I recently heard about a course that’s apparently popular in many conservative Christian circles called Biblical Citizenship in Modern America. It’s produced by an organization called Patriot Academy, founded by former Texas Republican State Representative Rick Green who features heavily in the series. It’s made up of 8 videos each averaging about 1:20 in duration and is described as follows (emphasis mine):
The Biblical Citizenship course includes a captivating overview of the Constitution, filmed in Independence Hall where it was actually framed, along with historically accurate and intriguing facts and artifacts from the founding era, all enhanced with teachings and interviews from pastors and other Christian leaders who are engaged in today’s cultural battles!
It is specifically designed for churches to deliver a tool that is easy to use, digest, and activate their congregation!
It’s advertised in various places as “completely free,” though they certainly offer plenty of ways to pay for it and I couldn’t find a way to watch the entire series for free without jumping through a bunch of hoops to register as a coach to lead the course myself. Fortunately, I did find many of the sessions posted on YouTube. Therefore, this review is based on a partial viewing of the 10+ hour series. Specifically, I watched weeks 1, 2 and 8 completely, and part of weeks 3 and 4. Although I may have missed some important segments, I think the hours I did watch gave me a good sense of the course’s content, particularly the first and last weeks, which offered more of an overview and application rather than focusing on specific constitutional topics.
In contrast to my detailed review of the propagandist Epoch Times January 6 documentary, I won’t conduct a point-by-point analysis of this course. That is partly because it contains fewer outright falsehoods and distortions needing correction, but also because I think the more important conclusions from this course are better seen after taking a step back and viewing it more holistically.
The Presenters
The primary presenters (that I saw) in the series are:
Rick Green: a former Republican politician who now speaks and co-hosts the conservative Wallbuilders radio show.
Kirk Cameron: conservative actor.
Tim Barton: President of Wallbuilders, a conservative advocacy organization, and co-host of the Wallbuilders radio show. Also, a contributor to The Epoch Times.
David Barton: Founder of Wallbuilders and conservative speaker, co-host of Wallbuilders radio show.
It’s noteworthy that the primary speakers in this series apparently have no formal qualifications as either pastors (though they do feature some) or constitutional scholars and seem to mostly make their livings through speaking and producing content similar to this course. They are also uniformly politically conservative.
The Positives
The course's conservative bent is evident from its promotional website, the advocacy of its main contributors, and its ties to groups like Turning Point USA. However, it generally steers clear of overtly endorsing specific political movements or policies, which I found reassuring. I half expected a barrage of criticism against “woke” Democrats and catastrophizing about the persecution of American Christians. That’s not to say there’s none of that in here. For example, there’s an extended segment critiquing the New York Times’ 1619 Project and offhand comments about mandated church closures during COVID-19, but this sort of content wasn’t the primary focus of what I watched. And for what it’s worth, they’re not wrong to critique the 1619 Project which has, after all, been criticized by many on both left and right for historical inaccuracies. Though it’s worth acknowledging (the series does not) that it also made some positive contributions to public discussion and understanding of the legacy of racism in America. The course does include a nice segment on influential early black Americans, and while it downplays the significance of chattel slavery in America by comparing it to the many other countries that practiced it at the time, it does acknowledge that the South was much more accepting of this atrocity than the North. Ultimately, while the course clearly views America’s early history through rose-colored glasses, I found it more guilty of omission than commission (ie, excluding or downplaying inconvenient details rather than spreading falsehoods). I was also grateful to find that it applied a mostly optimistic attitude to America’s future and included important acknowledgements to the fact that Christians still enjoy incredible freedom and opportunity in America.
I don’t have a lot to say to the particulars of their analysis of the Constitution or the Founders’ writings. I’m not an expert in this area and I’m sure they selectively featured the writings and interpretations that were most consistent with the “biblically inspired” narrative they’re trying to tell (they give a lot of credence to the personal writings of various founding fathers as evidence of what influenced the country’s founding documents, but also are quick to remind us that Jefferson’s phrase “separation of church and state” isn’t in the constitution, so they’re a bit selective in which writings they treat as more worthy of study). But it was what I’d expect from a conservative video series about the Constitution and didn’t strike me as particularly objectionable or dishonest.
I also agree with several of their main points. It is important to acknowledge that many of our nation’s founders were inspired by Judeo-Christian religious beliefs and biblical teaching, and natural law that they believed to be another form of divine revelation. And it’s not unreasonable to conclude that these influences were instrumental in American democracy’s success and longevity compared to that of others (though, we have some other rather unique advantages such as geography, too). I think it is therefore true that there is value in Christians informing our kids of these facts, and as a society we should be teaching our kids the fundamental principles upon which the nation was founded.
Finally, I agree with them that all Americans, including the religious, should bring their worldview to bear on their political engagement. It should influence how they engage with the broader society, how they evaluate policies, and how they vote. And I approve the endorsements of this course for Americans to research political candidates and their positions and to exercise their civic duty to vote and engage in the political process however they feel called to do so. I’m pretty sure that will manifest differently for me than for them, but the message remains sound. They also make a few noteworthy admissions that taking power is downstream of spiritual formation, though this is not emphasized.
The Problems
The first problem with this course is its title. For a course called “biblical citizenship,” there was remarkably little scripture in the segments I watched, and virtually no deep analysis of biblical teachings. The scripture that is cited is applied in questionable ways in an attempt to bolster a point the speaker is making, rather than to guide the themes of the course.
The series starts by referencing the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20, NIV):
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Rick Green says this is calling us to present and apply Christian teaching in society, and explicitly states that this applies not just to salvation but to all areas of our lives, including areas of government policy like taxation. This is rather novel interpretation, and a very broad application of what is clearly a spiritually focused passage.
Green also mentions Matthew 16:18: “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” Green points out that “church” is a poor translation of the Greek word ekklesia which he says actually means “public square,” in a suggestion that this is a call for Christians to be active in civic debate and policymaking. However, while it’s true that this word was used to refer to the Athenian town square, its literal ancient meaning is “assembly” or “summoned.” Which, if the people summoned to assemble are followers of Christ as implied by the preceding word “my” in the verse, basically means “church” (as in, a gathering of believers). Again, Green seems to be stretching biblical interpretations to be understood as calling Christians specifically to civic engagement. While I don’t believe the Bible discourages civic engagement, and I think it’s entirely reasonable to conclude from the Bible that we are to apply its teachings and principals to our behavior in all areas of life (including civics), to suggest that this is the intent of these famous verses seems quite the reach.
In a later video, David Barton cites Genesis 1 and 9 as describing the creation of “self-government” in the creation of man, “family government” in the creation of Eve and “civil government” in establishing rules for Noah to live by to prosper. He also cites Ephesians 5 and 6 as establishing the authority for raising children to the family (“not the government”). He’s reading rather a lot of modern application into these ancient passages by suggesting that Genesis 1 describes “self-government,” a term that has a rather loaded meaning to modern Americans that was certainly not the original intent. Furthermore, Ephesians’ instruction for parents to train their kids in the instructions of the Lord doesn’t preclude other entities from being involved in their upbringing or education, whether that refers to their broader community or government. Again, the series seems to be looking to the Bible to reinforce its views, not guide them.
I found relatively little else in this series that was directly based on the Bible. There’s a smattering of offhand biblical references, lots of references to God and biblical teaching and worldview, but the content that is actually from the Bible could generously have fit in 20 minutes (of the roughly 1/3rd of the series that I watched, maybe there’s more in some of the segments I couldn’t find freely available).
The next problem flows from the first. If this isn’t really about biblical citizenship, then what is it about? A charitable description would be “constitutional citizenship,” but I think a more accurate one would be “constitutional religion.” The overriding theme of this series is one of reverence for the founding documents and the writings of the founding fathers. Kirk Cameron presented a lengthy segment about the symbolism held within an impressive statue built by a society aiming to represent the Pilgrims’ worldview (200 years after the Pilgrims landed). But from what I watched, the series spent more time unpacking its meaning than any passage from the Bible. Later segments claim that concepts like the “castle doctrine” (in which individuals have the rights to control their own home) are biblical because they were established by people who themselves were influenced by natural law and a biblical worldview. That’s an improper use of the term “biblical.”
At the end of the final segment, Green invites his kids into Independence Hall (where the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were debated and adopted), and they use words like “awestruck” to describe their reverence for the place, as if it were a visit to the Holy Land or St. Peter’s Basilica. I don't mean to downplay the significance of this hall or the educational value of visiting it, but it summed up the feeling of this series, which is that our founding documents are sacred, and that allegiance and devotion to them is almost as important as our allegiance and devotion to God because its authors were influenced by their faith. I agree that America’s founding documents are critically important to our nation’s success, but just that - one nation’s success. A great nation, yes, but also a deeply flawed nation. America is not infallible, nor were its founders. While there are occasional concessions to this fact in this series, that’s decidedly not the main message you come away with.
At the end of the series, it seems the course wants its viewers to leave with three main applications:
Spread the word about how great, wise and godly our Founding Fathers were and what our Constitution and Bill of Rights mean (as they interpret them).
Get involved in voting, primaries and policy advocacy at all levels of government.
Overt political engagement is how Christians are “salt and light” in the world and makes them culturally relevant. Christians should encourage pastors to more overtly apply their teachings to current policy and issue debates.
The first bullet is benign enough; however, before claiming expertise on the Constitution, I might suggest learning about it from teachers with a scholarly background rather than a biased advocacy group.
The second bullet I agree with, though I find their attempts to suggest the Bible explicitly calls us to do this to be weak.
The last one is downright dangerous and representative of the final major problem with this series: an absence of humility. Each video is full of overlong presentations of information which come from a particular, conservative viewpoint. There’s very little admission of uncertainty, the value of diverse perspectives, or the founders’ commitment to pluralism.
The series just assumes that knowing how to apply a biblical worldview to specific policies and voting decisions is simple, that pastors are equipped to make these judgements for their congregants, and that therefore the focus just needs to be on advocating for the policies and agendas we already know to be right. At one point, a speaker specifically says that “it’s easy to agree on what the correct policy is.” This is a partisan mindset which is unwilling to learn, unwilling to listen, and jumps from “it’s important to live out our worldview” to “go out and vote!” without the critical middle step of learning how to apply that worldview to political action, which is a lifelong project that we will never get perfectly right. If you think the right answer on almost anything in public policy is obvious, easy or without real tradeoffs, then you probably haven’t studied it deeply enough. And if you think that the way to be “salt and light” in the world is to engage in partisan political battles where you insist on the rightness of your position rather than seeking to understand where others are coming from and where we can find common ground, then I fear you’re missing the point.
Christians’ lack of relevance in modern society is not a result of them being insufficiently engaged in politics. Tim Alberta’s book The Kingdom, The Power, and The Glory provides a deep look into how influential Christians have been in politics for decades. Rather, Christians are losing relevance because the broader society sees them as partisan culture warriors, rather than a people who reflect the Beatitudes as Jesus calls us to and which is what made the early church so transformational. (I recommend this recent column by Peter Wehner in The Atlantic for an excellent treatment of this subject.)
To put a finer point on it, it’s very hard to take seriously anyone who claims to be guided by a biblical worldview but who lends unwavering support to politicians who represent the exact opposite in their personal lives and public behavior.
In my next post, I’ll review another course which aims to guide Christians in how to engage in politics, but from a different perspective.