Christian Nationalism and Wealthy Donors in the Bible
The Bible does not address "Christian nationalism" as a modern political ideology, nor does it offer a systematic treatment of wealthy donors as a category. Scripture does, however, speak extensively to wealth, power, national identity, and the dangers of conflating religious devotion with worldly advantage.
Wealth and Its Temptations
Biblical texts consistently describe riches as temporary, uncertain, and unsatisfying [2]. Ecclesiastes warns of the man to whom God gives wealth and honor, yet who cannot enjoy them—"a foreigner enjoys them. This is vanity and a severe affliction" (Ecclesiastes 6:2) [1]. Proverbs 28:8 observes that wealth accumulated through exploitation may ultimately serve the poor, as rabbinic commentary notes: a wealthy usurer dies childless, his fortune entering the royal treasury to fund public works for the indigent [4]. The New Testament intensifies this critique. Jesus calls wealth "deceitful" (Matthew 13:22) [2], and James condemns the church's tendency to honor the wealthy for their "social status, political power, and potential generosity as patrons," warning that such discrimination reflects "evil motives" and divided loyalty between God and worldly benefit (James 2:3-4) [7]. Augustine echoes this, insisting that a Christian "ought not to be wealthy, but ought to acknowledge himself poor," recognizing that earthly riches are not "true riches" [8].
National Identity and the People of God
The question of national privilege runs through both Testaments. Israel's election was never meant to establish permanent ethnic supremacy. Charles Hodge notes that the apostles "recognize no future for the Jews in which the Gentile Christians are not to participate," and that in Christ "there is no difference between them...in virtue of national or social distinctions, but solely of individual character and devotion" [3]. Augustine interprets the typology of Esau and Jacob as prefiguring the displacement of ethnic Israel by the church: "The elder shall serve the younger" [9]. This does not erase Israel's covenantal history, but it subordinates national identity to membership in the body of Christ.
The Early Church and Possessions
The Jerusalem church's experiment in communal property (Acts 2, 4) involved actual renunciation: "Those who had possessions sold them...handed over to the Apostles and distributed by them" [6]. This was not a universal mandate, but it demonstrates the early community's conviction that wealth must serve the collective body, not individual status. When the Donatist controversy erupted, Augustine defended the transfer of schismatic church property to Catholic control under imperial law, arguing that possessions held "in the name of the churches" belonged rightly to the universal church [5].
Sources
- Ecclesiastes “Ecclesiastes 6:2 (NASB) — a man to whom God has given riches and wealth and honor so that his soul lacks nothing of all that he desires; yet God has not empowered him to eat from them, for a foreigner enjoys them. This is vanity and a severe affliction.”
- Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Riches — The true riches -- Eph 3:8; 1Co 1:30; Col 2:3; 1Pe 2:7. God gives -- 1Sa 2:7; Ec 5:19. To God belongs this world's riches -- Hag 2:8. God gives power to obtain -- De 8:18. The blessing of the Lord brings -- Pr 10:22. Give worldly power -- Pr 22:7. Described as Temporary. -- Pr 27:24. Uncertain. -- 1Ti 6:17. Unsatisfying. -- Ec 4:8; 5:10. Corruptible. -- Jas 5:2; 1Pe 1:18. Fleeting. -- Pr 23:5; Re 18:16,17. Deceitful. -- Mt 13:22. Liable to be stolen. -- Mt 6:19. Perishable. -- Jer 48:36. Thick clay. -- Hab 2:6. Often an obstruction to the reception of the go”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 3, section 88: that if there be any difference between them, it is not in virtue of national or social distinctions, but solely of individual character and devotion. That we are all one in Christ Jesus, is a doctrine 811 which precludes the possibility of the preeminence assigned to the Jews in the theory of which their restoration to their own land, and their national individuality are constituent elements. 5. The Apostles uniformly acted on this principle. They recognize no future for the Jews in which the Gentile Christians are not to participate. As”
- Midrash Rabbah (Jewish (Rabbinic)) “Midrash Rabbah, Shemot Rabbah 31:11: Another matter, “if you lend money to My people,” that is what is written: “One who increases his wealth through usury and interest amasses it for the sake of one who is gracious to the indigent” (Proverbs 28:8). There is a person who is wealthy, and he lends with interest and amasses much money, but he dies without children and all his money enters the royal treasury. What does the king do with that money? He constructs platforms, bathhouses, benches, and lavatories for the use of the poor. That is, “amasses it for the sake of one who is gracious to the in”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 4: Augustine — Anti-Manichaean, Anti-Donatist — CHAP. 9.--35. As to the charge that they bring against us, that we covet and plunder their possessions, I would that they would become Catholics, and possess in peace and love with us, not only what t (part 1): 36. Everything, therefore, that was held in the name of the churches of the party of Donatus, was ordered by the Christian emperors, in their pious laws, to pass to the Catholic Church, with the possession of the buildings themselves.[1] Seeing, then, that there are with us poor members of those said churches who used to be maint”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 3, section 50: .) Some indeed say that these passages do not imply any actual community of goods. Having “all things common” is understood to mean, “No one regarded his possessions as belonging absolutely to himself, but as a trust for the benefit of others also.” This interpretation seems inconsistent with the whole narrative. Those who had possessions sold them. They renounced all control over what was once their own. The price was handed over to the Apostles and distributed by them or under their direction. 429 On the narrative as given in the Acts i”
- James (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on James 2:3: 2:3-4 It is natural to give special attention to wealthy people because of their social status, political power, and potential generosity as patrons. By serving and publicly honoring the wealthy, the church could gain whatever economic benefits they wished to give. James warns that this discrimination reflects evil motives, a division between loyalty to God (1:6) and a desire for the benefits of worldly wealth (4:4).”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 8: Augustine — Exposition on Psalms — PSALM CXXIII.(4) (part 6): to deprive God of the government of this world, and himself to hold the helm of Creation, and to distribute among all men pains and pleasures, punishments and rewards. Miserable soul! yet why do ye wonder? He is wealthy, but wealthy in iniquity, wealthy in malignity; but is more wealthy in iniquity, in proportion as he seemeth to himself to be wealthy in righteousness. 8. But a Christian ought not to be wealthy, but ought to acknowledge himself poor; and if he hath riches, he ought to know that they are not true riches,”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 2: Augustine — City of God, Christian Doctrine — CHAP. 42.--OF THE SONS OF JOSEPH, WHOM JACOB BLESSED, PROPHETICALLY CHANGING HIS HANDS.: Now, as Isaac's two sons, Esau and Jacob, furnished a type of the two people, the Jews and the Christians (although as pertains to carnal descent it was not the Jews but the Idumeans who came of the seed of Esau, nor the Christian nations but rather the Jews who came of Jacob's; for the type holds only as regards the saying, "The elder shall serve the younger" (6)), so the same thing happened in Joseph's two sons; for the elder was a type of the Je”