jesus and john wayne by kristin kobes du mez

The book was initially selling more than 300 hardcover copies every week and by December was selling more than 900 copies a week. The book suggests that white evangelical views on masculinity have always been in tension with the figure of a loving Jesus and that of a militant John Wayne. It also discusses figures such as Billy Graham and Mark Driscoll. The book includes a chapter called 'Evangelical Mulligans' which discusses the sexual scandals in evangelical circles.

Du Mez criticizes mainstream evangelicals such as John Eldredge, John Piper, and James Dobson for advancing the evangelical ideal of militant masculinity. The book focuses on the militant masculinity that white evangelicals idealize and how it has manifested in a pattern of abuse among evangelical leaders. Du Mez explains that white evangelical support for Donald Trump during the 2016 United States presidential election was a continuing trend rather than an exception. The book examines white evangelical affinity for Donald Trump. Du Mez reflects on how she had attended Dordt and participated in worship teams on the same stage that Trump gave the speech. In the speech, Trump said that he could 'stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot someone' without losing his constituents' loyalties. The book begins by addressing a speech that Trump gave at Dordt University in Sioux Center, Iowa, on January 23, 2016. ĭu Mez's mother was a Christian school PE teacher. The title of the book comes from the Gaither Vocal Band song of the same name. The editor of the book is Daniel Gerstle. Once the book was finished it was published by the nonreligious Liveright Publishing Corporation a division of W. Du Mez later put the project on hold for a few years, and started it up again when the Donald Trump Access Hollywood tape was released and evangelicals came to Trump's defense. Du Mez was teaching a course on US history and discussing how the American ideal of masculinity has been influenced by politics, economics, and race when two male students introduced her to the John Eldredge book Wild at Heart, which prompted the project. Du Mez began writing the book in 2005 when she began teaching at a Christian Reformed school in Grand Rapids, Michigan called Calvin University.

Her father was a Reformed theologian at Dordt University and her mother was a Dutch immigrant. Du Mez grew up in a community of Dutch immigrants located in Sioux Center, Iowa. The book has been released in hard cover and paperback.

The book was published in the summer of 2020.

Jesus and john wayne by kristin kobes du mez