In a recent interview, Du Mez said this: “I first began exploring the topic of white evangelical masculinity and militarism more than fifteen years ago…I found the crass, misogynistic, and militaristic teachings of respectable Christian leaders disturbing.” Criswell, Al Mohler, Chuck Colson, Promise Keepers, Josh Harris, CJ Mahaney, Bill Hybels, Eric Metaxas, Duck Dynasty, and, of course, her arch villain, Donald Trump. Hill, Stormy Daniels, Tim Keller, Bruce Ware, Ted Haggard, Bill O’Reilly, Bill Gothard, Mark Dever, James Dobson, Phyllis Schlafly, Hal Lindsey, Jimmy Swaggart, Paige Patterson, W.A. Eisenhower, Mel Gibson, Robert Jeffress, Bob Jones, Barry Goldwater, Jerry Falwell, Douglas Phillips, Pat Boone, Anita Bryant, Jack Hyles, Marabel Morgan, E.V. Sproul, Theodore Roosevelt, Billy Sunday, Dwight D. She mentions and/or indicts a wide range of folks, including Oliver North, Ronald Reagan, John Eldredge, Francis Schaeffer, Robert Schuller, Tony Evans, Pat Robertson, Joyce Meyer, The Gospel Coalition, John R. Her book reads like a Who’s Who of American culture. In her 300-plus page book, Du Mez dings virtually everyone from Billy Graham to Mark Driscoll John Piper to Wayne Grudem and Elisabeth Elliot to John MacArthur. Few are spared the sting of her acerbic pen in her critique of white patriarchal Christianity. She writes with a wide frame of reference, wit, sarcasm, accusation and often direct attack. To establish her point, Du Mez takes us on a whirlwind tour of evangelicalism over the last seven decades, trying to connect the dots for us. In short, the new “American Jesus” is a false and dangerous idol that is wreaking havoc in the evangelical church.

So…what is Du Mez arguing in her bestselling Jesus and John Wayne? In a nutshell, she claims that over the last 75 years, white American evangelicals have hijacked the original, gentle, gospel-centered Jesus of the New Testament, and replaced him with a white, militaristic, patriarchal, macho Messiah who resembles John Wayne. She is clearly a gifted professor and communicator. According to her web page at Calvin, Du Mez’s research areas focus on the intersections of gender, religion, and politics in recent American history. in American History from the University of Notre Dame. Du Mez is a professor of history at Calvin University, holding a Ph.D.

It is an interesting read to say the least.

Kristin Kobes Du Mez has written a newer provocative book with the title Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation.

Jesus and john wayne review