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Snapshot
Book Review Rating: 7/10
This Book Is:
- A personal story that provides an interesting perspective from someone who experienced much of the worst of evangelicalism firsthand.
- Brings together a lot of different strands of evangelicalism and adds credibility to the common problems and disappointments many of us have experienced with evangelicalism.
This Book Is Not:
- An objective analysis of factors leading to changes in evangelicalism.
- Going to resonate with everyone’s evangelical experience.
- From the perspective of someone fully in evangelicalism or fully outside evangelicalism, but from someone who bridges both.
My Takeaways from Testimony by Jon Ward:
- One of the largest problems with evangelicalism and its close tie to Republican politics is the threat posed by denying objective truth. Lies, fake news, and oversimplification prevents authentic engagement and debate. It has become nearly impossible to engage in thoughtful disagreement. Objective truth is core to the claims of theism and Christianity.
My Critiques of Testimony by Jon Ward:
- There are many aspects of Testimony by Jon Ward that people will be able to relate to, but his story does not represent all of evangelicalism. He does not claim to speak for others, so this isn’t truly a critique. There are likely some aspects of Ward’s story where you may disagree with his position or his responses.
Summary – Testimony by Jon Ward
Jon Ward tells his story in Testimony. Ward has lived a life between two worlds. He is a journalist who covers American evangelicalism and is also an American evangelical himself. He describes himself as living on the border of each world. This is his account of trying to follow Jesus and keeping truth central. Ward says that journalism has made him a better Christian as he pursues truth.
Ward divides Testimony into three phases of life.
1977 – 2000 Growing Up Evangelical
Ward grew up as the oldest of seven children. His parents were a part of the Jesus Movement revival. Ward’s father was a pastor at the church that would later be named Covenant Life Church. His early church experience was charismatic with a focus on experiencing the Holy Spirit. His family and church were heavily involved in the prolife movement and protested at abortion clinics.
Ward’s childhood experience encompassed many of the stereotypical evangelical aspects (missions trips, dispensationalism, purity culture). Church culture discouraged questions and taught in absolutes. There was no room for nuance. As he grew up, his church shifted away from the charismatic focus and was heavily influenced by the rise in the New Calvinism. There was a focus on surrendering to God’s will, but that really just meant surrender to the opinions of church leaders. Ward found this suffocating.
2001 – 2012 Separation
In the next phase of life, Ward became less involved in church and started pursuing a career in journalism. He worked his way up to covering the presidency of Bush and Obama, including at least a dozen flights on Airforce One. He saw the connection between evangelicals and the Republican party and a focus on abortion as the most important political issue. In particular, the Republican party took a dark turn when Sarah Palin was selected as John McCain’s running mate in the 2008 election. Palin appealed to the most populist, anti-intellectual, and nativist instincts on the right. Her approach was to oversimplify and scapegoat the other side.
Ward worked for Tucker Carlson in 2009 and 2010. He covered the rise of the Tea Party movement that was triggered by the economic crisis in 2008 and the election of Obama. The Tea Party movement further merged the ideas of political and religious revival. Many Republicans viewed themselves on the right side of a cosmic battle with evil. Ward then went on to work at the Huffington Post. This was also the time when scandal hit Covernant Life Church and C.J. Mahaney. It began with claims of pride and mismanagement but grew to later include cover up of abuse.
2013 – 2022 Reformation
Ward moved on to work at Yahoo News. He covered Black Lives Matter and noticed how the focus on individual sin and an individual relationship with God within American Evangelicalism made it harder for evangelicals to see the systemic aspects of problems like racism. Ward calls out the way that the internet has changed journalism, and the way people are influenced by information. It is now possible for anyone to create content with no constraints on what is true and factual. Social media and big tech are focused on selling people’s attention, not on spreading the truth.
In 2016, Ward began raising the alarm about Donald Trump. He saw Trump as a threat to democracy and the rule of law. Trump consistently and blatantly demonstrates a contempt for objective truth. Ward’s stance on Trump created significant fractures in his family relationships. Ward notes how many evangelicals initially supported Trump reluctantly out of Republican identity. This then shifted to identifying Trump as God’s man with enthusiastic devotion.
Ward describes the continued polarization through the COVID pandemic, the 2020 election, and the January 6th insurrection. We are living in an age of information chaos. Evangelicals are seeking to retain power and fight for their rights despite the example of giving up power that we see in Jesus. We must move forward from a posture of seeking truth accompanied by love. Christians should be agents of nuance, not reductionism. Christians should build bridges to their communities and repair institutions.
Ward ends by describing how his experience has led him to seek to follow Jesus in a life of vulnerability, not a life of comfort and ease.
Top Takeaways – Testimony by Jon Ward
There are many problems with evangelicalism and its close tie to Republican politics, but my main takeaway from Testimony is the threat posed by denying objective truth. Lies, fake news, and oversimplification prevents authentic engagement and debate. It has become nearly impossible to engage in thoughtful disagreement. Objective truth is core to the claims of theism and Christianity. There is a serious dissonance when Christians support Trump because of their faith when Trump demonstrates an undermining of objective truth. One of the most serious impacts of this denial of objective truth is the threat to the rule of law and the peaceful transition of power essential to a democracy as seen in the January 6th insurrection.
Critique – Testimony by Jon Ward
There are many aspects of Testimony by Jon Ward that people will be able to relate to, but his story does not represent all of evangelicalism. He does not claim to speak for others, so this isn’t truly a critique. There are likely some aspects of Ward’s story where you may disagree with his position or his responses. He admits that he was too hot at times, and that does come across especially in interactions with his family.
Evaluation – Testimony by Jon Ward
There isn’t a lot of new information in Testimony by Jon Ward, but it is an interesting perspective from someone who experienced much of the worst of evangelicalism firsthand. He had a front row seat to the scandal at Covernant Life Church with C.J. Mahaney. He grew up experiencing mission trips, purity culture, premillennial dispensationalism, masculine Christianity, and New Calvinism common to many youth groups. Ward covered campaigns and politics with Presidents Bush, Obama, and Trump. He brings together a lot of different strands of evangelicalism and adds credibility to the common problems and disappointments many of us have experienced with evangelicalism.
Conclusion
At Faithful Intellect, our goal with book reviews is to explore the ideas and implications of the author and also share the top takeaways that shape our thinking. We hope that you will benefit from these insights even if you aren’t able to read the book yourself.
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Books:
- Testimony: Inside the Evangelical Movement That Failed a Generation (https://amzn.to/42WbXMd) by Jon Ward
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