The Demonic Bible Counters Christian Nationalism With Conversation

The Demonic Bible by F.G. Fitzer takes the Book of Genesis from the Christian Bible and transforms it from a lecture into a conversation.

“A demon is a creature who lives in questions,” the author says. Could it be that the way to defeat Christian Nationalism is to confront it with questions?

This week’s episode of Stop Christian Nationalism is a bit different. For the first time, I’m having a guest on the podcast: F.G. Fitzer, who is the author of a new book that confronts Christian Nationalism in an unusual way: By offering a new version of the Christian Bible. The book is called The Demonic Bible: Book of Genesis, and it’s available through Lulu and Amazon, as well as on the Demonic Bible web site as an ebook.

A transcript of our conversation is below.

Clifford Cook:

Thanks for talking with me. I’m wondering about your choice to write The Demonic Bible. It’s combining two ideas, demons and the Christian Bible, that most people don’t think are compatible. Why did you decide to write this book?

F.G. Fitzer: 

Hm. Well, I do realize that The Demonic Bible is an unorthodox book, but let's stop and just think about that word for a minute, okay? Unorthodox. What does that word actually mean? It doesn't mean that something is wrong, or harmful. Something is unorthodox if it fails to comply with the ideological expectations of people in power.  The word unorthodox comes from Christianity four hundred years ago, when Christian kingdoms around the world were using bloody military violence to force their religious beliefs on people. It was used to refer to someone who did not have the proper opinions. You know, I think we need to ask who has the power to tell other people that their opinions are proper or improper. How did they get that power?

Clifford Cook:

So, you wrote The Demonic Bible to challenge Christian models of power. What makes that an important project?

F.G. Fitzer:

Look at what is happening to the United States of America right now. The country is in chaos. The USA has never been a perfect secular democracy, but from the beginning, that is what it was designed to be, and the secular nature of American democracy is an important part of what has kept the country from falling backwards into Christian dictatorship, which is what the Christian kingdoms that dominated the world before American independence were really all about. Donald Trump and his followers are trying to drag the whole world, not just America, back into the dark days of religious totalitarianism.

Clifford Cook:

How can you deal with the issues of Christian totalitarianism in history, and as they are returning through the Christian Nationalism of Donald Trump, by writing a new version of the Bible? The Bible was written before all of that history. Why bring up this ancient book again?

F.G. Fitzer: 

I would love nothing more than to leave the Bible in the past. Christian Nationalists make that impossible. They are trying to make the Christian Bible into the law of the land in the United States, and around the world. We need to deal with that, by taking their fundamental document, the Bible, and giving it a level of scrutiny. People excuse the actions of Christians in power by saying that the Christian religion is a force for good in society. The Demonic Bible does not take that for granted. It looks at the Christian Bible, line by line, book by book, and then examines the connection between Christian scripture and present day Christian abuses of power.

Clifford Cook:

What did you find when you examined the Bible in this way?

F.G. Fitzer: 

For one thing, you can see that Christian Nationalism takes its obsession with nationalism and political domination straight from the Bible. Some people say that Christian Nationalism isn’t biblical, but right from the start, in the Book of Genesis, there is an emphasis on dividing people according to national groups, with the story of the Tower of Babel, for example. Violent nationalism is also found in the New Testament, with its promises of a bloody global religious war to establish absolute Christian dominion.

Clifford Cook:

Okay, but why make this a demonic Bible, though? Why not call it The Atheist Bible?

F.G. Fitzer:

I did not want to launch an attack on Christianity from the outside. I wanted to explore Christianity from the inside, but from the perspective of a political dissident. That is what a demon is. Of course, demons are not real. They are mythical creatures. However, the voice of the demon is a useful tool in exploring the problems with Christian politics from within the Christian worldview.

Clifford Cook:

So, how did you find the voice of the demon within Christianity, then?

F.G. Fitzer:

That was simple. I realized that the essence of the Christian Bible is that it makes declarations of reality without allowing any space for questions. Demons are rebels against the divine monarchy of the Bible. Demons are creatures who live within questions. So, I made the voice of the demon a questioning voice. Instead of attacking, the demon merely questions. The conventional interpretation of the Bible falls apart from there.

Clifford Cook:

You represented the conversation between the demon and the angel in The Demonic Bible as a cartoon. Why did you do that?

F.G. Fitzer:

The cartoon format makes The Demonic Bible the most easy to read version of the Bible there is. The traditional Christian Bible is all about the Word. Christians say that the Bible is The Greatest Story Ever Told, but the truth is that the Bible is very difficult to read. It’s full of unstated presumptions, repetitions, inconsistencies, and profoundly out of date cultural references. Worst of all, however, is that the Christian Bible is dense. It’s weird, because the book is full of magic, but it puts most readers to sleep.

Clifford Cook:

How does a cartoon format for The Demonic Bible remedy that?

F.G. Fitzer:

The cartoon format promotes a conversational approach to the text. Instead of one voice going on and on and on, there are two voices, and they are interacting with each other. Furthermore, the demon and the angel both represent the practical, real world view of people living today. They ask the questions that Christian preachers never want to deal with, and talk about the issues that churches just won’t touch. 

Clifford Cook:

Won’t making the Christian Bible accessible to readers just strengthen the position of Christian Nationalists?

F.G. Fitzer:

It’s possible, but I don’t think so. Most people who leave Christianity do so because they begin to read the Bible for themselves, and ask questions about it. A sincere question is always a challenge to faith. That’s why I believe that The Demonic Bible will undermine Christian Nationalism. Not every Christian who reads The Demonic Bible will leave Christianity, but those who remain within Christianity will shift to a more demonic Christianity.

Clifford Cook:

Demonic Christianity? That’s an interesting concept. This is a long-term project though. At present, only the first book of The Demonic Bible is available. When will the next book come out?

F.G. Fitzer:

The next book in the Demonic Bible will be out later this year, before the autumn of 2025. That book will cover the Book of Revelation. I think it’s important for critical readers of the Christian Bible to understand both the beginning and the end of Christian scripture before they read the middle, because the beginning and the end together reveal the ideological mission of Christianity. The narrative end of Christianity in the Book of Revelation is essential to an interpretation of the rest of the Bible, but most Christian readers skip over Revelation.

Clifford Cook:

Thank you for talking with me about this fascinating project. I look forward to seeing where you take it next.

F.G. Fitzer:

Thank you for having me.

You can find out more about the Demonic Bible at DemonicBible.com.