Words that Shape Us
Words that Shape Us, Ken Waters, foreword by John Ferré. Integratio Press (ISBN: 9781959685296) 2025.
Summary: A comparative analysis of four evangelical periodicals coverage of American politics and faith from 2016 to 2024.
One of the least controversial things that may be said of our current president is that he has dominated the American political scene from 2016 to the present. Surprisingly, despite questions of character and ethics, he has enjoyed broad support among whites who identify as evangelical Christians. At the same time, there is a dissenting minority, often characterized as an evangelical elite, in terms of education, who hold differing political views. A number of commentators have sought to parse the current landscape of evangelicalism. In this book, Ken Waters, a emeritus professor of journalism at Pepperdine University approaches this cultural analysis through the lens of four of the leading evangelical publications of this time period. Specifically, he compares their coverage and editorial slant on key political events during this period.
In his Introduction, he identifies three questions he will explore. Firstly, how does the divide in voting advice in the evangelical press in 2016 carry through in the voting behavior of evangelicals then and subsequently? Secondly, what can we learn about the evangelical movement by a broader look at how they discuss how Christians ought live in the modern. Thirdly, what might these findings foreshadow for the future of the evangelical movement? In particular, do the divergences reflected in these publications reflect a fraying or disintegrating movement?
Then Waters introduces each of the publications, offering a brief historical sketch. In alphabetical order, he begins with The Christian Post, a free, online-only publication featuring daily news coverage, launched by Korean pastor, David Jang in 2006. Richard Land signed on as executive editor. Second is Christianity Today, launched out of the vision of Billy Graham in 1956 as a counterpoint to The Christian Century. It sought to articulate thoughtful evangelical faith and positions on moral issues including abortion and homosexuality.
Sojourners (originally The Post-American) was formed in 1971 by disaffected evangelical seminary students as a peace and justice-oriented magazine, a distinctive that has only expanded in recent years. Led by founder Jim Wallis, it is a mouthpiece of a progressive evangelicalism. Finally. World was founded in 1986 by Joel Belz with a self-described editorial philosophy of “biblical journalism.” It underwent a profound shift in 2021 when Albert Mohler became Opinion editor, accepting only conservative commentary. Many of the journalists, including Marvin Olasky left the publication.
In the remaining chapters, Waters analyzes each periodical’s coverage and editorial approach to major political issues. He begins with the 2016 election and the approach to each of the candidates. The Christian Post included opinions supporting each candidate while the publication did not want to give a vote to either. They reluctantly deemed Trump the lesser of two evils. Christianity Today likewise criticized both candidates, Clinton on positions and Trump on moral grounds and did not endorse a candidate. Sojourners rarely mentioned Clinton, apart from her lifelong social justice Methodist background. However, it extensively criticized candidate Trump. While not endorsing either, it made clear Trump was anathema. World was hard-hitting both in allegations of corruption in Clinton’s background while calling on Trump to step aside for another candidate. It endorsed neither candidate while acknowledging that most readers would support Trump. Evangelicals followed this pattern in the next three presidential elections.
Succeeding chapters used the same approach to analyze the coverage of immigration, nationalism, George Floyd and racism, COVID, the 2020 election and Joe Biden, the end of Roe, LGBTQ+ questions, and the 2024 election. The Christian Post and World, especially after 2021, trended more conservative while Christianity Today and Sojourners trended more progressive. What was most striking to Waters was that the Christian perspective presented in all of the publications tended to differ markedly from opinion polls measuring evangelical belief. In the case of the murder of George Floyd, Christianity Today determined its past reporting on race to be deficient and the publication took steps to address those deficiencies.
Most striking were Waters’ conclusions about the future of evangelicalism. He notes the possibilities for fragmentation, particularly along the lines of an educational divide. Demographics are rapidly altering both the makeup of evangelicalism and the media landscape. However, quoting Russell Moore, he believes the shakeup and “homelessness” of evangelicals is a precursor to renewal. And he concludes that the “words that shape us” will continue to be important in that renewal.
Waters offers us an outstanding work of both media and cultural analysis. He read hundreds of articles from the represented publications during this period. However, I question how influential these publications have been in forming an evangelical political philosophy, except among more educated evangelicals. Even here, did they form it or just mirror it? Are other media outlets on the left and right far more “shaping”? I think that many of evangelical conviction are turning from such outlets to others like Plough, Mere Orthodoxy, and Comment. None of these are mentioned here. I do think words are shaping. But, while important to the analysis of this work, I question whether the four publications studied here are the wineskins that will shape the hoped-for renewal. If the Lord is pleased to pour out new wine, new wineskins will be needed.
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.