Protestant reinterpreted biblical concepts seeded modern nationalism

Evidence

Scholars also demonstrated the role of biblical models in the construction of national cultures and self-perceptions (Anderson 1991; Hastings 1997; Kohn 1955; Lehmann 1996; A. D. Smith 2004). The publication of vernacular translations of the Bible was fundamental to the construction of nineteenth-century European national identities and to various aspects of both popular and elite cultures throughout much of Europe (Weidner 2005). Furthermore, in Protestant thought, the concepts of “chosen people,” “promised land,” and the very notion of history and redemption were reinterpreted in a way that prepared their role as a source of imagination of communal sovereignty (Hutchison and Lehmann 1994; Lehmann 1996; A. D. Smith 2004). — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized, 330

Categorization

• XREF: Bears on whether group solidarity is primordial or manufactured — here the devotional ‘chosen people, promised land’ framework was actively reinterpreted to serve communal sovereignty. — connects to: Third-Worldist theory grants nationalism the quasi-religious role Christianity held in medieval Europe — Aijaz Ahmad, In Theory: Nations, Classes, Literatures, 550; Zionist secularization nationalized messianic myth rather than replacing it — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized:…, 315; Zionist secular nationalism borrowed Protestant theological imagination — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized:…, 324 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Third-Worldist theory grants nationalism the quasi-religious role Christianity held in medieval Europe #corroborates (0.82) — Aijaz Ahmad, In Theory, 550