Reflections on the Existence of God: A Series of Essays, by Richard E. Simmons III, is an excellent resource for small group study, to facilitate spiritual conversations with non-believers or, as in my case, to engage with a middle-schooler. I have a precocious granddaughter who is in the sixth grade but reads and reasons at the high school level. Recently she informed her mother that she no longer believed in God. As I spoke with her, it became apparent to me that she had not based her position on diligent study. Instead, hers might have been what the author called “irresponsible unbelief.” (Maybe. But I suspect she was just being contrary to irritate her mother because that is what kids her age do.)

The author asserts, “The question of God’s existence, in my opinion, is the most significant issue in all of life. As renowned French philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal said, you’re betting your eternal destiny that you are right.” (pp. 12-13). The core of the author’s rationale is belief in either theism or atheism depends on which view is in harmony with reality. From that position, he challenges the reader to “believe responsibly.” According to him. “We stubbornly hold on to our beliefs because they generally reflect how we want life to be rather than how life actually is. For this reason, evidence does not seem to matter.” (p. 19).

While I am certain God exists, that he made us and loves us so much he was willing to die for us, I found this work helpful in synthesizing what I already knew about God while providing solid arguments against disbelief. Two of the most surprising bits of information about atheists I gleaned from my reading had to do with their thinking as they neared death and the fact they knew next to nothing about the faith they rejected throughout their lives. He concluded, “The evidence for God is really of little use if a person does not want Him in his or her life.” (p. 22)

The author logically addressed the existence of evil in the world, the source of a moral standard along with truth, love, happiness and beauty. He recounted the efforts of Einstein to discredit a transcendental source of morality and the irony that his General Relativity theory demonstrated the universe was not eternal. He proved it had a beginning. One is left to wonder if it extends back to a “Big Bang” who or what spoke that “Big Bang” into existence? Since Einstein’s theory might have pointed to a creator, he introduced a fudge factor, which was later discovered and discounted by other scientists.

According to Simmons, Darwinism is, likewise, proving to be “a philosophical bias more than a coherent science.” (p.174) Some scientists find it easier to introduce aliens into the creation process than to acknowledge the existence of God. The author points to Dr. Paul Vitz who concluded “atheists often develop their beliefs because of non-rational psychological reasons, not because of investigation of the evidence and coming to a sound rational conclusion.” (p. 114) I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in adding logic to your faith.

Reflections on the Existence of God: A Series of Essays, by Richard E. Simmons III (Union Hill Publishing, 2019)

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.

I had no substantive contact with an African American until I was drafted into the army. The first time I experienced overt bigotry was after I had taken a black friend with me to a church service in South Carolina. When I returned for the evening service, the pastor suggested that my friend might be better served elsewhere. The message was clear.

When the author convincingly connected racism and sexism to evangelicalism, I was surprised and not quite ready to accept her assertion. Then the stories broke about Beth Moore, Russell Moore and African American pastors leaving the Southern Baptist Convention over those very things. This, not long after similar articles appeared displaying photographs of Christian and racist flags, symbols and signs at the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol insurrection.

According to Du Mez, “Today some historians place race at the very heart of evangelical politics, pointing to the fact that evangelical opposition to government-mandated integration predated anti-abortion activism by several years.” (p. 38) Apparently evangelicals had mastered the art of pivoting before the coronavirus pandemic. It makes me wonder if my spiritual parents were racist.

I was also blissfully unaware of how completely militarism had permeated evangelicalism; something the author traced back to the 1940s. One of the highlights of my teen years had been attending a Billy Graham crusade. Like most evangelical kids, Billy Graham was one of my heroes of the faith.

When I read these words my heart broke. “In 1969, Graham sent a thirteen-page letter to President Nixon—a letter only declassified twenty years later—offering an array of policy scenarios, some of which clearly abandoned Christian just-war theory and the Geneva Conventions.” (p. 50) The author asserts Graham came to regret his foray into partisan politics. “It was a lesson that most other evangelicals refused to abide.” (p. 47)

I proudly served my country when called and remember joking that I was going to “kill a commie for Christ,” and suggesting, “We should nuke them all and let God sort them out.” Little did I realize I was carrying on another evangelical family tradition. “The Vietnam War was pivotal to the formation of an emerging evangelical identity.” (P. 50) That identity was militarism.

The author cited Anne C. Loveland, American Evangelicals and the US Military 1942-1993, who argued, “To Baptist pastor Jerry Falwell, the US soldier in Vietnam remained “a living testimony” to Christianity, and to “old fashioned patriotism.” A defender of “Americanism,” the American soldier was “a champion for Christ.” (p. 49) Falwell’s Liberty University still boasts that it “trains champions for Christ,” an assertion supported by the number of military chaplains it graduates. 

The military and law enforcement have been closely joined with evangelicals since the anti-war and civil rights protests of the 1960s. Du Mez asserts, “A common evangelical heritage and shared theological commitments diminished in significance as Christian nationalism, militarism, and gender “traditionalism” came to define conservative evangelical identity and dictate ideological allies.” (p. 51) Militarism and racism merged with a redefined Christian masculinity and paternalism—a process that would lay the groundwork for the election of Donald Trump.

With the end of the Cold War and the threat of world-wide communist domination eliminated, “Bush ushered in what (Ralph) Reed termed ‘the most conservative and the most pro-family platform in the history of the party.’ It called for a ban on abortion, opposed LGBT rights, and defended school prayer and homeschool rights.” (p. 139)

Looking at the shape-shifting GOP and the news sources it has coopted, there seems to be a move toward embracing Putin, a former member of the KGB, as a means of opposing the current President. (The enemy of our enemy, I guess.)

Three other areas the author reviews as impacting current evangelical thought and willingness to embrace a man like Donald Trump are: home schooling, paternalism and Christian masculinity. The first two have contributed to the victimization and subordination of women and the third has created an inaccurate caricature of Jesus. I’ll let you discover her handling of those topics on your own.

I highly recommend this insightful and scholarly work.

Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation by Kristin Kobes Du Mez (Liveright Publishing, 2020)