The Hudelson Declaration

Audio version available here

The purpose of the following statements is as follows:

1. To clarify my own views on the topics of nationalism, patriarchy, and Christendom

2. To give a foundational framework for discussing these issues

3. To demonstrate a fundamental baseline for unity and clarity on these topics without adding unnecessary and complicating details

This isn't intended as a signature campaign, but if you want to express your agreement in the comments, you are welcome to.

On Nationalism

I affirm that there is one race – humankind – made male and female in the image of God in the person of our first parents, Adam and Eve, from whom descended all humans of every ethnicity. (Gen. 1:26, 3:20)

I deny that ethnic differences are essential to our humanity

I deny, therefore, that interracial marriage between humans is even a possibility, let alone that “miscegenation” is a sin.

I deny, therefore, that preserving a certain skin color or ethnic purity is a permissible concern for the Christian.

I affirm that God put us in places and with people for a reason, and that it is good and healthy to love our place and our people.

I affirm that all cultural traditions must be measured against the Word of God.

I affirm that God calls us to honor our fathers, and that doing so often includes preserving our cultural heritage.

I affirm that it is good and right for nations to love their traditions and to seek to preserve them.

I affirm that nations should require immigrants to honor the laws, cultures, and traditions of the nation's fathers.

I affirm that the blood of Christ is a deeper and stronger bond than the blood and soil of any particular land or ethnic or cultural heritage. (Gal. 2:11)

I therefore affirm that I have an eternal and essential bond with a Christian on the other side of the world that I do not share with my unregenerate neighbor. (Gal. 3:28)

I deny that this therefore means that I should not care about what I share with my fellow Americans as distinct from what I share with my fellow Christians.

I affirm that these two things are both important and must be valued independently and in the proper order – with Christ first and country second.

I affirm that the most important traditions and culture to propagate- by far- are those which are explicitly tied to Jesus Christ, not those which are features of a certain ethnicity or nation.

I affirm that there is nothing wrong with wanting my grandchildren to have affinity for baseball and apple pie rather than for soccer and taquitos.

I deny that this therefore means that I should or may have animosity towards Mexicans.

I affirm that if my kids all marry brown people and American culture over the next 200 years becomes a taquito and soccer culture that upholds justice and worships and serves Jesus Christ... I couldn't care less about the apple pie.

On Patriarchy

I affirm that wives should obey their husbands. (1 Pet. 3:1, Ephesians 5:22)

I affirm that this obedience must be voluntary on the part of the wife.

I affirm that husbands should love their wives as equals. (1 Pet. 3:7)

I affirm that husbands have plenary authority and responsibility to rule their homes in love for the good of their people. (Eph. 5:25)

I affirm that the authority of a husband is subject to the authority of Jesus Christ, and, where jurisdictionally appropriate, to the authority of pastors and civil magistrates.

I affirm that wives and children should obey God rather than man. (Acts 5:29)

I affirm that obedience to God demands obedience to the written Word of God, but also includes obedience to the demands of conscience; therefore, while a wife's conscience should be strongly bound by Scripture to live in obedience to her husband, I deny that he must specifically command her to do something that God forbids or forbid her to do something that God commands in order for her to have the right to disobey. (1 Sam. 25)

I affirm that a wife has the right to seek recourse and interposition in the case of a tyrannical husband, and I deny that the only definition of a tyrannical husband is one who violates a specific black-and-white command of Scripture.

[For example: it is not sinful for a husband to tell his wife to make a tuna sandwich or to wear a red dress. It is sinful for a man to be unloving to his wife and to not treat her as a fellow heir of the grace of life. Therefore, is it sinful for a husband to dictate his wife's menu and wardrobe? This is not a black-and-white line, and it is a line best drawn by wise and Godly elders, not by the courtroom of X.]

I deny that godly elders and magistrates should "believe all women" in cases of appeal for help, but affirm that they should investigate and apply Biblical standards of conduct to the situation, upholding proper patriarchal authority and rebuking rebellious women, but also holding tyrannical patriarchs in check and protecting women and children from abusive husbands.

On Christendom

I affirm that the advance of the all-encompassing Gospel of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit resulting in a regenerate people is the only foundation for a true Christendom. (Matt. 28:18-20)