Jim Wallis
St. Martin’s Essentials, 304 pages
Published April 2, 2024
“Jesus is a victim of identity theft in America,” Jim Wallis writes, and those who use him to spread the Christian nationalist gospel, are heretics. This is the kind of provocative thought we’ve come to expect from Wallis, and The False White Gospel is his latest contribution to the conversation between faith and civic life.
Wallis is a prominent pastor, scholar and activist; he’s also one of a small cadre of progressive evangelicals whose love for Jesus has led him to advocate for “the least of these.” (Wallis names Matthew 25 his “conversion text.”) He wrestles with this and other biblical texts to craft practical and scriptural arguments against the White Christian nationalism that has seeped into our discourse. Wallis touches on the historical –describing the heretical theologies of British missionaries, slave-owning pastors and other Christians whose work was contrary to the gospel – but he doesn’t linger. He quickly brings us back to the present with a call to action: “Hope is a choice, a decision, and one based on what we call faith.”
With the presidential election just ahead, The False White Gospel is one of many books seeking to explain our political climate and the role of faith in civic life. Wallis writes with urgency and passion, and his straightforward and anecdote-packed book is an accessible choice to inspire discussion – and activism – for such a time as this.
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