The Song Behind Today’s Review Title
Onward Christian Soldiers is a poem set to music, first penned in 1865 by the English curate Sabine Baring-Gould. (A curate in the Anglican tradition is a priest in his first post after ordination - more or less an “apprentice priest” as I understand it.) The poem was meant for recitation by children in a procession to the church of St. Peter’s in Horbury, Yorkshire, where Baring-Gould was serving.
He originally set the poem to music using a slow version of a Hayden symphony. The song gained popularity after the words were fit to another tune, called “St. Gertrude” by Arthur Sullivan in 1871. This is the tune used today.
The author of today’s book was trained in psychology but came to history after encountering the “outrageous” writings of Bryan Fisher, of the right-wing American Family Association, which the author says bothered him for many reasons including religious arrogance. Fisher and many like him are engaged in “culture wars”. A large part of Christian nationalism is a war to return the US to a mythical (i.e. not real) time when it not only had a Christian-centered culture but an explicitly Christian government. In that sense Christian nationalists would consider themselves Christian soldiers marching as to war.
To emphasize the American ties to this English tune, listen to this song here on YouTube as it was performed by the Morman Tabernacle Choir, a singularly American religious institution (though likely not quite Christian enough for many Christian nationalists).
We hear the term often these days, but what exactly is “Christian Nationalism”? I find the following definition useful - it’s from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s “Civic Life and Faith Social Statement” (see page 80):
A cultural framework that idealizes and advocates fusion of highly selected Christian beliefs with U.S. civic life. This nationalistic ideology holds, among other things, that the U.S. Constitution was divinely inspired, that Christianity should be a privileged religion in the United States, and that this nation holds a uniquely privileged status in God’s eyes. Proponents range from those who believe the U.S. legally should be declared a Christian nation to those involved in more virulent strains that are openly racist, patriarchal, and antidemocratic.
Note the phrases “highly selected Christian beliefs”, “Christianity should be a privileged religion in the United States” and “openly racist, patriarchal, and antidemocratic”. Reading between the lines then, I could sum up Christian nationalism as narrow minded, anti-constitutional and bigoted religious zealotry. It is about certain Protestant fundamentalists seeking a power over American culture and institutions they do not now and never did have.
Warren Throckmorton has long been engaged in a battle with Christian nationalist thinking, and the proponents of it. Throckmorton has spent years successfully debunking myths and pointing out facts in the face of Christian nationalist propaganda. He is well qualified to write this book.
Author Warren Throckmorton is a former psychology professor at a Christian college. He is also a speaker on psychology and history. He wrote, produced and hosted the podcast series “Telling Jefferson Lies”. (Photo source: https://substack.com/@warrenthrockmorton)
The book tackles seven myths that Christian nationalists use to bolster their quest for power. Throckmorton lays out the facts that dispel these myths in a clear, straightforward and rational manner. His argument is so persuasive that on reading the book you may well wonder, as I did, how anyone could be so credulous as to fall for these “myths”.
But that thought neglects the real and significant scholarship and patience required by Throckmorton and like-minded historians needed to research the historical record, find the relevant facts, and lay them out before us. Mythmakers (or in this case propagandists) rely on those who hear their stories NOT doing the research, and so not understanding that much of what they are hearing isn’t true, nor that the conclusions being drawn are built on a house of cards.
I was raised Catholic myself, but do not consider myself particularly religious. I am also not one to deny or dissuade anyone else from their own spiritual journey — to each their own.
I am also a lover of history, and like the author I have been perplexed by how some Christian nationalists can misunderstand basic things about American history like the separation of Church and State called for in our Constitution. I respect the author’s factual historical analysis. I have no respect for the cooked-up nonhistorical suppositions intended to deceive - what the author here calls “myths”.
That is why I was drawn to this book, and I will say I liked it more than I expected I would. If you are similarly situated, I think you will too.
RATING: Four Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐
OVERALL COMMENTS: A clear, straightforward and rational dispelling of the myths behind Christian nationalism. I liked this book more than I expected I would.
WHERE I GOT MY COPY: I received a hard cover reviewer’s copy of the book through LibraryThing, and courtesy of the publisher Broadleaf Books. The book was published on May 19th of this year.
Title: The Christian Past that Wasn’t: Debunking the Christian Nationalist Myths That Hijack History
Author: Warren Throckmorton
Publisher: Broadleaf Books
Publish Date: May 19, 2026
ISBN-13: 9798889835820
Publisher’s List Price: $32.99 hard cover. Ebook and audiobook available (but not direct from publisher)
Other Books and Stuff
CURRENT BOOKS & STUFF
I’ve picked up The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper as I talked about last week but have not gotten far. I’ve really only just begun. Hoping to finish it off this week.
On the TV watching front, we’re up to date on the latest episode of House of the Dragon on HBO and were happy to finally watch the first episode of Season 4 of Strange New Worlds on Paramount+.
Last week I mentioned that we’d begun the first season of The Buroughs on Netflix (done by the same folks who made Stranger Things). We’ve finished it now and, while it started out very promising it kind of petered out in the last few episodes. I loved the atmospherics - the retirement community called The Boroughs that was built for the series is quite a feat and a vision of a surreal “happy America”, as I said last week. But after seeing all of season one, I’d liken it more to The Truman Show than to the movies I referred to after seeing the first episode — E.T. or Poltergeist.
We also started and finished Ride or Die on Prime Video (ending our free month of viewing). Starring Octavia Spencer and Hannah Waddingham this is a female version of a buddy action-comedy series. The plot was more than a little far-fetched and stretched out, but it was a fun series to watch. It looks like there will be a season 2 and we’ll be watching for it.
I should point out that the series is heavier on violence than I expected, and not at all for kids.
WHAT’S NEXT
Next week I’ll be reviewing The United States of Oligarchy by Casey Michel. This current affairs book explores how the wealthiest Americans are allying themselves with foreign powers to establish oligarchic control of our government. Here’s the publisher’s description:
A staggering examination of how America's wealthiest infiltrated the government and allied with dictators, transforming the U.S. from democracy to oligarchy.
For years, a small group of billionaires has amassed increasing power, steering American politics for their own benefit. Many of these figures are familiar. There’s Elon Musk, who has used his wealth to help place Donald Trump back in the White House. There’s Mark Zuckerberg, who has used his resources to transform America into his own digital playground. There’s Jared Kushner, who has used family connections to gain more political power than he ever dreamed of.
There is only one word to describe such extreme levels of wealth, avarice, and political control: Oligarchy. But the oligarchs are not working alone. From China to Russia to Saudi Arabia and beyond, many of these men have cultivated alliances with America’s most notorious adversaries, opening the doors for autocrats around the world to sink their teeth into the U.S. Placing profit over patriotism, they have transformed into vectors of influence for some of the world’s most repulsive dictatorships, all of whom are trying to create a world dominated by imperialism and tyranny. Connecting everything from the devastation in Ukraine to destruction in Gaza to destabilization in Greenland, these oligarchs have transformed American policy and American politics into their own private fiefdoms, regardless of what Americans actually want.
In United States of Oligarchy, Casey Michel illuminates a story decades in the making, from the earliest efforts to corral and combat American oligarchs, to the new crop of individuals monopolizing American democracy and making the world safe for dictatorship – all for their own benefit.
The oligarchs have risen, and are attempting to reign. The only question remaining is whether or not it’s too late to stop them..
