In 1791, America built a wall. The First Amendment forbade the establishment of a state religion and protected religious freedom. Thomas Jefferson called it the “wall of separation of church and state.” But there have always been cracks. Since the founding of the Republic, Christianity has been the majority religion, and many Christians have felt obligated to bring their faith into politics. According to the nonprofit Public Religion Research Institute, more and more Americans say they have no religion, but nearly two-thirds are Christian. In the 1980s, white Christians, especially “born-again” evangelicals, emerged as a strong Republican voting bloc. According to a Pew Research Center survey, 60% of Protestants (and 81% of white evangelicals) plan to vote for Donald Trump in the November presidential election. Here are four books and podcasts that explain the relationship between politics and Christianity in America.
Religion in American Politics. Frank Lambert. Princeton University Press. 296 pages. $21.95, £17.99
Delegates to the 1787 Constitutional Convention ultimately decided that a haven for persecuted Christian minorities could not support one interpretation of the faith. Some, however, wanted to establish a state religion. North Carolina ratifying convention delegate William Lancaster worried that even if Americans at the time would not elect non-Protestants, “millions not yet in existence” might. (The third president, Jefferson, rejected traditional Protestantism.) Many Americans believed that their country was God’s chosen land and that the government should protect Christianity’s role in it. Their successors are today’s Christian nationalists. Frank Lambert traces the debate over the centuries. The debate intensified during the Civil War, the fundamentalist backlash against science in the early 20th century, and the Cold War. The chapters on African-American Christianity and the civil rights movement are particularly powerful. Unfortunately, Lambert doesn’t say much about Hispanic Christians. Yet the book shows how Americans have always differed about the role of religion in the republic, despite the First Amendment.
20 Myths About Religion and Politics in America. By Ryan Burge. Fortress Press, 249 pages, $23.99, £16.99.
Data-driven analysis of religion is rare. Ryan Burge’s book is a mix of numbers and conversation. Burge devotes a short chapter to each of the 20 myths, and at the end of each one recommends further reading. Burge paints a particularly detailed portrait of white evangelical voters. They make up 14% of the population, the same percentage as they did during President Ronald Reagan’s first term. Though the percentage of people who never go to church has increased, many in that group still say religion is very important to them. Unlike most young people, evangelical young people are as conservative as their parents and grandparents. Burge is also insightful about black Christians. They are significantly more likely to support Democrats and much more likely to hear politics from the pulpit than their white co-religionists. But the majority call themselves “moderates,” and among them there are roughly equal numbers of “conservatives” and “liberals.” These survey results reveal the Republicans’ prospects for winning the vote.
The Kingdom, the Power, the Glory. By Tim Alberta. Harper’s, 512 pages, $35.
Tim Alberta is a reporter for The Atlantic and a devout Christian. That makes him well-placed to provide an insider’s account of the problems of American evangelicalism. Alberta identifies July 4, 1976, as the turning point. It was the day that TV preacher Jerry Falwell declared to a crowd of 25,000 that “the devil” invented the idea that politics and religion should not mix “to prevent Christians from running their own country.” This idea is at the heart of American Christian nationalism. Falwell’s movement, the Moral Majority, promoted conservative social values and championed the political right. In 2020, 85% of white evangelicals who regularly attend church voted for Donald Trump. Alberta calls the former president a “lecherous, unrepentant scoundrel.” But what interests him is what prompted evangelicals to support Trump. His book is a personal story. He begins with his own church and reports on hundreds of congregations, from packed megachurches to empty chapels. His diagnosis is clear: power-hungry leaders are distorting the gospel and preying on believers’ anxieties, with disturbing consequences for American politics and the church.
The Religion of American Greatness, by Paul Miller. IVP Academic, 304 pages, $30, £24.99
Paul Miller’s book is an insider’s account of Christian nationalism. Miller is a Southern Baptist and, unlike Alberta, describes himself as “politically and theologically conservative.” (He served as an advisor to President George W. Bush.) His book is a “work of Christian political theory” and argues for a kind of “civic republicanism” that is “consistent with Christianity.” But Miller clearly distinguishes his philosophy from Christian nationalism, explaining and criticizing it. Some readers may find Miller contradictory. For example, Miller believes that Christian principles should not be the basis of government, but he argues that abortion opponents are right to oppose abortion for religious reasons. Still, Miller’s book does a fair job well enough. Miller brings welcome rigor by clearly defining the terms he uses (e.g., the difference between nationalism and patriotism, and cultural identity and political identity). His book also offers insight into how traditional Republicans view the new American right. Its central argument is that Christian nationalism is fundamentally incompatible with American liberalism and with Christian teachings.
The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill. A Christianity Today podcast.
Founded in 1996, Mars Hill Church was once one of the most successful evangelical megachurches in America. Its headquarters were in Seattle, the least religious city in the country. Charismatic senior pastor Mark Driscoll was a working-class local whose confrontational style appealed to disaffected Gen X congregations. Mars Hill Church grew quickly, eventually expanding to 15 locations. Driscoll’s sermons were viewed by millions on YouTube, and his books became New York Times bestsellers. But it wasn’t all smooth sailing. Congregants and church elders interviewed in the 2021 podcast “The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill” said Driscoll bullied and tried to control his congregants. The podcast describes how in 2011 the church hired a marketing firm to buy large quantities of one of Driscoll’s books in an attempt to get them on the bestseller list. In 2014, Driscoll resigned, saying he “confessed past arrogance, anger, and a controlling spirit,” but noting that there were “no charges of criminal conduct, immorality, or heresy.” Mars Hill collapsed. The story of a church that pressured women to stay in traditional roles and imposed a “trial” of an alleged devil shows the dark side of a certain type of conservative Christianity: how religion and politics collide in the pulpit, the power of pastors to shape the views of their followers, and the painful consequences that occur when that power is abused.
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Read our review of a book about the rise and fall of the hippie church. Why evangelical Christians are so enthusiastic about Trump is an interesting question we have explored many times. Lexington columnists wrote about it early in Trump’s presidency, and we revisited the subject in our 2023 Christmas special. Americans are not going to church as much as they used to, but they are reluctant to vote for an atheist. Read our report on Billy Graham, the most important American evangelical of the last century, who died in 2018.