Voting and political engagement

McKnight begins a chapter-by-chapter review of Bonnie Kristian's book defending evangelicalism against its cultural critics, focusing on its introduction and its definition of evangelicalism. He disputes her view that critics wrongly equate evangelicalism with Trump-supporting white evangelicals, her inclusion of the Black church, her claim of fuzzy boundaries, and her dismissal of abusive figures as fringe. He argues that evangelical gatekeepers do police belonging, that evangelical leaders should publicly criticize Trump, and that good churches and corrupted, abusive pastors both exist.

The author suggests that younger and former evangelicals raised in Republican homes are shifting toward the Democratic Party, driven by disillusionment with the evangelical-GOP alliance, Christian nationalism, racism, and policy concerns. He argues that evangelicalism has been harmed by political alignment and has lost its prophetic voice. He draws on Hauerwas, Carl Henry, Hunter, and Balmer to argue that Christians should not seek to coerce society through political power and that faith is better served from the margins.