I was not born into an evangelical family. In short, I do not read Du Mez’s book from the standpoint of total objectivity, nor do I approach her subject matter as a set of pure abstractions in which I have no part.įurthermore, I bring my own experiences as an evangelical to the narrative that Du Mez has produced in her book. And lastly, I am a Christian historian myself, and am constantly thinking about how to be a worthy student and teacher of history, as well as a creditable teller of past stories for present audiences.
I also am a white, conservative evangelical Christian, so I read the pages of this book with the realization that my people are the subject of this book (although I do question how valid the way DuMez normativizes the concept of “white evangelical” is). For one, I know Professor Du Mez professionally and I have a deep and abiding respect and admiration for her. I am deeply invested in more than one element of Kristin Kobes Du Mez’s Jesus and John Wayne. Consider this review a cri de coeur over a book written as a cri de coeur. I have reviewed dozens of books in my professional life, but this review will be different.
Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation by Kristin Kobes Du Mez (New York: Liveright, 2020), 386 pages, $18.95 (Hardback).Īs I begin, please indulge me as I make a few personal prefatory remarks. But hope is central to a Christian historical method. All we have before us as we reach the end of the book is a cliff edge, with no path forward to forgiveness and reconciliation. Du Mez’s work reads less as history and more as ideology, and an ideology with little in the way of faith, hope, or charity.
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