Christianity and the Nation State
October 17-November 7
with author Gary Chartier
Kindle: $41.99; free pre-publication PDF available on request
November 7: Chapter 4 and Conclusion
Living With Leviathan
(See also the book reviews, especially the just-posted link to a critical review by Gary Brennan of Georgetown University)
Below are AI overviews:
In Chapter 1, Gary Chartier framed his political theology around the reality of human diversity as a divine gift and argued that a Christian political vision must be open to multiple ways of flourishing and to social experimentation. (AI Overview)
In Chapter 2, State Authority, he mounts a critical examination of the nation-state’s legitimacy. Key points:
- States lack genuine consent of the governed.
- The “common good” does not justify state power.
- Social contract theory is insufficient.
- Sin and state power are connected; democratic rhetoric is often deficient.
- Chartier rejects both the idea of a Christian state and a global government, instead advocating nonterritorial “radical consociationalism” where protective and adjudicative associations are detached from particular territories Independent Institute+1
In Chapter 3, Social Order, he explores alternatives to the Leviathan model:
- The common good must be reimagined.
- Radical consociationalism as a Christian political ideal.
- The church’s role in maintaining order in a consociational world.
- Global governance considerations, with Chartier opposing a world government in favor of decentralized, nonterritorial associations .
In Chapter 4 - Engaging States, he offers practical guidance for Christians in a state context:
- Cooperation with states is possible but limited.
- Avoiding ideological mystification.
- Assessing participation in political life.
- Limits of participation, including war, vengeance, and treatment of prisoners.
- Welcoming the stranger and addressing global poverty.
Chartier concludes with a call for “saying no to killing” and for Christian ethics that balance engagement with critical resistance SearchWorks catalog..
Conclusion - Where We’ve Been
Summarizes the book’s trajectory: affirming diversity, questioning state authority, proposing radical consociationalism, and outlining a Christian ethic for navigating the nation-state. Chartier’s aim is to show that Christianity and a critique of the nation-state are compatible, without endorsing market anarchism or Christianity as such, but through a theologically grounded political vision
Summary: In short, the chapters move from affirming diversity, through a critique of state authority, to proposing a new social order, and finally to practical engagement with states, all under the framework of radical consociationalism
Critical Reviews which may provide fodder for our final discussion:
1. Untitled Review by Kevin D. Vallier, University of Toledo
This quite favorable review was published in the Fall 2025 issue of “The Independent Review - A Journal of Political Economy”
Book Review: Christianity and the Nation-State: A Study in Political Theology , Gary Chartier
The above mostly favorable review includes a criticism that much of the weakness of the book is because Chartier’s best supporting arguments are not all found in the book itself, but elsewhere in his opus, and his 2013 work “Anarchy and Legal Order” is especially emphasized.
So below is a review of this book. If Vallier is in fawning support of “Christianity and the Nation State,” Brennan finds Chartier’s earlier work “Anarchy and Legal Order” problematic throughout, even though Brennan himself claims a libertarian viewpoint.
2. Review by Gary Brennan, University of Toledo
On March 10, 2013 Libertarian scholar Gary Brennan reviewed Anarchy and Legal Order: Law and Politics for a Stateless Society | Reviews | Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews | University of Notre Dame which touched on many of the same issues in our current book study.
Sabbath Seminars
Room 3208
Centennial Complex of Loma Linda University Sabbath Morning 10:30-12:30
Galileo Galilei: 'I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.'
