My good friend at First Things, editor R.R. Reno, ruminates in this month's print issue on "Christian Universalism and the Nation." Against Christians who make too easy a jump from the universalism of the Christian church to effectively borderless nations—a camp that includes some Catholic bishops as well as some evangelicals—Reno writes "we need better theology." He sketches this using several propositions.
Reno's main thrust is that particular loves, such as love for family, neighbors, and fellow citizens, are the primary means by which God extends his providential care for humanity. I have argued similarly elsewhere. Yet there are some curious gaps in Reno's sketch of a "better theology."
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