The immoral majority demonstrated the pulpit is no place for politics. Otherwise, Jesus would have arrived as a powerful king not as an innocent baby. The Founding Fathers intended the separation of church and state to keep government out of the sanctuary. It was a court case that turned that concept around and may have given birth to a sense of “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em,” among evangelicals. Historically, when the Church delved into politics, things did not turn out well. The decline of the Roman church was accelerated by the conversion of Constantine and the establishment of a government-supported church.

The German Lutheran Church sold its soul by supporting Adolph Hitler. (For more details, see my blog entitled, Silence is Evil). Yet, over the past few elections cycles evangelicals have increasingly begun to define faith in political terms. In the interest of transparency, I am a graduate of Liberty University Baptist Theological Seminary. Sadly, the pride I once had in that diploma disappeared with the support Jerry Falwell Jr., son of its founder, gave President Trump during both his candidacy and presidency. Falwell’s own fall from grace only made it worse. This book helped me articulate what I have been feeling. I encourage anyone sensing a blurring of the line between faith and politics to invest some time reading it.

The author is the son of an evangelical pastor with strong, prior ties to Jerry Falwell, Sr. He asserts the moral majority has lost its way and reveals an ungodly change in American evangelicalism. His book describes “what happens when the people who believe they have the moral high ground find themselves on the low road.” He further asserted evangelicals turned a blind eye to the actions of the Trump administration in exchange for a “greater moral consideration.”

The focus of the original moral majority was the exact opposite of what self-professed evangelicals elected in 2016. The senior Falwell’s moral majority believed character matters and sought to elect those exhibiting moral lives. But this is how the author describes the current immoral majority. “They believe that one should be more concerned with the lives and happiness of their children than whether or not a president is a lying, philandering, unethical charlatan.” Trump’s moral reputation has further eroded since his election defeat in 2020. It is beginning to look like he will be adding criminal and insurrectionist to his resume.

In the author’s estimation, the moral majority had morphed into something far removed from the vision of its founder when Falwell’s son, Jerry junior, posed with Donald Trump in front of the cover of a pornographic magazine his father fought suppress. The author reminds us of Jerry Falwell’s Herculean efforts to see Larry Flynt, the publisher of a different pornographic magazine, surrender his life to Jesus. Howe observed, “. . . here was Falwell’s son, not seeking to “save” a man who was cut from the same cloth as Flynt but rather to endorse an effort to put such a man into the most influential position on the face of the Earth.”

Howe quoted Michael Farris, chairman of the Home School Legal Defense Association, “Today, we see politics fully influencing a thousand Christian leaders. This is a day of mourning. . .  In a generation, the movement had changed . . . from trying to be a force for change in politics, to being forcefully changed by politics.”

Sadly, many of Trump’s self-described, evangelical supporters have still not concluded they were sold a bill of goods. Howe maintains they hold the view that “you do not question the vessel,’ and goes on to observe Trump cannot be considered a hypocrite because he lacks a personal moral code to betray. He further asserts the president, “pulls many evangelicals into a vortex of moral ambiguity and relativism that has become almost required to continue supporting him.”

To underscore the damage Trump has done, he concludes, “Donald Trump is the single greatest source of hypocrisy I’ve seen in a movement already perceived by many as pharisaic.” In effect we have become that which we have despised, and the unbelieving world is chalking it up to even more church hypocrisy. Consequently, our evangelistic mission suffers because of it.

He then makes a case for evangelicals to adopt what he calls ‘empathetic conservatism,’ by which he means “speaking to people in a way that is optimistic and helps them see a brighter future without abandoning our principles or compromising our beliefs.” That is a far cry from the words shouted by some pastors since the election. The author addressed this, as well,” . . . creating a “Christian” culture that has become divisively self-interested and bitterly self-righteous, these leaders have taught their flocks to value the things of the world, rather than the things of Christ.”

He maintains, “for the Trump right, the end of overthrowing the popular left’s regime is worth achieving by any means necessary.” And on January 6, 2021, his words became truer than he could ever have imagined. He concludes by referring to Christ’s Sermon on the Mount. “That brings me back to the evangelical movement at large, which has a rather massive log in its eye at the moment. For the possibility of a bit of worldly influence, they surrendered their moral voice in the public sphere.”

The Immoral Majority: Why Evangelicals Chose Political Power Over Christian Values by Ben Howe, Harper Collins/Broadside Books, 2019

2000 Years of Charismatic Christianity by Eddie L. Hyatt

In 2000 Years of Charismatic Christianity Eddie L. Hyatt highlights a segment of the Church that has largely fallen by the wayside. Yet, this is the first time I have reviewed a book that I do not wholeheartedly recommend to everyone, but not because I didn’t like it or disagreed with the author’s thesis. It certainly served the purpose for which I purchased it and if you share my interest, I can recommend it to you. For several months prior to purchasing it I had been wondering what happened to the Charismatic Renewal that seemed to regularly make news in the late-1960’s and 70’s. It was a very exciting time for much of the church world. Some churches were alive with an outpouring of Apostolic gifts, including healing, prophesy and speaking in tongues. And the anticipation of the Lord’s return was palpable.

Hyatt does a wonderful job of describing the survival of those gifts to the Reformation and highlights many subsequent movers and shakers of what many called the “latter rain.” Although it is very readable, despite its title, it is neither scholarly nor comprehensive. It does a credible job of highlighting what happened in some Holiness congregations in the first third of the 20th century but, otherwise, seemed largely focused on the Assemblies of God. Only brief mention was made of Oneness or Jesus-only groups, which made me wonder if the author was not inadvertently succumbing to his own biases.

That suspicion was underscored by his omission of any mention of the contributions of Aimee Semple McPherson, who was not Oneness normember of the  Assemblies of God. His omission was highlighted by the fact the Federal Government acknowledged her significant contribution, not only to modern Pentecostalism, but to contemporary Christianity itself. Angelus Temple might be considered the first mega church that fed both stomach and soul. This is what the National Parks Service had to say about it and her during National Women’s Month in 2002, the year of this book’s publication.

The Angelus Temple, located on Glendale Boulevard in Los Angeles, California, was designated a National Historic Landmark on April 27, 1992. The Angelus Temple is historically significant as the base of operations for Aimee Semple McPherson, a pioneer in the field of radio evangelism. McPherson set a number of important precedents for women in religion in the early part of the 20th century; she was the first woman to receive a FCC radio license and she was a pioneer religious broadcaster. On radio station KSFG (sic) and in her preaching at the Angelus Temple, McPherson was an innovator in incorporating Hollywood and vaudeville style entertainment into her sermons. In addition, she mobilized an extensive social ministry from her headquarters at the Angelus Temple. McPherson provided a social and educational center for thousands of Midwestern immigrants, and during the Great Depression she provided hot meals for thousands of hungry people. She also widened the appeal of Pentecostalism to millions of people via her tours and radio broadcasts, and her founding of a Bible College to train missionaries, ministers, and evangelists.

The author provides a broad-brush perspective, and, in a backhanded, thoughtful way refutes Pastor John MacArthur and his Strange Fire cessationism. Contemporary controversies notwithstanding, what stirred my heart most were the details he provided regarding those Pentecostal pioneers who hungered and thirsted until they were filled. Hyatt made me hungry for revival; to see God move again in a mighty way in my life, the Church, our community, and our nation.

2000 Years of Charismatic Christianity by Eddie L. Hyatt, Charisma House Charisma Media/Charisma House Book Group, Lake Mary, FL, 2015.