No prizes for discerning the religious publishing trend of Fall 2024. Star-Spangled Jesus: Leaving Christian Nationalism and Finding A True Faith; American Christian Nationalism: Neither American Nor Christian;The Crisis of Christian Nationalism; Wild Faith: How the Christian Right Is Taking Over America. And—though this would presumably be bad news for the market in scaring the pants off progressive-minded book-buyers—How to End Christian Nationalism.

First Things readers will already know, from Kenneth L. Woodward’s demolition job in the May issue, just how scant is the evidence for a Christian-nationalist fifth column. But what’s also striking about this ongoing panic is that it ignores the terrain where Christianity actually is advancing. As religion loses its political influence, it has gained in intellectual and cultural salience. If you are alarmed that Christianity is “taking over,” you should look everywhere except the ballot box. …