#443 — What Is Christian Nationalism?

Doug Wilson describes his evangelical upbringing and theological stance within American Christianity. He positions himself as a Reformed Presbyterian who is decidedly outside the North American evangelical mainstream, which is predominantly dispensational and premillennial. Wilson explains that he grew up in a conservative Bible-believing home with missionary and evangelistic parents, and later aligned with the Francis Schaeffer-led re-engagement in culture wars during the 1970s.

• Wilson grew up in an evangelical home with a missionary mother and Navy officer father who left service for personal evangelism
• The evangelical movement split after the fundamentalist-modernist controversy, with conservatives building alternative structures like Bible colleges and Christian radio
• Francis Schaeffer led conservative believers to re-engage in culture wars during the 1970s through movements like the Moral Majority
• Post-COVID, 'red-pilled evangelicals' have become more pronounced in their willingness to be Christian in public

Wilson identifies as a biblical absolutist and young-earth creationist, explaining that he takes the Bible 'naturally' according to its genre rather than always literally. He believes the earth is approximately 6,000 years old based on biblical genealogies, rejects Darwinian evolution while accepting variation within species, and advocates for reading Scripture according to the intent of each book's genre—whether history, poetry, or apocalyptic literature.

• Wilson describes himself as a fundamentalist in believing core Christian doctrines but not in cultural fundamentalism
• As a biblical absolutist, Wilson takes the Bible 'naturally' according to genre—history as history, poetry as poetry, apocalyptic as apocalyptic
• Wilson believes the world is approximately 6,000 years old based on straightforward reading of biblical genealogies
• Wilson believes in variation within species but rejects transformation from one species to another, viewing all ethnic groups as descended from Noah