NABPR Region-at-Large Call for Papers

CTS/NABPR-RAL 2026 Meeting

Stephen Harmon, Gardner-Webb University (NC)

sharmon@gardner-webb.edu

Jason Hentschel, Wyoming Baptist Church (OH)

jason.hentschel@gmail.com

The National Association of Baptist Professors of Religion (NABPR) Region-at-Large welcomes
paper proposals for the 2026 CTS Annual Meeting related to the conference theme of
“Reclaiming Faith amid Christian Nationalism.”
Christian nationalism fuses religious identity with nationalist fervor, deploying Christian
symbols and rhetoric to advance a political agenda. It is not a religious movement; rather, it is a
political movement cloaked in religious language, seeking to wield power and reshape culture
according to a particular way of life. As J. Kameron Carter insightfully observes, Christian
nationalism is merely “the tip of the iceberg.” Beneath it lies a larger, more insidious force: what
Carter calls “the whiteness of religion.” This “whiteness” hides beneath the “sheep’s clothing of
religion,” presenting itself as normative and divinely ordained while promoting exclusionary and
harmful ideologies. This often includes challenging the scriptural fundamentalism that is usually
coupled with authoritarianism, militarism, and opposition to social reforms (e.g., gun control,
family structures, etc.).
In this climate, academia has a crucial role to play. Through rigorous research and critical
reflection, scholars can expose the duplicity of Christian nationalism and articulate an alternative
vision of Christianity rooted in authentic sources and traditions.

Related to these observations, this section is interested in proposals related to the following
topics:
• Historical analyses of past and present nationalistic sentiment or conflation in Baptist or
baptistic traditions
• Theological reflections on the substance and relevance of Walter Shurden’s “Four Fragile
Freedoms” for Baptist life and thought today
• Theological analyses of the everyday material of Christian Nationalism in Baptist and
baptistic contexts (e.g., the ubiquitous presence of the American flag behind the pulpit or
altar)
• Scriptural studies analyzing and/or critiquing how scripture has been used to fund and/or
inform perspectives on nationalism/Christian nationalism
• Constructive theological proposals for public and political engagement in a nonnationalistic
or counter-nationalistic vein
• Theological reflection on how ecumenical dialogue (especially Baptist-Catholic
ecumenism) can subvert Christian Nationalism and/or its theological underpinnings