This edition is sponsored by Pure Desire Ministries
Today’s Briefing
What American evangelicals misunderstood about Jimmy Carter.
The former president turns 100 today. Check out these interviews CT did with Carter about his faith-filled presidency, the arc of reconciliation, and why he decided to write about Jesus in his memoirs.
In a digitized, globalized, polarized world, who is my neighbor?
On the latest episode of Being Human, Lisa Fields discusses what are people really asking when they ask why a loving God would send people to hell.
Behind the Story
From news editor Daniel Silliman: I wasn’t alive when Jimmy Carter was in office, but he’s the first president I was aware of. My father volunteered for Carter’s California campaign as a recently born-again Christian and was deeply disappointed when Carter lost evangelical support in 1980 and then lost that election. Even as my dad’s political thinking evolved in a different direction after that, he always talked fondly of Carter’s integrity and faith.
So, like a lot of people today, I’ve always had a sense of who Carter was, how he was an evangelical, and that his faith was important to him. But that sense has been a bit hazy.
A few recent books bring that picture into focus. If you’re interested in Carter, here are three I would recommend:
- The Outlier by Kai Bird. This is the big new bio of Carter—currently, the definitive work, and it won a Pulitzer. If you want the sweeping story, from peanut farmer to the White House, start here.
- Redeemer by Randall Balmer. As a historian, I have some serious quarrels with Balmer’s broader scholarship, but his religious biography of Carter is very good, and it’s the only sustained historical examination of this part of his life. Also includes a fascinating account of why Southern Baptists started to talk about “secular humanism.”
- What the Heck Are You Up To, Mr. President? by Kevin Mattson. This is an amazing book that looks at one consequential speech, the “malaise” speech. This book offers amazing insight into Carter’s left-evangelical critique of America in the 1970s and explores both the potential and the limits of political solutions to spiritual and cultural problems. I highly recommend it (and the audiobook is great too).
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In Other News
- According to the FBI, there were 27 anti-Protestant attacks last year, along with 77 hate crimes committed against Catholics and 1,832 against Jews.
- An independent review concluded there was a “wholesale” failure of the evangelical church culture that didn’t check or correct the inappropriate behavior of Mike Pilavachi, founder of Soul Survivor. CT previously reported that more than 100 people, including worship leader Matt Redman, came forward to accuse Pilavachi of physical and spiritual abuse.
- A day after being arraigned on corruption charges, New York mayor Eric Adams made a tour of city churches, declaring, “I’m not going to resign. I’m going to reign.”
- An Assemblies of God church in Ghana is paying to set prisoners free.
Today in Christian History
October 1, 1529: The Colloquy of Marburg, which attempted to unify the followers of Martin Luther and Ulrich Zwingli, begins. It would close in failure October 4. While the Reformers agreed on 14 of the 15 articles, they remained divided over the Lutheran doctrine of the Eucharist (consubstantiation). Thus Switzerland remained Reformed and Germany stayed Lutheran—and dreams of a united European front against Roman Catholicism died (see issue 39: Luther’s Later Years).
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in the magazine
Our September/October issue explores themes in spiritual formation and uncovers what’s really discipling us. Bonnie Kristian argues that the biblical vision for the institutions that form us is renewal, not replacement—even when they fail us. Mike Cosper examines what fuels political fervor around Donald Trump and assesses the ways people have understood and misunderstood the movement. Harvest Prude reports on how partisan distrust has turned the electoral process into a minefield and how those on the frontlines—election officials and volunteers—are motivated by their faith as they work. Read about Christian renewal in intellectual spaces and the “yearners”—those who find themselves in the borderlands between faith and disbelief. And find out how God is moving among his kingdom in Europe, as well as what our advice columnists say about budget-conscious fellowship meals, a kid in Sunday school who hits, and a dating app dilemma.
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