- #Jesus and john wayne review christianity today how to
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I'm a historian, this is a work of history. It seems terribly unfair to read you on Twitter and realize, "Oh my goodness, this is not what she does." At the same time, it shouldn't surprise you I suppose, that everybody that reads this book and has a sense of awareness of what you've done is saying, "Yes, and what should my response be to this now?" I know you've been criticized a lot of times on grounds other than the work of a historian. You have described through your historical work something that presents a picture to some of us about what we have experienced. I know that in a sense, the goal of a historian is not necessarily to change people's minds or to write a constructive theology. Ironically, I went to seminary in 1979, the year that the moral majority started and the conservative resurgence took over the Southern Baptist Convention, and yet I didn't follow that path, I came away from it. I went to college and played football and eventually worked for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. I have my red binder from Bill Gothard and all of those sorts of things.
#Jesus and john wayne review christianity today free
In a sense, because of your evangelical roots, I suppose you shouldn't have been terribly surprised by all of these developments because I grew up in evangelicalism as well in New York and the evangelical free church tradition. You grew up in the reform tradition and teach at the reform college. Were to the words that I had read all those years ago in these books on Christian manhood that Donald Trump was our ultimate fighting champion and he was ruthless, but he would protect Christianity. Then it was in the fall of 2016 when I noticed how similar the words were that evangelicals were using to defend their support for then candidate Donald Trump.
#Jesus and john wayne review christianity today how to
I just wasn't sure how to parse that out. What I was reading and observing the evangelical world back then seemed really fairly extremist. For a variety of reasons, I set the project aside, one of which was I was trying to tease out how mainstream all of this was and how fringe. That was a long time ago and more than 15 years ago. To my mind, really went against some of the core teachings of the gospels and of Jesus Christ. It was setting up an image of Christian manhood that was very militaristic. It was really fascinating to me first that it didn't really draw on the scriptures very much for building a model of Christian masculinity instead drew from Hollywood heroes and kind of mythical warriors. They told me I had to read it, I read it. Including the book by John Eldredge, Wild at Heart. It was my own students who introduced me to the literature on Christian manhood that was incredibly popular back in the early 2000s. I'm a historian of gender and religion.Īlso, what I was observing around me as a new professor at Calvin University, actually it was Calvin College. What sparked it was a combination of my academic training. My interest in questions of evangelical masculinity go way back to the early 2000s. If you have a paperback edition, I tell a little bit of this story in the new preface. What was it that prompted your interest in the subject matter to begin with? It was written in the age of Donald Trump, of course. I think we should just establish the context of it a little bit. Well, more than a few hundred people have read this book and many of us have appreciated tremendously. We're thrilled if a few hundred people read them and appreciate them. As an academic, we're used to spending years working on projects. I mean that both in a qualitative way and also in a public fanfare sort of way, right?
You're a historian, you write books, you study things, and this has been sensational I'm sure. I'm sure it's caught you somewhat off guard.
You've been everywhere in the last months since the 2020 publication of this book. I think I'm sure that this is as I mentioned to you before, probably your 147th podcast. I actually didn't think about that, but I think there must be something subliminal about that I'm atoning for something. Well, I'm looking at myself right now on this camera and realize that inadvertently I put on my Mr. She is the author of the sensational book actually that has really captured the attention of many Christians in America, Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation. She is a professor of history at Calvin College. I'm your host, George Mason and I'm delighted to welcome to the program today, Dr. Welcome to Good God, conversations that matter about faith and public life.