Archbishop Goes on the Attack Against Christian Nationalists

Sverigedemokraterna party leader Jimmie Åkesson is the Antichrist and Muslim calls to prayer enrich Sweden. These are a couple of Archbishop Martin Modéus’s earlier statements that have sparked attention. Now, he is taking aim at Christian nationalists.

In an op-ed in DN, Martin Modéus writes that the concept of “Christian nationalism” is appearing more and more often in the media, and that it is “worrying, both in its ambiguity and from a theological perspective.” He refers to both Donald Trump and Viktor Orbán, saying that what is considered Christian is “loosely defined” and “used in a confrontational narrative against perceived threats, both within and outside the country.”

Christian theology resists being written into the story of nationalism, claims the Archbishop, adding that Jesus himself moved in “a cultural environment characterized by both ethnic and religious diversity.”

I am thankful and glad for our traditions in Sweden, and in the same way, I can feel gratitude and joy for my faith and its tradition—without turning that into a confrontation with others. I am grateful and confident in my Christian faith, and therefore do not need to feel threatened by others. The Church of Sweden’s church order expresses this as a desire: “…to seek God’s address in meeting each person regardless of religious tradition.”

Modéus further writes that theology “resists the kind of clan mentality that nationalism represents” and refers to Trump’s Make America Great Again movement.

Photo: James McNellis from Washington, DC, United States, CC BY 2.0

Ask Jesus for Help

In conclusion, the Archbishop writes that one “of course” can be both Christian and nationalist—but:

However, every Christian needs to stand before Jesus and ask for help to see their human and ideological choices in the light of who He is. And then we see that certain patterns of thought encounter clear resistance. We all need to wrestle with this. I do so myself every day.

The Christian faith emphasizes the unity of humanity. As it is so beautifully put in one of the prayers of the Eucharist: “Reveal to us the mystery of your table—one bread and one humanity.”