The United States Department of War Rapid Response X account on Sept. 7 posted a clip showing military personnel completing outdoor training as the words of Joshua 1:9 — “Be strong and of good courage. Do not be afraid, nor dismayed. For the Lord your God is with you, wherever you go” — faded into the screen.

Similar videos praising the military while quoting the Bible have flooded the former Department of Defense’s social media accounts over the past few weeks.

The department, renamed the Department of War, has joined other branches of the federal government in embracing a Christian nationalist tone in its official communications. 

In August, the DOW posted another video on X captioned “We Are One Nation Under God,” a motto from the Pledge of Allegiance, showing military aircraft and soldiers in operations as “I pursued my enemies and overtook them; I did not turn back till they were destroyed” from Psalm 18:37 appeared onscreen.

Brian Kaylor, a Baptist minister and the author of the upcoming book The Bible According to Christian Nationalists, said the videos thwart the original meaning of these verses.

“Those verses were not about the United States military,” Kaylor told RNS. “They weren’t really even about any imperial military force, and quite the opposite. These were passages about marginalized people, people under attack. It’s a very dangerous conflation of scriptural ideals with the U.S. military.”

The DOW’s videos, like the Department of Homeland Security’s Bible-quoting social media posts, also promote a literal interpretation of scripture, a key feature of Christian nationalist rhetoric, said Kaylor, who is also president and editor of Word&Way, a Christian media company in Missouri.

“Christian nationalism is itself selectively literal. . . . The irony about this Christian nationalism is that they’re justifying themselves with the Bible, but they’re only able to do it because they’re being very selective on what verses they choose,” he said.

One post, shared on the DOW Rapid Response X account on Aug. 24, quotes Psalm 23: “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for YOU are with me.” The video shows U.S. military members equipping each other, firing weapons and jumping out of helicopters.

The inclusion of this prayer, asking God for support and guidance in difficult times, Kaylor said, was particularly inappropriate, as the passage talks about God leading someone away from the fight.

The Department of War seems to have adopted a Christian Crusader aesthetic, aligning itself with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s conservative Christian faith, said Michael Weinstein, a former Air Force officer who founded the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. Hegseth is known for his Crusader cross tattoo on his chest. The Crusaders’ battle cry, Deus Vult (“God wills” in Latin), has long entertained an idea of Western Christianity clashing with non-Christian civilizations.