The evangelical world includes a vast variety of perspectives, ethnicities, and geographies. It’s blue-collar and advanced degrees, covenantal and dispensational, Reformed and charismatic, and none of the above, all under the same tent.
Christianity Today lives in that big tent. In common with our fellow evangelicals, we believe in the authority and sufficiency of the Bible and the centrality of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We desire to live out our faith in service to others and to see more people in more places embrace the life-transforming Good News.
CT is committed to orthodox Christian doctrines on the Trinity, Scripture, Adam and Eve, the Fall, Christ’s redemptive work on the cross, resurrection, and biblical inerrancy. We affirm the Nicene Creed and the Apostles’ Creed as well as CT’s own statement of faith. These commitments shape our journalism and all content production at every stage.
We apply these understandings when thinking through much-debated current issues. CT is pro-life. That includes more than opposing abortion—we also oppose euthanasia and eugenics—but certainly not less. CT hosts disagreement on tactical questions about the best ways to end the evil of abortion but not on the ethic of life. All of us, born and unborn, regardless of ability or disability, are created in God’s image.
We believe that God designed sexual activity to be in the context of a marriage between a man and a woman and that all Christians are called to chastity—abstaining from sex before marriage and practicing fidelity within marriage. We believe the sexed bodies given by God determine whether we are men or women. To be blunt, CT is not theologically affirming on LGBTQ issues and does not publish affirming perspectives.
As a US-based media ministry, we endorse and uphold the US Constitution with its checks and balances, rule of law, and Bill of Rights. We are dispositionally conservative—not reactionary or opposed to progress but biased toward due process and respectful of time-tested wisdom. We oppose extremists on the right and the left who put power above persuasion.
We believe Christians are called to show compassion to the poor, the homeless, and immigrants. We see that many governmental aid programs have failed, so we look for ways to further charity. We oppose racism, antisemitism, and ethnic hatred.
We try to approach every issue through the lens of Scripture, and therefore we oppose any attempt to put humanity’s purported wisdom above God’s. We remember that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, so we are skeptical of ideological pronouncements. We value street-level reporting over suite-level orating.
We do not lobby for or against legislation or endorse or oppose candidates for office, though certainly we praise and critique policies and politicians. And though many of our journalists do vote, per our editorial code of ethics they are not permitted to donate to campaigns or political action committees.
We aim to be transparent. Journalism as an industry has seen rapid change over the past four decades, much of it mystifying to the reading public. CT has begun to publish our internal editorial policies, including our corrections policy, our fact-checking policy, and a statement on how we investigate abuse allegations.
Within our commitment to evangelical orthodoxy, we welcome readers and writers from an array of denominations and theological traditions. You’ll find in our pages differing opinions on baptism, predestination, and roles of women in the church and home. On these and other weighty matters of faith and practice on which evangelicals disagree, we work to represent a variety of views in our pages—and to represent them fairly.
Now that I’m 75, I feel all the more strongly about affirming the basics while learning from others in areas of disagreement. I hope for more time with my wife of 50 years and within my journalism profession of 55 years. But I also look forward to life on a new earth where we will see Jesus face to face and I’ll be able to sit in a Library of Congress reading room where every volume is filled not just with imaginings but with truth.
In the meantime, I want to learn more from not only CT staff and freelancers who work within our commitments but also readers. What is your response to this declaration? Please let us know by sending an email to editor@christianitytoday.com. We’ll publish a diversity of letters in an upcoming issue.
Marvin Olasky is editor in chief of Christianity Today.
