Christianism

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

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɹɪʃ.t͡ʃən.ɪzm̩/, /ˈkɹɪs.tjən.ɪzm̩/, /ˈkɹɪs.t͡ʃən.ɪzm̩/
• Hyphenation: Christ‧ian‧i‧sm

Christianism (countable and uncountable, plural Christianisms)

1. The Christian religion.

   Synonym: Christianity

2. The Christian world.

   Synonym: Christendom

3. (US, derogatory) A political ideology centered around Christian fundamentalism. [from 21st c.]
   • 2006 May 7, Andrew Sullivan, “My Problem with Chistianism”, in TIME:

     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.

   • 2007, Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz, The Colors of Jews: Racial Politics and Radical Diasporism, page 31:

     At its extreme, as in the Christian identity movement, Christianism merges with white supremacy.

   • 2015, Stefan Borg, European Integration and the Problem of the State, page 129:

     Because I was always against any extremist ideology whether Islamism or Christianism or whatsoever.

   • 2017 December 6, Rogers Brubaker, “The New Language of European Populism”, in brubaker.scholar.ss.ucla.edu‎^[1], page 4:

     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.

   • 2021, Jeffrey Haynes, Trump and the Politics of Neo-Nationalism:

     Christianism is characterised by overt, often extreme, anti-Islamism.

   • 2025 April 23, Jan-Werner Müller, “What did Pope Francis think of JD Vance? His view was more than clear”, in The Guardian‎^[2], →ISSN:

     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.

• Christianist
• dominionism

• “Christianism”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• “Christianism”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “Christianism”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “Christianism” in TheFreeDictionary.com, Huntingdon Valley, Pa.: Farlex, Inc., 2003–2025.
• “Christianism”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “Christianism” in WordReference.com