Bob Hostetler > Book Reviews

Book Reviews

Where the Christian Right Went Wrong

The ebb and flow of politics and culture can leave some Christians shaking their heads, others shaking their fists. . . and still others shaking in their boots. But according to three recent books by prominent authors, we need not do any of those things. But we might understand where so many Christians, churches, and Christian organizations went wrong and what can yet be done about it.

Cal Thomas and Ed Dobson, authors of Blinded by Might,­ were insiders during the early and heady days of the Moral Majority, the organization which Jerry Falwell started in 1979 to influence American politics and American politicians.

The book traces the founding of the Moral Majority, and the early enlistment of the authors in its cause. They describe their intoxicating rise to acceptance and access during President Reagan's administration, and the swell of pride that they and others in the nascent movement experienced upon realizing that "Conservative Christians were no longer an outside group. We had been invited to the table" (p. 41).

But by the mid-eighties, the momentum was already slowing. Cal Thomas resigned in 1985 to pursue a career as a columnist. In 1986, Jerry Falwell himself withdrew from an active role in the organization. And in 1987, Ed Dobson accepted a position as pastor of Calvary Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Now, looking back through the medium of their book, Thomas and Dobson announce, "During the height of the Moral Majority, we were taking in millions of dollars a year. We published a magazine, organized state chapters, lobbied Congress, aired a radio program, and did more. . . . [Yet] even a casual observation of the current moral climate suggests that despite all the time, money, and energy--despite the political power--we failed."

They failed, the authors say, because they missed a key Scriptural admonition: that "though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world? (2 Corinthians 10:3). "We have been trying to use the world?s weapons of political power," Thomas writes, and Dobson adds, "I now believe that the way to transform our nation has little to do with politics and everything to do with offering people the gospel."

Blinded by Might­is a mea culpa ­from two leading voices of Christianity and conservatism. Though the book occasionally ventures into largely unnecessary quarreling Focus on the Family's Dr. James Dobson (chapter 9 is entitled "Focus on the Family, not Politics") and contains an occasional misquote and misattribution, it is a valuable mea culpa and new agenda from two leading voices of Christianity and conservatism.

Dean Merrill, vice president and publisher of the International Bible Society and author of Sinners in the Hands of an Angry Church,­is not only singing from the same page as Thomas and Dobson; he finishes on the same note.

While Thomas and Dobson begin with the birth of the Moral Majority, Merrill turns back the clock to the days of the Jewish King Ahab and the Roman emperor Nero to gain insight into the Christian stance in a fallen society (the title of chapter 4). He suggests that "The prophets did not make a huge dent in the culture--and neither do we" (p. 25) and goes further to argue that too often Christians do worse than having no effect: "At times our well-meaning efforts antagonize the people we wish to influence."

So what's to be done? Merrill refutes any efforts to "reclaim America for Christ," insisting that (while previously there did exist a "Christian consensus" in American culture), America has never been a demonstratively "Christian" nation. He also shows the ineffectuality of politics and legislation to change people?s thinking and believing, concluding (with C. S. Lewis, that "He who converts his neighbour has performed the most practical Christian-political act of all" (p. 41).

Merrill's book hangs together well, and is beautifully and effectively designed. While he could have been more extensive in giving practical application to his points, he does offer A Short 'To Do' List for Christ-Followers as an appendix. Some of his suggestions seem slightly ludicrous (such as "Stop telling politician jokes") or obvious ("Keep praying"), but others are more helpful and challenging.

"The cross has always clashed with popular culture," writes Erwin Lutzer, in his book, Why the Cross Can Do what Politics Can't (p. 13).­ As a result, he says, "The church always faces the temptation of fighting a legitimate battle in the wrong way. We always are tempted to fight the world with the weapons of the world. . . .And today, that temptation is greater than ever" (p. 20).

Though the book occasionally lapses into a sermonic style that would be stronger in the pulpit than on the page, Lutzer makes a compelling case for a return to the centrality of the cross in the life and activity of the church. His treatment is thorough, though at times the focus of the title (Why the Cross Can Do What Politics Can't)­gets lost.

Like Blinded by Might and Sinners in the Hands of an Angry Church, ­Lutzer's book sounds the call for a return to our true--and only--mission. He tells of a friend who was interviewed by a reporter doing a story on the so-called "Christian Right." "This journalist interviewed 40 Christians involved in politics--those who are attempting to transform culture with a ballot box. At the end of the interview my friend asked, 'Has anyone explained the gospel to you' The reporter answered, 'No, what is the gospel' She had no idea that this was Christianity's primary message."

"If there is any good news in America," Lutzer adds, "it will not come from Washington, but through the lips of God's people"(p. 49).

posted 05/12/2002
More book reviews by Bob Hostetler...

Copyright © 2005, Bob Hostetler