Dictionary

Christianism en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈkɹɪs.t͡ʃən.ɪzm̩/
• /ˈkɹɪʃ.t͡ʃən.ɪzm̩/
• /ˈkɹɪs.tjən.ɪzm̩/

Etymology

From Latin chrīstiānismus; compare French christianisme, equivalent to Christian + -ism.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) The Christian religion.
2. (countable, uncountable) The Christian world.
3. (US, countable, derogatory, uncountable) A political ideology centered around Christian fundamentalism.
   • At the same time that they invoke Christian identity, the civilizationists also stress their secularism. But there is no contradiction between the populist right’s Christianism and its secularism, since both derive from a preoccupation with Islam. 2017 December 6, Rogers Brubaker, “The New Language of European Populism”, in brubaker.scholar.ss.ucla.edu, page 4:
   • Christianism is characterised by overt, often extreme, anti-Islamism. 2021, Jeffrey Haynes, Trump and the Politics of Neo-Nationalism:
   • What matters is not believing (let alone actual Christian conduct), but only belonging. It’s what the social scientist Rogers Brubaker has called “Christianism”, in contrast with actual Christianity. 2025 April 23, Jan-Werner Müller, “What did Pope Francis think of JD Vance? His view was more than clear”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
   • Because I was always against any extremist ideology whether Islamism or Christianism or whatsoever. 2015, Stefan Borg, European Integration and the Problem of the State, page 129:
   • Christianism is an ideology, politics, an ism. The distinction between Christian and Christianist echoes the distinction we make between Muslim and Islamist. Muslims are those who follow Islam. Islamists are those who want to wield Islam as a political force and conflate state and mosque. 2006 May 7, Andrew Sullivan, “My Problem with Chistianism”, in TIME:
   • At its extreme, as in the Christian identity movement, Christianism merges with white supremacy. 2007, Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz, The Colors of Jews: Racial Politics and Radical Diasporism, page 31:

Forms

Relateds

dominionism · Christianization · Christianizer · dominionist · Christ · Christianist · Christianize · Christian · Christianity

Synonyms

Christendom · Christianity

Translations (2)

de Christianismus (ideology centered around Christian fundamentalism) · fi kristillismi (ideology centered around Christian fundamentalism)