I’ve been contacted by hundreds of evangelicals, many deeply embedded in conservative evangelical churches and organizations, saying essentially some version of the same thing: “This is the story of my life,” and “thank you for helping me to see this.” I think many evangelicals have a deep sense that something is not right, but they haven’t been able to articulate exactly what, or to recognize how deeply rooted this “corruption of the faith” actually is.Ĭhimes: What inspired you to write the book?ĭu Mez: It was actually Calvin students who inspired the book! When I first arrived at Calvin more than 15 years ago, I was teaching a class on U.S. What has the overall public reaction been?ĭu Mez: Overall, the public reaction has been remarkably positive, both among scholarly communities across a variety of disciplines (sociology, political science, philosophy of religion, and history), but also, perhaps even more surprisingly, among white evangelicals themselves. It points to President Donald Trump’s election as evidence of this phenomena, not shying away from political consequences.Ĭhimes spoke with Professor Du Mez about the book’s reception, backlash, and consequences for the upcoming election.Ĭhimes: It’s been nearly 4 months since Jesus and John Wayne was published. In the book, author and Calvin history professor Kristin Kobes Du Mez traces the historical swing led by white evangelicals from Jesus the lamb towards Jesus, the rugged, masculine war hero. In four months, “ Jesus and John Wayne” has been reviewed and featured by such publications as National Public Radio, the National Book Review, and Baptist Global News.

This past June, “Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation” hit the shelves and has since made waves. Du Mez was inspired by Calvin students to trace connections between evangelical masculinity and militarism.

Jesus and john wayne book review