ICJS Christian Scholar Matthew D. Taylor, Ph.D. is advancing his research on Christian nationalism through two ambitious projects: a forthcoming podcast series and a new book, Defying Tyrants: Following Jesus in a World of Christian Antichrists. Together, these projects invite Christians and interreligious partners to consider both the global dimensions of authoritarian religion and the theological resources for resisting it.
The podcast, developed with Susan Hayward and set to launch this fall, grew out of the 2023 ICJS Faculty Seminar.
“We’re bringing in experts and activists who have worked on understanding and resisting forms of religious nationalism in relationship with democracies around the world,” Taylor explained. “We’re trying to synthesize wisdom and themes from those experiences to think about our own experience with Christian nationalism in the U.S.”
The 10-part series highlights case studies from India, Israel, Turkey, Poland, Brazil, South Korea, and beyond. Taylor hopes these stories will broaden American perspectives.
“The challenge in the U.S. around Christian nationalism is it tends to be extremely myopic and think only about the U.S. and only about American history. In this instance, the United States is very much a part of a global trend.”
That global trend, Taylor warns, is alarming. “What we’re seeing right now is a global spread of far-right authoritarian movements that are ascendant in many countries… There’s this fascist coalition that is gripping many parts of the world right now—including here in the U.S.”
While the podcast opens international windows, Taylor’s forthcoming book digs into the Christian tradition itself. “Defying Tyrants is a contemporary theological polemic against Christian supremacy and Christian nationalism to call out these movements and say that these are unworthy of the gospel of Jesus.”
The book traces how Christianity’s entanglement with empire—dating back to Constantine—led to crusades, inquisitions, colonialism, slavery, and even the Holocaust. Against this legacy, Taylor turns to the heart of Christian faith. He reclaims the radical humility of the incarnation—“the high God becoming the lowest human being”—and the Gospel of Mark’s contrast between Caesar’s empire and the gospel of Jesus. He even revives the early church’s language of antichrist to describe Christians whose use of power stands in direct opposition to Christ.
Through both podcast and book, Taylor calls Christians to face their history honestly, learn from global voices, and recover the gospel’s radical call to follow Jesus in ways that defy tyranny and uphold human dignity.
8/21/25