This book is timely, important, and a must read for Christians in America. Austin has provided here a short and accessible critique of Christian Nationalism which is both sharp and fair. He makes clear from the outset that his purpose is to help believers navigate this growing movement in American culture, and his method is a focus on individual character. Instead of getting down in the mud and appealing to slogan-slinging partisanship, Austin focusses his critique on higher ground: the ethics of political engagement.
His critique moves along three avenues, seeking to show how American Christian Nationalism is opposed first to core American values, and then more importantly to core Christian values, and core Christian virtues. As an ethicist he is well positioned to make his case, and I believe what makes it so compelling is that this is not a book about policy or party. It is a book about the heart of what it means (and what it does not mean) to be an American and a Christian. In a time when our politics divide so sharply this is an important call back to the values that should unite us all. Especially those of us who claim the name of Christ.
There is very little negative to be said about the book, but in the name of fairness let me just mention one minor drawback. The final chapter attempts to provide an alternative vision of politics in America, based on the “Beloved Community” which MLK Jr. spoke of. While it is necessary to fill the void with an alternative, and I do find the vision here compelling, I have to say it also strikes me as somewhat idealistic. The chapter lacks direct, practical application and opts instead for broad moral vision-casting. Austin himself concedes that such a vision may not be fully achievable in this lifetime, and perhaps that explains my slight dissatisfaction with it. Still, for a book this short and focused the negative here is really rather minor.
My own pessimism aside, the purpose of the book is laudably fulfilled and I heartily recommend it to Christians everywhere!

I was grateful to get an advance preview copy of this book. A timely read, Michael Austin does a great job addressing the Christian Nationalist movement. He point-by-point uses scripture to expose how the movement has turned what Jesus taught upside down. As a Christian that has found myself increasingly turned-off by the so-called Christians running for far right political positions today, this book helped me feel that my decisions to align with a church that focuses on being Jesus’ hands and feet in this world was the right move. I will definitely be recommending this book to friends!

i'd like to preamble this review by saying i'm not a christian or religious in any capacity. when i saw this book on netgalley, i assumed it was an unbiased, non-religious critical take down of the prevalence of christian nationalists infiltrating the american political system. it is not. this book is written by a christian author who, as such, speaks and generalizes from that point of view. with that in mind, i do think that this book is best for christians, less so for the rest of us.

this is a very cogent, succinct breakdown on what white nationalism is and isn't and all the nuances in between.

there was a very strange comment early on that i disagreed with - that people tend to deify political leaders that lead the party that they belong to. instant disagreement - i don't see people putting joe biden's face on flags, i don't see people blindly hero worshipping biden without criticism. i think deifying political leaders is a very weird and exclusive trait of the right-wing political sphere, helmed by the beginning of trumpism.

i will give the author credit - the author rightfully credits christian nationalism as the justification of the genocide of indigenous people, the justification for slave trade, the ideas being that "if we make them suffer it doesn't matter they will be rewarded in heaven".

there was also an absolutely amazing segment which summoned a conversation between a pastor and a parishioner. the parishioner hates the "liberal talking points" from the pastor, who informs the parishioner that the words are jesus himself. the parishioner says that doesn't work anymore, that jesus is too liberal... for christianity. it reminded me of a segment of shameless by nadia bolz-weber in which she talked about prohibition being the product of preachers, how jesus himself, a wine drinker, would not be allowed in the construct of what christianity was becoming.

here's my issue with this one:

this book accurately depicts the ways christian nationalism has found its way into our political systems, touched on ways that people will be punished if christian nationalism were to take over this country, but the only advice the author offers is "trust god", which, imo is a little silly. i'm not disparaging his/anyone's right to pray, but i think there also needs to be a conversation had about why christian nationalism has been allowed to flourish, where the anger comes from. prayer is not enough, systemic issues need to be addressed to eradicate christian nationalism. prayer doesn't pay rent, prayer doesn't unkill elementary school kids. if anything, i think there needs to be a conversation here about how prayer is also weaponized by white nationalists as a tool to not accept criticism for any of the issues that they perpetuate.

the author also suggested shortly after that people worldwide regardless of faith are human beings made in the image of a christian god. it's really bizarre to me to hear a bunch of criticism about christian nationalists are people who want to force their ideologies on everyone for the author to... not realize by perceiving all people/things as a product of his own god is the same thing he's making an argument against.

you cannot dismantle christian nationalism without also addressing the fact that all christian ideas are imperialist and colonialist. it read all very hypocritical for me.

Michael W Austin's "American Christian Nationalism: Neither American nor Christian" is a 130 book that gives good biblical evidence as to why this version of Christian Nationalism is not something we can align with as Christ followers. This is basically written as a long sermon, and instead of offering solutions, spends the time outlining how idolatrous some culture wars have been. Personally I am significantly bothered by how loud this rhetoric is, and how nearly every agnostic/atheist person I know, when they criticize "Christians," it is only this very specific group that they take issue with. There have been many excellent books written on this subject. My favorite thus far is "American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church" by Andrew L. Whitehead. This includes both history and scriptural argument. Another well done book is "The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism" by Tim Alberta. Alberta writes a lot about his personal experience interspersed with the rest. This book, while it doesn't give anything over and above the aforementioned two, is much shorter and could be more digestible than Alberta's 512 page tome. A good alternative if you are looking for a broader overview of an understanding of why American Christian Nationalism is ultimately idolatrous.

My main criticism is the same criticism I have of most non-fiction, which is that most of those that will pick it up are already those that agree with the conclusions.
Thank you to @netgalley and Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company for the ARC. Book to be published October 15, 2024.