Journal: Southern Baptist Journal of Theology
Volume: SBJT 28:2 (Summer 2024)
Article: Interview With Andrew T. Walker On Christian Nationalism
Author: Andrew T. Walker

Interview With Andrew T. Walker On Christian Nationalism1

Andrew T. Walker

Andrew T. Walker is Associate Professor of Christian Ethics and Public Theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky, where he also serves as an Associate Dean in the School of Theology. He is also the Director of the Carl F. H. Henry Institute for Evangelical Engagement, and also serves as a Fellow in Christian Political Though at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, and as the Managing Editor of WORLD Opinions. He earned his PhD from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is the author of numerous articles and books, such as Liberty for All: Defending Everyone’s Religious Freedom in a Pluralistic Age (Brazos, 2021), God and the Transgender Debate: What Does the Bible Actually Say about Gender Identity? (Good Book Company, 2022), and Faithful Reason: Natural Law Ethics for God’s Glory and Our Good (B&H Academic, 2024). Dr. Walker and his family are members of Highview Baptist Church, Louisville, Kentucky where he leads a Sunday community group and men’s Bible study.

David Schrock: Andrew, you wrote a review of Stephen Wolfe’s book, The Case for Christian Nationalism.2 I wonder if there’s been any follow up with him about that.

Andrew Walker: No, I have not had any one-on-one conversation or feedback from Stephen about the piece. In fairness to him, I’m critiquing his book as a Baptist. One thing I will say is what I appreciate about Stephen is that he has spoken in the past commendably about me because, as a Baptist, I have been pretty clear about the fact that although Baptists are in the Protestant and Reformed tradition, we do not find ourselves in the magisterial tradition on church-state matters.

David Schrock: That’s fair. It is an important piece, especially thinking through the discussion of Christian nationalism. There are a lot of different angles, but the church polity issue is certainly one of them, and it

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is going to effect how Baptists view and relate to the state. There can also be confusion when you read a compelling book from someone outside of your tradition and there are things you can appreciate about that. But if you are not careful, you can smuggle in some incorrect church polity that affects how you view the church-state relationship.

More generally, you wrote a piece, “What does ‘Christian nationalism’ even mean?”3 where you think through various definitions of Christian nationalism. That piece was in World Opinions. Have you received any feed...