As the United States marks its 250th anniversary, white Christian nationalists are telling their version of the story: that America was founded as a Christian nation.

In part two of his America 250 series on The Justice Briefing, Dr. Jemar Tisby argues that there is a better, more truthful story to tell if we know how to tell it, and that telling it requires something most churches have never named: a theology of history.

Dr. Tisby is a historian and a believer, and he makes the case that those two things belong together, and that Christians should be passionate about truth and history.

• Anniversaries as arguments about the past, and how they shape who we were, who we are, and who we must become
• What white Christian nationalists actually mean by "Christian nation": theocracy, a covenant like ancient Israel, Christian privilege, and a religious test for being a "real" American
• The restoration narrative of fear and grievance, and why regression differs from progression
• The biblical case for a theology of history: the Bible as a history book, and God's repeated command to remember
• The dangers of forgetting, and why memory is a guardrail against idolatry and injustice
• History and identity: how the power to tell the story is the power to shape identity
• The church's abdication of teaching history, and the "potato chips" problem of getting your history from social media
• Applying the ARC of Racial Justice (Awareness, Relationships, Commitment) to doing history well

• Part one of the series: "Was America Founded as a Christian Nation?" on The Justice Briefing
• "James Baldwin Was Right About Patriotism," drawn from the autobiographical note in Notes of a Native Son
• "The Trick Inside Frederick Douglass's Fourth of July Speech"
• "How Gerald R. Ford Celebrated Black History During America's 200th Anniversary"
• The Spirit of Justice and How to Fight Racism by Dr. Jemar Tisby
• Primary sources: the U.S. Constitution and First Amendment, the Treaty of Tripoli, the Danbury Baptist letter, and the Declaration of Independence
• Scripture: Deuteronomy 8, Psalm 77:11, Luke 22:19
• "Echoes of Injustice: From Manzanar to Mass Deportation," a mini documentary on the YouTube channel (YouTube.com/@JTisby)
• Christians Against Christian Nationalism, by the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty
• Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) at prri.org

Everything I do here is available for free, but I would really like your help. This kind of truth-telling at the intersection of faith, history, and justice is possible because of the people who choose to support it. Subscribe at JemarTisby.Substack.com: $5.83 a month on the annual plan, and help make this work possible.

Stay informed. Stay faithful. Stay in the fight.