Faith In Motion Series: Daniel W. Ulrich

In this edition of the Faith In Motion series, we meet Daniel W. Ulrich, a professor of New Testament Studies at the Bethany Theological Seminary and at Earlham School of Religion in Richmond, Indiana. Dan has been teaching at the Seminary since 1996 and is the longest serving employee. As of late, Dan has taken on the challenge of exploring Christian Nationalism in both his public speaking engagements and in his writing. He spoke with On Earth Peace about this journey, his overall theology and how those two have influenced each other.  

Although Dan has studied the Bible for a significant amount of time, he finds there is always something new to learn. As he interacts with people that have different backgrounds, he learns viewpoints that may challenge his blind spots, deepen his understanding or allow him to repent. Because he approaches the Bible communally, hearing how the Bible impacts, inspires and even has historically oppressed different people is an important part of his theology. He shares “I see my theology as being Jesus centered. I look to the Bible as a resource for understanding Jesus better and following Jesus more faithfully. I approach the Bible communally with Jesus at the center.” He sees this process as a cycle, studying the Bible in community to understand Jesus’s character and considering Jesus is in community with us, asking him how to understand what we are studying. 

Dan found that Christian nationalism directly challenged his “Jesus-centered” theology. His longstanding interest in applying the Bible to the material world further motivated him to confront this ideology. His dissertation research focused on the theme of greatness in the Gospels, specifically Jesus’s teaching that “whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant” (Matthew 20:26). He saw that Christian nationalism not only contradicts but ignores this core understanding in Scripture. He seized an opportunity to act on his interest when a group called Hoosiers for Separation of Church and State invited him to take part in a forum at the Allen County (IN) Public Library in mid-September. With approximately 130 people in attendance, the forum featured keynote speakers and a panel discussion focused on the rise and impact of Christian nationalism. The event also hosted informational booths from organizations like the ACLU of Indiana and the Secular Education Association and was well-received by attendees who found the speakers informative and inspiring. The forum allowed Dan to deepen his research with the help of his colleagues and students at Bethany and make a case against Christian nationalism based on his knowledge of the New Testament. 

His work continues to allow him to gain a deeper understanding of the ideology and the reasons behind why it continues to gain popularity in the US. He points to Amanda Tyler’s book How to End Christian Nationalism as a wonderful resource for congregations to understand the ideology and learn how to address it. Tyler lays out that “Christian nationalism is a political ideology and cultural framework that seeks to fuse American and Christian identities. It suggests that “real” Americans are Christians and that “true” Christians hold a particular set of political beliefs. It seeks to create a society in which only this narrow subset of Americans is privileged by law and in societal practice.” Amanda Tyler, How to End Christian Nationalism (Broadleaf Books; Kindle edition, 2024), 26. US imperialism is also central to the ideology, where there is a belief that America, as a Christian nation, should dominate other nations.

Dan also discusses the support base of this ideology pointing to the findings of an insightful study on Christian nationalism from Andrew Whitehead and Samuel Perry. In their 2020 book, Taking America Back for God, Whitehead and Perry found that about 20% of the US population is a strong or intentional advocate of Christian nationalism, or in what they call the ambassador category for the ideology. Almost 30% are not strong advocates but could have some ideas aligned with Christian nationalism which makes about 50% of the US population amenable to Christian nationalism. Their study concluded that the fear of losing privilege or of social status was a major driver for people’s sympathy to the ideology, which can also be linked with racism and the fear that white people will no longer be the majority race in the United States in a few decades. 

Dan points out that people’s fear of losing privilege and status has historically been and continues to be exploited by politicians to gain power. Authoritarian leaders have in the past made alliances with church leaders with promises to give privilege and power to the church community or to address fears they may have. Contemporarily, we see this manifesting in the growing fear of immigrants and our transgender community members which is being used politically to defend the privilege of some. Dan sees this as a threat to democracy because when the minority fails to maintain its power by convincing the majority, they may resort to utilizing authoritarian means. Dan adds that in addition to the fear element, there is also an element of love for country. “It is not that love of country is such a terrible thing. It can in fact be a wonderful thing, part of loving our neighbors, but it can also become idolatrous. So if we love our country to the point of worshiping it or its symbols, then we are moving in the direction of idolatry.”

According to Dan, recognizing when our theology or religious practice is verging into idolatry is an important step of responding to Christian nationalism. “We do not worship the nation. We do not worship public acclaim. We do not worship our own privilege or our wealth. And instead we give those things up in order to better serve and love our neighbors.” He also suggests adopting an internationalist vision, one that considers people and strangers from other nations as neighbors welcomed and loved as we love ourselves, an idea central to Jesus’s teaching. As ordinary Christians, we should also aim to overcome the climate of fear that fosters the drive towards Christian nationalism.This begins with each of us considering whether we fear losses of privilege and, if so, moving forward in repentance, asking God to overcome our fears. This will require deepening our knowledge of the different ways of being Christian as well as understanding Christian nationalism. Education, which is unsurprisingly being targeted by politicians committed to this ideology, is an important part of the response. As Dan points out and sociological data supports, the more people learn about the ideology, the less likely they are to support it. 

Dan advises those in the Church of the Brethren community to be courageous and to understand that humility isn’t antithetical to that courage. We can often confuse humility with powerlessness or humility with silence which can end up maintaining structures that oppress our neighbors. “It's possible to be silent in a way that protects privilege. If I'm quiet when neighbors are getting detained. If I'm not stepping out to speak out in ways that bring possible risk to me, my silence is protective of privilege. It's not humble.” Dan believes it is valuable to be honest about power and privilege and use those realities in service to others and to a greater good. We can hold power and privilege lightly rather than retain them and where we have the ability to do so, to share so we can foster a collective power and reject oppressive structures. 

Dan sees God at work on his journey in challenging Christian nationalism:

“I do believe God was at work in both giving me the opportunity and the challenge of studying the Bible with Christian nationalism in mind. And I think God has used that opportunity also to challenge me in some of the ways I've described. To take some risk in speaking out and to do so with an awareness that there are risks involved, but that it is really important to be witnessing as a Christian a view of the gospel that is different from Christian nationalism right now. And I feel God not only pushing me in that direction but giving me ideas and help in sharing what I am called to share.”

If you would like to learn more about Dan’s work, below are some links you can explore.

• 4-Part Series: A Biblical Basis for Befriending Foreigners by Dr. Dan Ulrich, Bethany Theological Seminary
• Chapel at Bethany Theological Seminary featuring Dr. Dan Ulrich