CT Daily Briefing – 10-01-2024

September 30, 2024
CT Daily Briefing

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


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).


in case you missed it

The high season of American politics is here. Stomachs are knotted. Electoral trend lines undulate. Betting markets tremble. And what of the American church? Many of us are trembling too:…

I have often longed for my own personal trainer, not so much for getting in better physical shape but for better understanding the whats and hows of Christian faith. To some…

Every Bible includes some non-Bible parts. There are chapter and verse breaks, maps in the back, and dedication pages at the beginning. No one thinks those things are divinely inspired.…

This year has been rough for the church in Dallas–Fort Worth where I pastor. At least eight pastors, and recently another, have been publicly disqualified for inappropriate relationships or abusive…


in the magazine

Cover of the September/October 2024 Issue

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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