My latest: why Christians are conspiracy theorists, in CT

I’ve got a column up this morning in Christianity Today called “Christians Are Conspiracy Theorists.” Here’s a sample:

By any reasonable definition, Christianity is a conspiracy theory. Let’s say it’s a theory of two conspiracies, in fact: the conspiracy of sin, death, and the Devil to put humanity and all creation in “bondage to decay” and the conspiracy by God to liberate creation and redeem his people through Christ (Rom. 8:18–23, RSV throughout).

I realize it seems odd to describe our faith this way, but that’s the proposition I’d like you to ponder. Because if Christianity is a conspiracy theory, then what follows for how believers approach other conspiracy theories in our culture?

Start with a working definition. A conspiracy theory is a form of stigmatized knowledge formally repudiated by elites and/or experts that alleges malign forces behind public events. Knowledge of this truth is kept from the public through official channels and is therefore difficult to prove. As a result, those who learn the truth tend to be suspicious of authorities and may form communities of dissent, or at a minimum be drawn to them. Within these groups, rejecting the public story on a given topic becomes a badge of honor—and belonging.

It seems plain to me that, on this definition, the church’s faith in the gospel qualifies as a conspiracy theory. This was certainly true at its inception, and I think it’s true in our time too.

Click here to read the whole thing.

Readers of the blog may recall of a post on here from back in September 2023 with a similar title. Clearly the idea lodged in my brain; this was a chance to unpack it for a general audience and at length, with a particular view to how Christians behave themselves, so to speak, “epistemically” in the public square and the consequent social dynamics at work. Looking back at that post now, I focused much more then on the spooky, strange, and non-empirical beliefs of Christians: an invisible deity, angels and demons, the blood of a Galilean rebel cleansing an American gentile from his sins against the Creator two thousand years later, and so on. The focus in the CT piece is more about suspect convictions and the way “common sense” functions to ostracize, cordon off, and exclude them—and thus why Christians should be allergic to this strategy when society deploys it about others and tempts us to do the same (even and especially when the convictions in question are genuinely suspect!).

But that’s to summarize in advance; go read the piece for the full argument.