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CHARDON, OHIO – A man with a religious sign and wearng a Trump hat protests outside Element 41, a restaurant holding an 18-and-over drag brunch to raise money for a local church's safe space program on April 1, 2023 in Chardon, Ohio. The Chardon protest comes on the heels of a recent spike of anti-drag demonstrations in Ohio communities and across the country. (Photo by Michael Nigro/Sipa USA) (Sipa via AP Images)
January 17, 2024
I struggled with the title of this post. There are various words to describe what has happened to this theological tradition. I have chosen seduction language because in this post I want to view the downfall of white evangelicalism in relation to the temptation of Jesus by the devil. In a nutshell, Jesus passed the test; white evangelicalism has failed it. [1] Jesus returned from the wilderness in the power of the Spirit; white evangelicalism returned in the power of the flesh.
To document this in a scholarly way requires a depth of reading and research, some of which I have done, with more to be done. [2] So from a scholarly vantage point, this is an interim report. But I have enough under my belt to offer this interpretation with confidence. There are broad strokes of learning which paint the picture I want to hold up in this post.
In short, what we are being told is “evangelical,” is not—either from a biblical or historical perspective. [3] It is a version co-opted by a false theology and a fallen-world culture. The false theology is Dominionism, and the fallen-world culture is oligarchy. Blended together, so-called evangelicals have been seduced along the exact lines satan used to attempt to undermine Jesus: provision, prestige, and power reaching its climax in the worship of things other than God. [4] And in its seduction, pseudo-evangelicalism exists as a formidable “family” seeking to seduce the rest of us in its iterations of white Christian nationalism.
The shift from true to false evangelicalism in this country is hard to describe because it was already underway when the first colonists arrived, many of whom stepped onto the shore with a Church-sanctioned (and therefore, allegedly God-blessed) understanding of Aryan supremacy (with its Doctrine of Discovery), subjugation (soon becoming Manifest Destiny), all subsumed in a theocratic (imperialistic) view. [5] But that’s too much to describe. And besides, others have already done it with expertise. [6]
More focused in this post is the resurgence of Christian fundamentalism in the 1950s with its “Jesus wrapped in the flag” patriotism occupying more and more space in its ideology. [7] This movement became galvanized in The Moral Majority founded by Jerry Falwell, who had earlier associated himself with the rise neo-fundamentalism. [8] The outflow from the Moral Majority is again too much to describe in this post, and it too has been exposed with acumen. [9]
But the evidence of harm done in the ensuing decades confirms the seduction of evangelicalism, making it a cultural term to be resisted more than a religious term to be embraced. Contemporary white evangelicalism is now prey to the ancient sins of money, sex, and power (materialism, hedonism, and control) that corrupted early Christianity and the empire. It is corrupting the church and state today. White evangelical Christianity is a cultural captive, a manifestation of evil which, in our baptism, we vow to resist.
[1] Along with others, I have begun including “white” in my description of faux evangelicalism, not only to describe its racist qualities, but also to show its authoritarian/fascist parallels in history. Anthea Butler goes into this in her book, ‘White Evangelical Racism.’ I also use the term to remind us that it includes toxic masculinity as well.
[2] I provide a Christian Nationalism icon on the Oboedire home page with illustrative resources that expose it, and links where you can find more.
[3] The chapter on evangelicalism in Richard Foster’s book, ‘Streams of Living Water’ offers an accurate view of what true evangelicalism is.
[4] In the context of spiritual formation, Henri Nouwen’s book, ‘In the Name of Jesus’ has helped me see satan’s temptations as seductions.
[5] Walter Brueggemann writes about these things in his book, ‘Tenacious Solidarity ‘
[6] Tim Alberta’s book, ‘The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory’ is an excellent example.
[7] Carl McIntire was a leading representative at the time, along with those who joined his International Council of Christian Churches and American Council of Christian Churches, both opposed to the liberalism represented globally in the World Council of Churched and in the USA’s National Council of Churches.
[8] Markku Ruotsila, “Carl McIntire and the Fundamentalist Origins of the Christian Right” (Church History, Vol 81. No. 2. June 2012, 378-407).
[9] Jeff Shar!et’s book ‘The Family’ was one of the first books to do so. It has been followed by a plethora of books written by theologians and journalists. David Gushee’s book, ‘Defending Democracy from Its Christian Enemies’ is one of the latest and best.