At the 2025 SCSW Synod Assembly, the assembly passed a resolution encouraging congregations to “study the issue of Christian Nationalism and its threat to our Lutheran tradition.” (Resolution 4 – “Christian Nationalism” – amended version). The resolution also called upon the synod council or its designees to “offer a resource list on the synod’s website to aid congregations and members in this study” (Resolution 4 – “Christian Nationalism” – amended version).
The full text of the resolution can be found here.
The following list is a compilation of resources on the issue and threat of Christian Nationalism, including ELCA Social Statements, websites, books, and more. Special thanks to retired Pastor Peter Heide for this resource.
Theological Framework Resources
- The Rapture Exposed: The Message of Hope in the Book of Revelation
by Barbara R. Rossing (2004) (Kindle)
- Revelations: Visions, Prophecy, and Politics in the Book of Revelation
by Elaine Pagels (2012) (NLS, Audiobook, Kindle)
- Unraptured: How End Times Theology Gets It Wrong
by Zack Hunt (2019) (NLS, Kindle)
- Armageddon: What the Bible Really Says about the End
by Bart D. Ehrman (2023) (NLS, Audiobook, Kindle)
The misuse of Revelation by evangelical dispensationalists easily leads to inactive despair. The result is poor stewarding of not just people, but our whole world and its resources. “In the introduction to Paradise Restored, Chilton tells us what he believes is at stake in the debate between premillennialists and postmillennialists: ‘The fact is that you will not work for the transformation of society if you do not believe society can be transformed.’ In other words, because premillennialists believe the world will spiral ever downward until Christ returns, they won’t work to build his Kingdom on earth.” [Ingersoll, Julie J.. Building God’s Kingdom: Inside the World of Christian Reconstruction (pp. 28-29). Oxford University Press. Kindle Edition]
