicates the picture. Christian-nationalist beliefs are not limited to white Americans, and researchers have found different political relationships among white, Black, Hispanic, and other Christian populations.
Some scholarship argues that American Christian nationalism has historically been intertwined with ideas about white identity and social hierarchy. Other research cautions against assuming that every person expressing Christian-nationalist beliefs holds the same racial or political attitudes.
These findings have encouraged scholars to distinguish between religious belief, racial identity, partisan identity, national identity, and attitudes toward particular policies rather than treating them as interchangeable.
Immigration and Cultural Change
Immigration has become one of the issues most closely connected to Republican debates about national identity.
The uploaded research indicates that stronger Christian-nationalist identification is frequently associated with more restrictive immigration attitudes. Political messages concerning borders, citizenship, demographic change, cultural assimilation, and the preservation of American traditions can therefore overlap with Christian-nationalist themes.
Supporters of restrictive immigration policies generally describe their concerns in terms of national sovereignty, public safety, economic interests, legal immigration, and cultural cohesion. Critics argue that some rhetoric portrays immigrants or religious minorities as threats to an implicitly Christian conception of American identity.
The distinction is important because support for restrictive immigration policy does not by itself demonstrate Christian nationalism. Researchers generally examine combinations of religious, national, racial, and political attitudes rather than treating one policy preference as conclusive evidence.
Christian Nationalism and Democratic Institutions
Another major area of research concerns attitudes toward democratic institutions, elections, political authority, and political violence.
Several academic studies in the source collection report associations between Christian-nationalist attitudes and skepticism about election outcomes, support for restrictions on voting, willingness to grant political leaders greater authority, or increased tolerance of political violence under certain circumstances.
Research concerning the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol has generated particular attention. Scholars have examined Christian symbolism present among portions of the crowd and studied whether Christian-nationalist attitudes were associated with approval of the attack or related conspiracy beliefs.
These findings remain subjects of debate. Christian nationalism is not synonymous with political violence, and the large majority of people holding conservative Christian beliefs do not engage in political violence. Researchers instead examine whether particular combinations of religious nationalism, perceived victimization, conspiracy beliefs, partisan identity, and political threat correspond with increased acceptance of undemocratic behavior.
Policy Attitudes
Research has also examined relationships between Christian nationalism and policy views that extend beyond explicitly religious questions.
Studies in the source material address abortion, gun policy, vaccination, pandemic restrictions, policing, capital punishment, environmental regulation, organized labor, pronatalism, and immigration.
These associations frequently overlap with ordinary Republican-conservative policy preferences. This creates a methodological challenge: researchers must determine whether Christian nationalism independently contributes to an attitude or merely accompanies broader conservative ideology and Republican identification.
Some studies attempt to address this issue statistically by controlling for party identification, religiosity, race, education, income, and other variables. Even when associations remain, scholars generally describe them as relationships rather than assuming that Christian nationalism alone causes a particular political position.
Republican Leaders and Political Networks
The source material identifies numerous political leaders, religious activists, organizations, and networks involved in debates over Christian nationalism.
Figures discussed include Donald Trump, Mike Johnson, JD Vance, Josh Hawley, Russell Vought, Michael Flynn, Pete Hegseth, Sean Feucht, Doug Wilson, Lance Wallnau, and other conservative political and religious leaders.
Organizations and movements examined include Turning Point-related religious organizing, the New Apostolic Reformation, Seven Mountains theology, Project Blitz, ReAwaken America, Project 2025-associated networks, and various conservative churches and advocacy organizations.
The relationships among these groups vary considerably. Some participants explicitly use nationalist language. Others reject the Christian-nationalist label while advocating a stronger Christian influence on government or culture. Still others identify primarily with religious liberty, social conservatism, populism, or conventional Republican politics.
Treating these networks as identical can obscure substantial theological and political differences among them.
Debate Within Christianity
Christian opposition to Christian nationalism is an important part of the subject.
The uploaded material includes criticism from evangelical, Catholic, mainline Protestant, and other Christian writers who argue that Christianity should influence individual moral judgment without being fused with partisan or governmental power.
Some critics contend that identifying Christianity too closely with one political party damages the church's religious mission and reduces Christian faith to a political identity. Others emphasize pluralism and argue that Christians should defend the religious freedom of people whose beliefs differ from their own.
Conservative Christian critics have also challenged the term from another direction. Some argue that "Christian nationalism" is defined too broadly and can be used to describe ordinary conservative Christians who participate in democratic politics, believe that Christianity influenced American history, or vote Republican.
As a result, disagreement over Christian nationalism occurs not only between political left and right but also within conservative Christianity itself.
Christian Nationalism Is Not Identical to Christianity or Republicanism
A recurring point throughout the source material is that Christianity, Republicanism, religious conservatism, and Christian nationalism should not automatically be treated as interchangeable categories.
Millions of American Christians vote Democratic, identify as independent, or avoid partisan politics. Many Republican Christians support church-state separation and religious pluralism. Some Republicans are non-Christian or religiously unaffiliated. Conversely, some people who hold beliefs categorized by researchers as Christian nationalist do not necessarily identify themselves with that terminology.
The concept is therefore most useful when tied to particular beliefs and behaviors rather than used as a general label for conservative Christians or Republican voters.
Researchers increasingly emphasize the importance of specifying whether they are discussing national identity, governmental establishment of religion, cultural traditionalism, partisan affiliation, racial attitudes, authoritarianism, or particular policy positions.
Historical Context
The idea that the United States has a special relationship with Christianity long predates the modern Republican Party.
Debates about religion and national identity extend from the colonial period through the American Revolution, nineteenth-century Protestant culture, immigration conflicts, movements for prohibition, disputes over public education, the Cold War, the civil-rights era, and the rise of the modern Christian Right.
The current political alignment is therefore historically contingent rather than inevitable. Religious groups have joined different political coalitions at different periods, and Christian political arguments have been used in support of competing causes.
Modern Christian nationalism combines elements of this longer history with contemporary partisan polarization, demographic change, declining rates of religious affiliation, cultural conflict, and the transformation of the Republican Party during the Trump era.
Interpreting the Evidence
The collected research shows a substantial relationship between Christian-nationalist attitudes and contemporary Republican politics, but interpretation requires several qualifications.
First, correlation does not establish that Christian nationalism causes Republican identification or any individual policy position. Political ideology, race, religious tradition, geography, education, age, media consumption, and other factors overlap.
Second, definitions matter. Researchers using different survey instruments or definitions may classify the same respondent differently.
Third, Christian nationalism exists on a spectrum. Strong advocates of formal Christian political authority differ considerably from people who merely believe that Christianity has historically shaped American culture.
Fourth, partisan relationships can change. Religious and political coalitions have repeatedly shifted throughout American history.
Finally, political actors themselves disagree about the label. Some embrace it, others reject it, and others advocate ideas that scholars classify as Christian nationalist without personally using the term.
Conclusion
Christian nationalism has become an increasingly important framework for understanding one dimension of the relationship between religion and the Republican Party in the United States.
Survey research finds substantially greater support for Christian-nationalist ideas among Republicans than among Democrats, while electoral studies connect those attitudes with portions of Donald Trump's political coalition. State and local political battles over education, abortion, religious displays, immigration, and religious liberty demonstrate how disagreements about Christianity and national identity can influence public policy.
At the same time, Christian nationalism should not be treated as synonymous with either Christianity or the Republican Party. Republican voters hold a wide range of religious and political views, and American Christians disagree sharply about nationalism, governmental power, religious establishment, pluralism, and the appropriate relationship between faith and politics.
The debate ultimately concerns several overlapping questions: what role Christianity has played in American history, what role it should play in contemporary government, how religious liberty should operate in a pluralistic society, what characteristics define American national identity, and how political parties should relate to religious communities.
Those questions remain contested within the Republican Party, within American Christianity, and throughout the broader American public.
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Surveys, Polling, and Measurement
1. [New Poll: 250 Years In, Americans Prefer Religious Diversity | Religion News Service Staff | Religion News Service | June 17, 2026]
Reports polling on religious pluralism and changing public familiarity with Christian nationalism, including increased favorable identification with the term among Republicans.
2. [How Americans Feel About Religion’s Influence in Government and Public Life | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | May 14, 2026]
Finds substantial partisan differences concerning Christianity’s role in government, Bible-based lawmaking, official religion, and enforcement of church-state separation.
3. [Pew: “Christian Nationalism” Is Becoming a Household Term | Jack Panyard | Christianity Today | May 2026]
Reviews Pew polling and stresses that Christian nationalism includes several distinct attitudes rather than a single universally accepted political program.
4. [Survey Maps Christian Nationalism in Arizona | Arizona Mirror Staff | Arizona Mirror | February 24, 2026]
Reports state-level polling concerning Christian-nationalist attitudes and their relationship with party affiliation and political preferences.
5. [Where Christian Nationalism Is Most Dominant in the U.S. | Axios | Axios | February 18, 2026]
Uses PRRI’s state-level data to examine geographic concentrations of Christian nationalism and its relationship to Republican politics and state legislative control.
6. [Mapping Christian Nationalism Across the 50 States: Insights from PRRI’s 2025 American Values Atlas | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | February 17, 2026]
Examines Christian-nationalist attitudes across every state and reports a strong relationship between those attitudes, Republican identification, Trump support, and Republican representation in state legislatures.
7. [Trump’s First 100 Days Survey | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | April 2025]
Includes polling on Republican attitudes toward Christian nationalism and the extent to which different religious and partisan groups view the label favorably.
8. [Religion and Views of the U.S. Government | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | February 26, 2025]
Examines how religious affiliation, attendance, and partisan identity relate to opinions about government, public institutions, and religion’s role in society.
9. [Religion and Partisanship in the United States | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | February 26, 2025]
Documents the religious composition of Republican and Democratic coalitions and long-term relationships among religion, ideology, and partisan identification.
10. [White Protestants and Catholics Support Trump, but Voters in Other U.S. Religious Groups Prefer Harris | Gregory A. Smith | Pew Research Center | September 9, 2024]
Documents religious divisions in presidential preferences immediately before the 2024 election.
11. [10 Facts About Republicans in the U.S. Ahead of the 2024 Republican National Convention | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | July 12, 2024]
Profiles the GOP electorate, including the large share identifying as Christian and the especially important role of white evangelical Protestant voters.
12. [Religious Values and the 2024 Election | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | June 6, 2024]
Compares Trump and Biden supporters on church-state separation, government support for religious values, biblical influence on law, and official Christian identity.
13. [Party Identification Among Religious Groups and Religiously Unaffiliated Voters | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | April 9, 2024]
Documents the long-term movement of white evangelical Protestants toward the Republican Party and broader religious differences in partisan affiliation.
14. [8 in 10 Americans Say Religion Is Losing Influence in Public Life | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | March 15, 2024]
Explores attitudes toward declining religious influence and documents large Republican-Democratic differences regarding Christianity’s role in government.
15. [New Study Finds Christian Nationalists to Be More Complex Than Media Portrayals | Jack Jenkins | Religion News Service | December 18, 2023]
Reports research suggesting substantial variation among people categorized as Christian nationalists and cautions against treating them as a politically uniform bloc.
16. [How Republicans Convinced Themselves America Was Meant to Be a “Christian Nation” | Amanda Marcotte | Salon | December 13, 2023]
Commentary traces changing attitudes toward Christian nationhood among Republican voters and links those changes to the Trump-era conservative movement.
17. [More Than Half of Republicans Support Christian Nationalism, According to a New Survey | Georgia Public Broadcasting Staff | Georgia Public Broadcasting | February 14, 2023]
Explains PRRI/Brookings polling and discusses Marjorie Taylor Greene’s calls for Republicans to embrace Christian nationalism.
18. [Most U.S. Republicans Sympathetic to Christian Nationalism, Survey Finds | Maya Yang | The Guardian | February 9, 2023]
Reports PRRI/Brookings survey results showing substantially higher Christian-nationalist identification among Republicans and white evangelical Protestants than among Democrats.
19. [Survey: Two-Thirds of White Evangelicals, Most Republicans Sympathetic to Christian Nationalism | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | February 8, 2023]
Summarizes PRRI/Brookings polling showing substantially higher Christian-nationalist identification among Republicans and white evangelical Protestants than among the public overall.
20. [Religiously, Congress Doesn’t Reflect Modern America, Pew Finds | Peter Smith | Associated Press / PBS NewsHour | January 2023]
Compares the overwhelmingly Christian composition of Congress with the increasingly religiously diverse and unaffiliated U.S. population, including differences between Republican and Democratic delegations.
21. [45% of Americans Say U.S. Should Be a “Christian Nation” | Gregory A. Smith et al. | Pew Research Center | October 27, 2022]
Finds substantial disagreement over what the phrase “Christian nation” means and large partisan differences in attitudes toward religion and government.
22. [In Their Own Words: How Americans Explain Why the U.S. Is — or Is Not — a Christian Nation | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | October 27, 2022]
Presents respondents’ explanations of the phrase “Christian nation,” revealing differing understandings based on history, population, morality, government, and culture.
23. [Americans Are Growing More Accepting of Christian Nationalism | Allyson F. Shortle | The Washington Post | September 1, 2022]
Analysis discusses changing familiarity with and attitudes toward the Christian-nationalist label as Republican politicians increasingly used it publicly.
Elections, Trump, and the Republican Coalition
24. [“True Americans” at the Ballot Box: Ascriptive Republicanism, Christian Nationalism, and the Populist Right in 2024 | Various Authors | Frontiers in Political Science | August 2026]
Analyzes Christian nationalism, national identity, populism, and support for Trump during the 2024 presidential election.
25. [Trump’s “Christian Nationalism” Is Neither of Those Things | Matt Ford | The New Republic | June 3, 2026]
Commentary challenging the religious and nationalist credentials of Trump-era Christian nationalism from a critical perspective.
26. [Which Republicans Are Most Loyal to Trump? A Comparison of Pro-Trump and Anti-Trump Republicans | Madelyn Snodgrass | Public Religion Research Institute | May 11, 2026]
Compares Republicans favorable and unfavorable toward Trump, including differences involving Christian nationalism, ideology, immigration, and democratic institutions.
27. [Republicans, Southerners, Trump Backers Most Likely to Support Christian Nationalist Ideas | Bob Smietana | Religion News Service | February 17, 2026]
Summarizes national survey findings showing particularly high levels of Christian-nationalist beliefs among Republicans, Trump supporters, white evangelicals, and residents of parts of the South.
28. [Christian Nationalists Are All in on Trump—and Vice Versa | Grace Segers | The New Republic | February 17, 2026]
Discusses PRRI survey findings linking Christian-nationalist attitudes with Trump support and Republican political identity.
29. [The Way, the Trump and the Lies: Prayer Breakfast Displays US Right’s Devil’s Pact | David Smith | The Guardian | February 5, 2026]
Analysis critical of the continuing alliance between Trump, conservative Christian leaders, and the Republican political movement.
30. [Backlash to Christian Nationalism: The Impact of the January 6th Insurrection on Americans’ Religiosity and Political Partisanship | Various Authors | Politics and Religion | 2026]
Finds evidence that perceptions of Christian-nationalist imagery on January 6 were associated with reduced Republican identification and Trump favorability among some respondents.
31. [Christian Nationalism and the Republican Party: Partisan Sorting in an Era of Religious Change | Various Authors | Religion and Politics Research | 2026]
Examines how declining national religiosity can coexist with stronger concentration of Christian-nationalist attitudes within the Republican coalition and greater rejection of those attitudes among Democrats.
32. [Christian Nationalism and the Vote for Donald Trump in the 2024 Presidential Election: A State-Level Analysis | Andrew L. Whitehead and Samuel L. Perry | Nations and Nationalism | June 3, 2025]
Finds state-level Christian-nationalism scores positively associated with Trump’s 2024 vote share after accounting for several political, religious, demographic, and economic variables.
33. [Trump Has Put Christian Nationalists in Key Roles – Say a Prayer for Free Speech | Adam Gabbatt | The Guardian | April 16, 2025]
Analysis examining critics’ concerns about officials and advisers associated with Christian-nationalist or strongly conservative Christian political movements.
34. [Making Fusionism Great Again: The Christian Right, Trump, and the Transformation of Conservative Politics | Various Authors | The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science | 2025]
Examines how the Trump era reshaped older alliances connecting social conservatism, free-market politics, nationalism, and the Christian Right.
35. [Christian Nationalism and Republican Electoral Mobilization | Various Authors | Political Research | 2025]
Examines how candidates and political organizations use Christian identity, perceived cultural threat, and national restoration themes to mobilize conservative voters.
36. [Religion and the 2024 Presidential Election | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | November 8, 2024]
Reviews the religious composition of Trump’s and Harris’s coalitions, including continued strong Republican support among white evangelical Protestants.
37. [In a Race of Good Versus Evil, Christian Hard-Liners Are All In for Trump | Michelle Boorstein | The Washington Post | October 29, 2024]
Examines religious activists who interpreted the 2024 presidential election through spiritual-warfare themes and supported Trump as part of a larger religious struggle.
38. [Which Political Entities Are “Friendly” to Religion? Christian Nationalism, Partisanship, and Perceptions of Religious Favoritism | Samuel L. Perry | Politics and Religion | October 2, 2024]
Examines how Christian nationalism and partisan identity shape Americans’ perceptions of whether political institutions and parties are favorable or hostile toward religion.
39. [“We Have to Be Voting Biblically”: The Courage Tour Rallies Christians to Get Trump in Office | Alice Herman | The Guardian | August 2, 2024]
Reports on a conservative Christian voter-mobilization tour promoting Republican participation while rejecting the Christian-nationalist label used by critics.
40. [Trump Tells Supporters They Won’t Have to Vote in the Future: “It’ll Be Fixed” | Maya Yang | The Guardian | July 27, 2024]
Reports Trump’s remarks at a Turning Point Action event directed toward Christian supporters and the differing interpretations prompted by the comments.
41. [Trump’s Lucky Streak Fuels Belief That God Is on His Side | Michelle Boorstein | The Washington Post | July 18, 2024]
Reports on religious supporters who interpreted events surrounding Trump’s campaign as evidence of divine protection or providential purpose.
42. [Welcome to the Trump Show: Republican Convention to Resemble Coronation | David Smith | The Guardian | July 14, 2024]
Examines the Republican National Convention, its platform, Project 2025 connections, religious conservatives, and Trump’s dominance of the party.
43. [Pro-Trump Christian Extremists Use Scripture to Justify Violent Goals | Washington Post Staff | The Washington Post | July 13, 2024]
Investigates religious language used by some activists on the pro-Trump right and examines the overlap between spiritual-warfare imagery and political rhetoric.
44. [2024 Republican Party Platform | Republican National Committee | Republican Party | July 8, 2024]
Provides the party’s official platform, including commitments concerning religious liberty, anti-Christian discrimination, abortion, family policy, education, and cultural issues.
45. [GOP Called for Unity at Its Convention. Far-Right Extremists Were There Too | The Washington Post Staff | The Washington Post | July 2024]
Examines activists and organizations on the ideological edges of the Republican coalition, including groups incorporating Christian-nationalist themes.
46. [Was There an Enthusiasm Gap? Christian Nationalism and Political Participation | Various Authors | Politics and Religion | June 5, 2024]
Examines whether Christian-nationalist beliefs are associated with voting, political engagement, and participation beyond simply choosing Republican candidates.
47. [How Trumpism Brought Fringe Charismatic Theology Into the Mainstream | Jack Jenkins | Religion News Service | May 6, 2024]
Examines the New Apostolic Reformation and other charismatic networks whose leaders became increasingly involved in Republican and pro-Trump politics.
48. [Voters’ Views of Trump and Biden Differ Sharply by Religion | Gregory A. Smith | Pew Research Center | April 30, 2024]
Describes the strong support for Trump among white evangelical voters and contrasts it with voting preferences among other American religious groups.
49. [Christian Nationalists Embrace Trump as Their Savior – Will They Be His? | Adam Gabbatt | The Guardian | April 7, 2024]
Examines the strong alliance between Trump and sections of the conservative evangelical electorate despite tensions between Trump’s personal behavior and evangelical moral teachings.
50. [5 Facts About Religion and Americans’ Views of Donald Trump | Gregory A. Smith | Pew Research Center | March 15, 2024]
Shows that Trump’s support among white evangelicals is not limited to infrequent churchgoers and that many supporters believe he defends their religious interests.
51. [The Overlap of Trumpism and Christian Nationalism | Philip Bump | The Washington Post | February 29, 2024]
Uses polling and demographic evidence to examine areas of overlap between Trump’s political coalition and Christian-nationalist beliefs.
52. [Trump Says He’ll Defend Christianity from “Radical Left” That Seek to “Tear Down Crosses” | Will Weissert | Associated Press / PBS NewsHour | February 23, 2024]
Reports Trump’s appeal to conservative Christian broadcasters and his promise to protect Christian institutions and symbols during a second administration.
53. [Trump Expands Republicans’ Big Tent of Christian Nationalism | Chauncey DeVega | Salon | February 21, 2024]
Interview-based analysis with political scientist Paul Djupe discussing the relationship between Christian nationalism, partisan polarization, Trump, and Republican politics.
54. [Religion and Politics in 2024: Christian Nationalism, Trump, and the Election | Religion News Service Staff | Religion News Service | January 5, 2024]
Surveys major religion-and-politics trends expected to shape the election, including abortion, evangelical voting, church-state conflicts, and Christian nationalism.
55. [Behind Christian Nationalism’s Influence on the 2024 Election | ProPublica Staff | ProPublica | 2024]
Interactive investigation tracing organizations, leaders, theological movements, and political networks connecting Christian-nationalist activism to the 2024 Republican campaign.
56. [Trump’s Christian Nationalist Vision for America | Robert P. Jones | TIME | 2024]
Uses polling and historical analysis to argue that Christian nationalism has become an important component of Trump’s political coalition and the contemporary GOP.
57. [Far-Right Project That Pushed Election Lies Expands Mission as Trump Ramps Up 2024 Campaign | Peter Stone | The Guardian | January 30, 2023]
Investigates ReAwaken America, its connections with Michael Flynn and Trump supporters, election claims, vaccine misinformation, and Christian-nationalist rhetoric.
58. [Christian Nationalism in Support for Donald Trump | Various Authors | University of New Hampshire Scholars’ Repository | 2023]
Studies Christian-nationalist attitudes as one factor associated with support for Donald Trump and Republican political identity.
59. [Appeals to Christian Nationalism Will Continue Despite Election Losses, Experts Say | Jack Jenkins | Religion News Service / Washington Post | November 9, 2022]
Reviews the 2022 defeat of Doug Mastriano and considers why Christian-nationalist political mobilization continued despite mixed electoral results.
60. [More Republicans Are Identifying as Christian Nationalists | Washington Post Staff | The Washington Post | October 25, 2022]
Examines changes in public identification with Christian nationalism following increased use of the term by Republican politicians.
61. [Republicans Keep Mostly Mum on Calls to Make GOP “Party of Christian Nationalism” | Jack Jenkins | Religion News Service | August 12, 2022]
Reports responses from Republican lawmakers after Marjorie Taylor Greene urged the GOP to embrace Christian nationalism.
62. [Christian Nationalism and Religious Freedom in the 2020 Presidential Election | Samuel L. Perry; Landon Schnabel; Joshua B. Grubbs | Nations and Nationalism | August 31, 2021]
Finds Christian nationalism and perceptions of anti-Christian discrimination strongly associated with voters saying religious freedom was an important electoral concern.
63. [The Devil That You Know: Christian Nationalism and Intent to Change One’s Voting Behavior For or Against Trump in 2020 | Samuel L. Perry, Andrew L. Whitehead and Joshua B. Grubbs | Politics and Religion | April 21, 2021]
Finds Christian nationalism associated both with retaining previous Trump voters and attracting some voters who had not supported Trump in 2016.
64. [Make America Christian Again: Christian Nationalism and Voting for Donald Trump in the 2016 Presidential Election | Andrew L. Whitehead, Samuel L. Perry and Joseph O. Baker | Sociology of Religion | January 25, 2018]
Found Christian-nationalist attitudes to be an independent predictor of voting for Trump in 2016 after controlling for several demographic, economic, racial, religious, and political variables.
Republican Leaders, Institutions, and Movement Networks
65. [JD Vance’s Catholicism Could Be at Odds with MAGA Evangelicals in 2028 | The Guardian Staff | The Guardian | September 13, 2026]
Examines relationships among Catholic political thought, evangelical voters, Christian-nationalist currents, and the wider MAGA coalition.
66. [Turning Point’s Religious Political Network Expands After Charlie Kirk | The Guardian Staff | The Guardian | September 9, 2026]
Examines Turning Point’s organizing in churches and its role within the conservative Christian and Republican political ecosystem.
67. [The Teen-Age Believers in a Christian America | The New Yorker Staff | The New Yorker | June 29, 2026]
Profiles young conservative Christians involved in political organizing around religion, national identity, family, and cultural issues.
68. [Trump to Join Prayer Gathering Criticized for Promoting Christian Nationalism | Peter Smith | Associated Press / PBS NewsHour | May 14, 2026]
Reports on the Rededicate 250 gathering involving Trump administration officials, Republican leaders, conservative Christian clergy, and competing interpretations of America’s religious heritage.
69. [Trump to Address Christian Gathering Aiming to “Rededicate” America to God | Jack Jenkins | Religion News Service | May 13, 2026]
Previews Rededicate 250 and examines competing interpretations of the event as public religious expression or Christian-nationalist politics.
70. [Pete Hegseth Joins Christian Faith Rally in Washington | The Guardian Staff | The Guardian | May 13, 2026]
Examines participation by administration officials in public religious events and debate over government promotion of Christianity.
71. [Thousands Flocked to the National Mall for an America-Themed Prayer Rally | Peter Smith | Associated Press | May 2026]
Covers a national prayer gathering supported by administration officials while describing debate over whether the event reflected Christian nationalism or conventional public religious expression.
72. [Seven Mountains Theology Finds New Influence After Charlie Kirk | Religion News Service Staff | Religion News Service | December 19, 2025]
Examines a charismatic belief that Christians should influence major cultural institutions and its connections with conservative political organizing.
73. [At 50, Doug Wilson’s Christ Church Is Bigger — and More Politically Influential — Than Ever | Jack Jenkins | Religion News Service | December 10, 2025]
Profiles Doug Wilson’s Idaho church network and its influence on debates over Christian political authority, gender, education, and nationalism.
74. [Charlie Kirk Is Becoming a Christian Nationalist Martyr | The Guardian Staff | The Guardian | September 20, 2025]
Examines the religious language surrounding Charlie Kirk and the role of martyrdom narratives within parts of the conservative Christian political movement.
75. [What to Know About the Archconservative Church Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth Attends | Tiffany Stanley and Peter Smith | Associated Press / PBS NewsHour | August 12, 2025]
Profiles the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches and discusses its theology, political influence, and connections to debates over Christian nationalism.
76. [Russell Vought Says He’s a Christian “Nation-ist,” Not a Christian Nationalist | Jack Jenkins | Religion News Service | June 23, 2025]
Examines Russell Vought’s description of his political theology and his distinction between Christian nationalism and what he calls Christian “nation-ism.”
77. [Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Establishes White House Faith Office | White House | Executive Office of the President | February 7, 2025]
Gives the administration’s own explanation of the White House Faith Office, religious-liberty policy, faith-based organizations, and alleged anti-Christian discrimination.
78. [The Significance of Vance’s Appearance at Event Hosted by Far-Right Christian Nationalist | Geoff Bennett and Ian Couzens | PBS NewsHour | September 30, 2024]
Examines JD Vance’s appearance with evangelical activist Lance Wallnau and the New Apostolic Reformation during the 2024 campaign.
79. [Vance Appears at Event Hosted by Evangelical Leader Who Spoke of “Spiritual Warfare” | Michelle Boorstein | The Washington Post | September 28, 2024]
Reports on Republican vice-presidential candidate JD Vance’s appearance at an event organized by Lance Wallnau and examines Wallnau’s religious and political influence.
80. [Sean Feucht Brings Conservative Christian Political Activism to Congress | Religion News Service Staff | Religion News Service | July 8, 2024]
Profiles musician and activist Sean Feucht and examines his relationships with Republican lawmakers, public worship events, and conservative political causes.
81. [What Is the “Appeal to Heaven” Flag Flown at Justice Alito’s Home? | Jack Jenkins | Religion News Service | May 23, 2024]
Traces the flag’s Revolutionary-era history and its more recent adoption by conservative Christian activists, election protesters, and some Christian-nationalist movements.
82. [Mike Johnson Is the Christian Nationalist We Should Have Seen Coming | Melissa Gira Grant | The New Republic | December 20, 2023]
Commentary examines Johnson’s history in conservative Christian legal activism and argues that his rise reflected longer-term developments within the religious right.
83. [“The Venom of Our Age”: James Carville on the Danger of Mike Johnson’s Christian Nationalism | David Smith | The Guardian | December 16, 2023]
Interviews James Carville and discusses Louisiana’s political transformation, Johnson’s conservative Christian politics, and debate over Christian nationalism.
84. [Mike Johnson, Theocrat: The House Speaker and a Plot Against America | Marci A. Hamilton | The Guardian | November 4, 2023]
Opinion analysis criticizes Mike Johnson’s use of biblical language in public policy and argues that his approach raises church-state concerns.
85. [Mike Johnson Suggests His Election as House Speaker Ordained by God | Jack Jenkins | The Washington Post / Religion News Service | October 27, 2023]
Reports Johnson’s religious explanation of political authority and broader religious rhetoric surrounding the House Republican leadership contest.
86. [Evangelical Mike Johnson “Raised Up” as House Speaker | Jack Jenkins | Christianity Today / Religion News Service | October 26, 2023]
Covers Mike Johnson’s election as House speaker, his Southern Baptist faith, biblical rhetoric, and the importance of conservative Christianity to his political identity.
87. [An Upstart Conservative Christian Group Is Building Local Political Power | Religion News Service Staff | Religion News Service | July 12, 2023]
Profiles Christian political organizers seeking influence through school boards, local elections, churches, and Republican grassroots politics.
88. [Josh Hawley’s Christian Nationalism Tweet Draws Historical Scrutiny | Gillian Brockell | The Washington Post | July 7, 2023]
Examines historical claims invoked by Senator Josh Hawley concerning Christianity, nationalism, and the United States’ founding traditions.
89. [How Pat Robertson Created Today’s Christian Nationalist GOP | Michelle Boorstein | The Washington Post | June 8, 2023]
Reviews Robertson’s role in transforming conservative evangelical activism into a major component of Republican Party politics.
90. [How Michael Flynn Goes Local to Spread Christian Nationalism | Michelle R. Smith | FRONTLINE | October 17, 2022]
Examines Flynn’s strategy of influencing school boards and local elections as a way of building national political power from the local level.
91. [Michael Flynn Is Recruiting an “Army of God” in Growing Christian Nationalist Movement | Michelle R. Smith and Richard Lardner | Associated Press / PBS NewsHour | October 7, 2022]
Investigates the ReAwaken America Tour and its role in connecting Christian revival-style events with pro-Trump political activism and Republican candidates.
92. [Former Trump Adviser Michael Flynn “at the Center” of New Movement Based on Conspiracies and Christian Nationalism | Michelle R. Smith | Associated Press / PBS NewsHour | September 7, 2022]
Investigation documents Michael Flynn’s efforts to build a political network combining Trump support, election activism, religious rhetoric, and local Republican organizing.
93. [Takeaways from the AP/FRONTLINE Michael Flynn Investigation | Michelle R. Smith | FRONTLINE | September 7, 2022]
Summarizes findings concerning Flynn’s political endorsements, nonprofit organizations, Christian-nationalist messages, election claims, and influence within Republican networks.
State and Local Politics, Education, and Legislation
94. [Christian Nationalism Takes Center Stage in Oklahoma Republican Primary Runoff | Religion News Service Staff | Religion News Service | August 26, 2026]
Reports on religious-nationalist themes and church-state disputes influencing a Republican electoral contest in Oklahoma.
95. [Tilled Fields for Christian Nationalism: Project Blitz and the Evolution of the Christian Right | Kimberly H. Conger | Politics and Religion | January 14, 2026]
Studies Project Blitz and state legislation as an institutional route through which Christian-nationalist ideas can enter Republican-controlled legislatures and public policy.
96. [What Ryan Walters’ Rise and Fall Says About Christian Nationalist Politics | Religion News Service Staff | Religion News Service | October 29, 2025]
Reviews the Oklahoma education official’s political career and disputes over Bible instruction, public schools, conservative Christianity, and Republican politics.
97. [Christian Nationalists Are Open About Their Goals for Texas | Robert Downen | The Texas Tribune | March 17, 2025]
Reports on Texas activists and Republican political figures who advocate a stronger governmental role for conservative Christian principles.
98. [Oklahoma Is a Testing Ground for a Project 2025 Education Agenda | The Guardian Staff | The Guardian | February 27, 2025]
Examines Oklahoma education policies involving Bible instruction, culture-war issues, and conservative organizations associated with the wider Trump movement.
99. [Christian Nationalism Across All 50 States: Insights from PRRI’s 2024 American Values Atlas | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | February 4, 2025]
Provides state-level measurements of Christian-nationalist attitudes and examines their relationship with Republican identity, religion, political violence, and the 2024 election.
100. [Bibles That Oklahoma Wants for Schools Match Version Backed by Trump | Associated Press | Associated Press | October 2024]
Reports on Republican Oklahoma education officials’ effort to purchase Bibles for public schools and controversy surrounding specifications resembling a Trump-endorsed Bible.
101. [Louisiana to Become First State to Require That the Ten Commandments Be Displayed in Every Public School Classroom | Sara Cline | Associated Press / PBS NewsHour | June 19, 2024]
Covers a Republican-backed Louisiana law requiring Ten Commandments displays and the resulting constitutional and religious-liberty debate.
102. [At Texas GOP Convention, Republicans Call for Spiritual Warfare | Robert Downen | The Texas Tribune | May 28, 2024]
Reports on religious rhetoric, Christian-nationalist themes, Bible-in-schools proposals, and ideological battles at the Texas Republican Party convention.
103. [Christian Nationalism Is Roiling Michigan’s Republican Party | The Guardian Staff | The Guardian | March 2, 2024]
Reports on religious divisions, election activism, and ideological conflict inside Michigan Republican politics.
104. [Support for Christian Nationalism in All 50 States: Findings from PRRI’s 2023 American Values Atlas | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | February 28, 2024]
Maps Christian-nationalist attitudes while examining differences by party, race, religion, abortion views, LGBTQ issues, and Trump support.
105. [How a Far-Right Republican Took Over Local Government in One of Texas’ Largest Counties | Jeremy Schwartz | ProPublica | 2024]
Investigates Tarrant County political leader Tim O’Hare and the interaction among conservative churches, Republican organizing, election politics, and local government.
106. [Christian Patriots Are Flocking From Blue States to Idaho | Michelle Boorstein | The Washington Post | February 24, 2023]
Examines conservative Christian migration to northern Idaho and the relationship among religion, Republican politics, cultural conflict, and visions of a Christian-oriented society.
107. [Christian Nationalism Shapes a Pennsylvania Primary—and a GOP Shift | Michelle Boorstein | The Washington Post | May 16, 2022]
Profiles Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano and the growing prominence of explicitly Christian political rhetoric within parts of the GOP.
108. [A Pennsylvania Lawmaker and the Resurgence of Christian Nationalism | Eliza Griswold | The New Yorker | May 9, 2021]
Profiles Doug Mastriano and explores his combination of conservative Christianity, Republican activism, election politics, and ideas about America’s religious identity.
109. [Project Blitz: The Legislative Assault by Christian Nationalists to Reshape America | David Taylor | The Guardian | June 4, 2018]
Investigates Project Blitz, a coordinated effort to introduce religiously themed legislation in statehouses, and its connections to conservative Christian political organizations.
Church-State, Religious Liberty, and Public Religion
110. [Federal Judge Dismisses a Lawsuit Over Makeup of Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission | Peter Smith | Associated Press / Washington Post | July 27, 2026]
Reports on a legal challenge alleging that a federal religious-liberty commission disproportionately represented conservative Christian viewpoints.
111. [The New Faces of Christian Nationalism | The New Yorker Staff | The New Yorker | March 15, 2026]
Examines younger activists and intellectuals promoting stronger connections among conservative Christianity, nationalism, and political authority.
112. [When Christian Nationalism Trumps Religious Liberty | Brian Kaylor | Word&Way | June 19, 2025]
Baptist commentary arguing that government policies favoring conservative Christianity can undermine broader principles of equal religious liberty.
113. [Project 2025 Is a Death Sentence for Religious Freedom | Religion News Service Contributor | Religion News Service | September 23, 2024]
Commentary argues that organizations involved with Project 2025 promote policies that could privilege conservative Christianity over religious pluralism.
114. [Axios Explains: Christian Nationalism on the March | Axios Staff | Axios | June 24, 2024]
Surveys Christian nationalism’s growing visibility in Republican politics, state legislation, Trump-aligned organizations, and debates over church-state separation.
115. [Christianity’s Place in Politics and “Christian Nationalism” | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | March 15, 2024]
Finds Republicans substantially more likely than Democrats to favor government promotion of Christian moral values or official recognition of Christianity.
116. [U.S. Presidential Candidates and Their Religious Engagement | Chip Rotolo, Gregory A. Smith and Jonathan Evans | Pew Research Center | March 15, 2024]
Examines perceptions of Trump, Biden, and other candidates’ religiosity and whether voters believe politicians defend people sharing their religious beliefs.
117. [What Is Christian Nationalism and Why It Raises Concerns About Threats to Democracy | Laura Barrón-López and Sam Lane | PBS NewsHour | February 1, 2024]
Explains Christian nationalism through an interview with scholar Brad Onishi and discusses its relationship with Trump-era Republican politics.
118. [House Speaker’s Christian Nationalist Ties Spark First Amendment Fears | Peter Stone | The Guardian | December 22, 2023]
Investigates Johnson’s relationships with Christian conservative activists and critics’ concerns about church-state separation.
119. [In U.S., Far More Support Than Oppose Separation of Church and State | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | October 28, 2021]
Finds broad national support for church-state separation while documenting strong relationships among integrationist attitudes, Republican identity, and favorable views of Trump.
Race, Immigration, and Demographic Change
120. [From “Model Minority” to Public Enemy: Why Texas Politicians Turned on Indian Immigrants | Chris Tomlinson | Houston Chronicle | September 2026]
Examines nativist rhetoric within parts of Texas Republican politics and its relationship with religious nationalism, immigration debates, and Indian American communities.
121. [Christian Nationalism and Race-Contingent Support for Law Enforcement | Various Authors | Academic Research Article | August 6, 2026]
Examines how race conditions associations between Christian-nationalist beliefs and attitudes toward police authority and law enforcement.
122. [How Christian Nationalism Affects Views on Immigration | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | March 30, 2026]
Uses survey data to examine connections between Christian-nationalist identification and immigration attitudes, including important differences by race and ethnicity.
123. [Partisan and Racial Sorting of Christian Nationalism, 1996–2022: Backlash and Counter Backlash on the (White) Secular Left and Religious Right | Jesse Smith | Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion | December 26, 2025]
Finds increasing partisan divergence in Christian-nationalist attitudes, with modest increases among Republicans and substantial declines among Democrats concentrated especially among white Americans.
124. [The Gathering Storm in the Evangelical Field: Education, Christian Nationalism, and Racial Inequality | David Sikkink | Sociology of Religion | November 3, 2025]
Investigates divisions within American evangelicalism involving education, racial attitudes, Christian nationalism, and reactions to the Trump movement.
125. [How Christian Nationalist Rhetoric Can Influence Elections Across Race | Allyson Shortle and Michael R. Fisher Jr. | Public Religion Research Institute | August 12, 2025]
Explores racial differences in how Christian-nationalist identification related to voting behavior in the 2024 presidential election.
126. [How Christian Nationalism Promotes White Supremacy | Various Authors | Academic Research Article | July 14, 2025]
Examines mechanisms through which religious, racial, and national identities can reinforce attitudes favoring white social and political dominance.
127. [Anti-Abortion and Pro-Coercion: White Christian Nationalism and Support for Arresting Women Who Have Abortions | Various Authors | Social Problems | June 28, 2025]
Studies relationships among Christian nationalism, abortion attitudes, racial identity, and support for punitive abortion policies.
128. [White or Woke Christian Nationalists? How Race Moderates the Link Between Christian Nationalism and Progressive Identities | Joshua B. Grubbs et al. | Public Opinion Quarterly | May 13, 2025]
Shows that the political meaning of Christian-nationalist beliefs varies substantially by racial identity and cautions against treating all Christian nationalists as politically identical.
129. [How Christian Nationalism Co-opts Black Americans for Republicans: The Case of Abortion in the 2024 Presidential Election | Samuel L. Perry and Darci K. Schmidgall | Ethnic and Racial Studies | April 3, 2025]
Examines whether abortion-related Christian-nationalist rhetoric can affect political priorities among Black as well as white voters.
130. [Internalized Racism? Christian Nationalism and Anti-Asian Attitudes | Various Authors | Academic Research Article | 2025]
Investigates how Christian nationalism interacts with race and political identity in attitudes toward Asian Americans.
131. [A Colorblind Christian Country? Christian Nationalism and Attitudes Toward Race-Conscious Public Policy | Various Authors | Academic Research Article | June 5, 2024]
Examines relationships between Christian-nationalist identification and preferences for colorblind versus race-conscious approaches to public policy.
132. [Pro-Trump Pastors Rebuked for “Overt Embrace of White Christian Nationalism” | Peter Stone | The Guardian | May 1, 2023]
Reports on Pastors for Trump, its campaign organizing, and criticism from other Christian leaders concerned about merging partisan activism and religious authority.
133. [Race Over Religion: Christian Nationalism and Perceived Threats to National Identity | Various Authors | Sociology of Race and Ethnicity | March 10, 2023]
Examines how racial identity can condition the relationship between Christian nationalism and perceptions of cultural and political threat.
134. [“You’re Not Forgotten”: How the Right Racialized the Ohio Train Disaster | Ed Pilkington | The Guardian | February 26, 2023]
Examines Republican appeals to white working-class identity and includes analysis of how white Christian nationalism can connect racial and economic grievance.
135. [Divided by Faith (in Christian America): Christian Nationalism, Race, and Divergent Perceptions of Racial Injustice | Samuel L. Perry; Ryon J. Cobb; Joshua B. Grubbs | Social Forces | 2022]
Finds that race substantially conditions relationships between Christian nationalism and perceptions of racial discrimination and inequality.
136. [Christian Nationalism and Views of Immigrants Among Religious and Religiously Inactive Americans | Various Authors | Academic Research Article | February 16, 2021]
Examines the relationship between Christian nationalism and restrictive immigration attitudes across different levels of religious participation.
137. [Redefining Refugee: White Christian Nationalism in State Politics and Beyond | Breanne Leigh Grace; Katie Heins | Ethnic and Racial Studies | June 2, 2020]
Analyzes testimony surrounding a South Carolina anti-refugee proposal and examines how racial, religious, and national identities shaped state-level immigration politics.
138. [Keep America Christian (and White): Christian Nationalism, Fear of Ethnoracial Outsiders, and Intention to Vote for Donald Trump in the 2020 Presidential Election | Joseph O. Baker et al. | Sociology of Religion | 2020]
Examines Christian nationalism, racial and immigration attitudes, and intentions to vote for Trump during the 2020 election.
139. [Christian Nationalism and the Politics of Refugee Resettlement | Breanne Leigh Grace; Katie Heins | Ethnic and Racial Studies | 2020]
Examines state legislative debates over refugees and how religious and racial definitions of American identity shaped arguments for restricting resettlement.
Democracy, Elections, Political Violence, and Rule of Law
140. [Judgement by Fire: The Rapid Anti-Democratic Turn of American Christian Nationalism | Paul A. Djupe, Jacob R. Neiheisel, Anand E. Sokhey, Brooklyn E. Walker | University of Colorado Boulder | June 17, 2026]
Examines demographic change, partisan sorting, conservative Christianity, and claims that parts of Christian nationalism have become increasingly intertwined with Republican politics.
141. [An Army for God: Gun Ownership, Christian Nationalism, and Support for Political Violence | Various Authors | Social Science Quarterly | 2026]
Studies how Christian nationalism and gun-owner identity interact with attitudes toward political violence.
142. [Authoritarianism, Xenophobia, and Christian Nationalism Among Christian Leaders | Various Authors | Academic Research Article | August 5, 2025]
Studies relationships among nationalist religious beliefs, authoritarian attitudes, immigration views, and political outlooks among Christian leaders.
143. [Christian Nationalism and Violence Against Religious Minorities: Political Empowerment and State-Level Effects | Nilay Saiya; Stuti Manchanda | Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion | 2025]
Develops a state-level approach to examining whether political expression of Christian-nationalist ideas corresponds with violence directed toward minority religious communities.
144. [Christian Nationalism and Public Support for Political Violence | Various Authors | Political Science Research | 2025]
Examines how perceived threats, partisan identity, religious nationalism, and beliefs about national decline relate to willingness to justify political violence.
145. [Christian Nationalism and Violence Against Religious Minorities in the United States: A Quantitative Analysis | Nilay Saiya; Stuti Manchanda | Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion | September 2, 2024]
Uses state-level data to test relationships between politicians’ Christian-nationalist rhetoric and physical attacks directed at religious minorities.
146. [Christian Nationalism and Americans’ Views of Democratic Elections | Various Authors | Political Science Research | 2024]
Examines relationships among Christian-nationalist beliefs, election legitimacy, partisan identity, and acceptance of democratic electoral outcomes.
147. [The Ingroup Love and Outgroup Hate of Christian Nationalism: Experimental Evidence About the Implementation of the Rule of Law | Zachary D. Broeren; Paul A. Djupe | Politics and Religion | December 4, 2023]
Uses experiments to examine how Christian-nationalist attitudes influence preferences for applying laws to religious or political in-groups and out-groups.
148. [Christian Nationalism and Political Violence: Victimhood, Racial Identity, Conspiracy, and Support for the Capitol Attacks | Miles T. Armaly, David T. Buckley and Adam M. Enders | Political Behavior | January 4, 2022]
Finds an association between Christian nationalism and support for the January 6 Capitol attack, particularly when combined with victimhood, racial identity, and conspiracy beliefs.
149. [“I Don’t Want Everybody to Vote”: Christian Nationalism and Restricting Voter Access in the United States | Samuel L. Perry; Andrew L. Whitehead; Joshua B. Grubbs | Sociological Forum | January 3, 2022]
Finds Christian-nationalist attitudes associated with support for several policies that make voting more restrictive, after accounting for other religious and political characteristics.
Policy Attitudes and Social Issues
150. [Christian Nationalism, the Antisocial Gospel? Attitudes on Charity and Justice in the Kingdom of God | Samuel L. Perry et al. | Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion | September 17, 2026]
Examines how Christian-nationalist beliefs relate to Christian respondents’ priorities concerning charity, justice, evangelism, elections, and laws based on biblical principles.
151. [The Right Kind of Children: Christian Nationalism, Religiosity, and Support for Selective Versus General Pronatalism | Samuel L. Perry | Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion | March 14, 2026]
Examines whether Christian nationalism is associated with encouraging higher birth rates generally or selectively among groups viewed as culturally desirable.
152. [Green Christian Nationalists? Christian Nationalism and Support for Environmental Protection | Various Authors | Academic Research Article | 2026]
Examines whether Christian-nationalist beliefs predict attitudes toward environmental regulation, stewardship, and climate-related policy.
153. [Christianity of Capital? Christian Nationalism, Socioeconomic Status, and Divergent Views on Organized Labor | Various Authors | Sociology of Religion | 2026]
Studies how Christian nationalism interacts with socioeconomic status in shaping attitudes toward labor unions and organized labor.
154. [Christian Nationalism and COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy and Uptake | Various Authors | Vaccine / Public Health Research | October 29, 2021]
Examines whether Christian-nationalist beliefs were associated with vaccine hesitancy during the politically polarized COVID-19 vaccination campaign.
155. [Save the Economy, Liberty, and Yourself: Christian Nationalism and Americans’ Views on Government COVID-19 Restrictions | Samuel L. Perry; Andrew L. Whitehead; Joshua B. Grubbs | Sociology of Religion | December 29, 2020]
Finds Christian-nationalist attitudes associated with opposition to pandemic restrictions and with rhetoric emphasizing individual liberty and economic reopening.
156. [How Culture Wars Delay Herd Immunity: Christian Nationalism and Anti-Vaccine Attitudes | Samuel L. Perry; Andrew L. Whitehead; Joshua B. Grubbs | Socius | December 7, 2020]
Examines Christian nationalism as a predictor of skepticism toward COVID-19 vaccination and connects the issue to broader cultural and political polarization.
157. [Culture Wars and COVID-19 Conduct: Christian Nationalism, Religiosity, and Americans’ Behavior During the Coronavirus Pandemic | Samuel L. Perry; Andrew L. Whitehead; Joshua B. Grubbs | Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion | July 26, 2020]
Finds Christian nationalism associated with lower adherence to several COVID-19 precautions and discusses connections among religion, partisanship, distrust of experts, and Trump-era politics.
158. [God’s Country in Black and Blue: How Christian Nationalism Shapes Americans’ Views About Police (Mis)treatment of Blacks | Samuel L. Perry; Andrew L. Whitehead | Sociology of Race and Ethnicity | August 2, 2018]
Examines how Christian-nationalist beliefs relate to perceptions of racial inequality and police treatment of Black Americans.
159. [Gun Control in the Crosshairs: Christian Nationalism and Opposition to Stricter Gun Laws | Andrew L. Whitehead, Landon Schnabel and Samuel L. Perry | Socius | July 23, 2018]
Finds Christian nationalism strongly associated with opposition to stricter federal gun laws, illustrating its relationship with policy attitudes commonly found in Republican politics.
160. [Christian Nationalism and Support for the Death Penalty | Joshua T. Davis | Sociological Research | 2018]
Examines the relationship between Christian-nationalist beliefs and punitive criminal-justice attitudes, including capital punishment and harsher sentencing.
Christian Responses, Critiques, and Alternatives
161. [A “Bible-Sized Blind Spot”: Christian Nationalism and Republican Politics | The Guardian Staff | The Guardian | August 26, 2026]
Examines conservative Christian influence within Republican politics and competing Christian interpretations of nationalism and political power.
162. [The Summer of Taking Christian Nationalism Seriously | Megan Fowler | Christianity Today | July 30, 2026]
Reports on Christian denominations studying and debating Christian nationalism amid increasing concern about the fusion of Christianity and partisan political power.
163. [What Do You Do When Christian Nationalism Comes to Church? | Russell Moore | Christianity Today | June 15, 2026]
Discusses how churches can respond when Christian identity becomes closely linked to nationalism, Republican politics, or partisan loyalty.
164. [Faith Should Be Freely Embraced, Not Politically Imposed | Tom Suozzi | America Magazine | June 1, 2026]
Commentary from a Democratic Catholic congressman arguing for religious participation in public life while opposing government establishment or political privileging of Christianity.
165. [It’s Not “Christian Nationalism.” It’s Conservative Identity Politics. | George Yancey | Christianity Today | January 22, 2026]
Argues that the Christian-nationalism framework can oversimplify conservative Christian voters and proposes conservative identity politics as an alternative explanation for some Republican political behavior.
166. [White Christian Clergy Organize Against Trump-Era Christian Nationalism | Religion News Service Staff | Religion News Service | December 15, 2025]
Reports efforts by clergy to challenge partisan uses of Christianity and advocate alternative approaches to religious involvement in public life.
167. [Why Exvangelicals Are Speaking Out Against Christian Nationalism | Sojourners Staff | Sojourners | April 2025]
Profiles former evangelicals who connect their departures from conservative churches with concerns about partisan politics, Trump, and nationalism.
168. [U.S. Christians Pushing Back on Christian Nationalism | Niala Boodhoo | Axios | October 7, 2024]
Describes Christian groups organizing against Christian nationalism and challenging the assumption that conservative nationalism represents Christianity as a whole.
169. [How a Movement to Resist Christian Nationalism Took on Project 2025 | Ruth Braunstein | Religion News Service | August 16, 2024]
Commentary describes religious and civic groups that characterized portions of Project 2025 as Christian nationalist and organized opposition to the plan.
170. [A New Movement Aims to Remake Evangelicals’ Relationship to Politics | Washington Post Staff | The Washington Post | August 3, 2024]
Profiles evangelicals attempting to reduce the close identification between evangelical Christianity, Republican partisanship, and Trump.
171. [How (Not) to Talk About “Christian Nationalism” | Brad East | Christianity Today | March 2024]
Argues that the label is sometimes applied too broadly and distinguishes explicit religious nationalism from ordinary Christian participation in democratic politics.
172. [Mike Johnson’s Reading of Scripture Misses What It Really Means to Be a Christian Nation | Liz Theoharis | Religion News Service | November 2, 2023]
Commentary challenges Johnson’s interpretation of Christianity and contrasts Christian-nationalist politics with a social-justice reading of biblical teachings.
173. [The Problem with Anti-Anti-Christian Nationalism | Paul D. Miller | Christianity Today | September 2023]
From a conservative Christian perspective, argues that concerns about Christian nationalism should not simply be dismissed as partisan attacks on Christianity.
174. [Catholics Face a Crisis Over White Christian Nationalism | Various Authors | America Magazine | January 20, 2023]
Examines Catholic responses to nationalism, race, Trump-era politics, religious identity, and democratic pluralism.
175. [Christian Nationalism Cannot Save the World | Russell Moore | Christianity Today | September 29, 2022]
Christian critique arguing that merging national political power with Christian identity can distort Christian theology and religious witness.
176. [Is Christian Republicanism the Best Cure for Christian Nationalism? | Jesse Smith | Religion News Service | September 1, 2022]
Commentary distinguishes Christian nationalism from a religiously informed republican tradition that emphasizes constitutional government and pluralism.
177. [Is There a Wholesome Alternative to Christian Nationalism? | Bonnie Kristian | Christianity Today | June 2022]
Reviews arguments for Christian republicanism as an alternative to political nationalism and discusses conservative debates about patriotism and Christian identity.
Concepts, History, and Scholarly Analysis
178. [Real-Time Revisionism: Christian Nationalism and Americans’ Interpretation of Political History | Various Authors | Academic Research Article | May 14, 2026]
Examines whether Christian-nationalist commitments influence how people interpret historical information involving religion and American government.
179. [On the Christian Roots of American Republicanism | Forrest Nabors | Heritage Foundation | September 17, 2025]
Presents a conservative argument that Christianity historically contributed significantly to American republican government while distinguishing that claim from formal establishment of Christianity.
180. [Matthew D. Taylor on the Peril of Radicalizing Evangelicals | Jack Jenkins | Religion News Service | April 4, 2024]
Discusses charismatic political networks, spiritual-warfare theology, January 6, Trump support, and their relationship with Christian nationalism.
181. [Christians, Partisanship, and the Politics of Religious Threat | Various Authors | Politics and Religion | 2024]
Examines how partisan cues influence whether Americans believe Christianity faces discrimination or loss of status and how those perceptions affect political behavior.
182. [Tim Alberta Discusses His New Book Exploring American Evangelicals and Political Extremism | Geoff Bennett et al. | PBS NewsHour | December 6, 2023]
Examines divisions within evangelical churches produced by partisan politics, Trump loyalty, declining Christian demographic dominance, and Christian-nationalist rhetoric.
183. [Christ, Country, and Conspiracies? Christian Nationalism, Biblical Literalism, and Belief in Conspiracy Theories | Brooklyn Walker | Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion | May 8, 2023]
Examines Christian nationalism and biblical literalism as separate predictors of generalized conspiracy thinking.
184. [How Christian Is Christian Nationalism? | Isaac Chotiner | The New Yorker | March 27, 2023]
Interviews historian Philip Gorski about the historical, racial, religious, and political components of contemporary Christian nationalism.
185. [Saviour of Christian America? Donald Trump’s Messianic Appeal to White Evangelicals | Tobias Cremer | Cambridge University Press | 2023]
Examines why some white evangelical voters interpreted Trump as a political protector despite theological and personal differences between Trump and traditional evangelical ideals.
186. [Christian Nationalism Debates Expose Clashing Views of Power | Daniel Silliman | Christianity Today | October 31, 2022]
Explores disagreement among evangelicals over the definition of Christian nationalism and its relationship to political power, Republican voting, and church-state relations.
187. [Why Are Some Christian Nationalist Leaders Opposed to Being Called Christian Nationalists? | Katherine Stewart | The New Republic | October 27, 2022]
Commentary examines disputes within the religious right over terminology and why some activists reject the Christian-nationalist label.
188. [Concerns Grow Over the Increasing Ties Between Christianity and Right-Wing Nationalism | Laura Barrón-López | PBS NewsHour | October 11, 2022]
Examines several Republican candidates using Christian-nationalist themes during the 2022 midterms and includes analysis from historian Kristin Kobes Du Mez.
189. [The Psychometric Properties of the Christian Nationalism Scale | Various Authors | Politics and Religion | July 11, 2022]
Evaluates commonly used survey questions measuring Christian nationalism and discusses the strengths and limitations of treating the responses as a single ideological scale.
190. [Historical Fundamentalism? Christian Nationalism and Ignorance About Religion in American Political History | Samuel L. Perry et al. | Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion | December 7, 2021]
Finds Christian nationalism associated with incorrect beliefs about religion’s historical place in American founding documents, laws, and court decisions.
191. [What Popular Discussions of Christian Nationalism Are Missing | Katherine Stewart | Religion Dispatches | August 9, 2021]
Argues that attention to individual beliefs should be supplemented by examination of organizations, donors, political networks, and institutional strategies.
192. [What Is Christian Nationalism? | Paul D. Miller | Christianity Today | February 3, 2021]
Conservative Christian explainer distinguishing Christian nationalism from Christianity, patriotism, ordinary religious political participation, and constitutional republicanism.
193. [Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States, by Andrew L. Whitehead and Samuel L. Perry | Andrew R. Lewis | Sociology of Religion | January 7, 2021]
Reviews a major scholarly study of Christian nationalism, its measurement, demographic composition, and relationship with American political behavior.
194. [Taking America Back for God: Power | Andrew L. Whitehead; Samuel L. Perry | Oxford University Press | 2020]
Examines how Christian-nationalist ideology relates to political power and preferences for leaders perceived as capable of restoring a favored social order.
195. [Taking America Back for God: Boundaries | Andrew L. Whitehead; Samuel L. Perry | Oxford University Press | 2020]
Examines boundaries separating perceived insiders and outsiders within Christian-nationalist understandings of American identity.
196. [Taking America Back for God: Order | Andrew L. Whitehead; Samuel L. Perry | Oxford University Press | 2020]
Examines Christian-nationalist preferences involving gender hierarchy, racial order, family structure, authority, and social control.
197. [Taking America Back for God: Four Americans | Andrew L. Whitehead; Samuel L. Perry | Oxford University Press | 2020]
Uses individual profiles to illustrate differences among Americans who embrace, accommodate, resist, or reject Christian-nationalist ideas.
198. [Taking America Back for God: One Nation Under What? | Andrew L. Whitehead; Samuel L. Perry | Oxford University Press | 2020]
Summarizes the authors’ findings about Christian nationalism’s place in American religion, identity, and politics.
199. [The Fault Lines of the New Christian Nationalism | Various Authors | America Magazine | September 19, 2019]
Examines distinctions among religious patriotism, nationalism, conservative Christianity, and attempts to define the United States primarily through Christian identity.
