The Great Commission, Christian Humanism and Christian Nationalism

This chapter introduces the argument that variation in the levels and types of violence employed by Western states against non-Western societies over the past millennium can largely be explained by alternations within Western Christian thought between two rival interpretations of the Great Commission, the call for Christians to “make disciples of all nations.” The chapter introduces these two interpretations as Christian Humanism, a point of view focused on individual-level conversions of non-Christians to Christianity, and Christian Nationalism, an ideology focused on Christianizing societies and territories through state power. Christian Nationalism allows or promotes violent methods for spreading Christianity, while Christian Humanism limits or rejects violence as an effective method of Christianization. The chapter establishes the argument that Western violence will be higher in times and circumstances in which Christian Nationalism dominates Western thought, whereas violence will be more limited or curtailed when and where Christian Humanism is the prevailing school of thought. The chapter details the development of the concept of a Western Christian Europe after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, traces the development and evolution of ideas about violence within Christian thought and discusses the early process of Christianization within early-Medieval Europe.