Russell D. Moore (born 9 October 1971) is an American theologian, ethicist, and preacher. In June 2021, he became the director of the Public Theology Project at Christianity Today, and on August 4, 2022, was announced as the magazine's incoming Editor-in-Chief. Moore previously served as president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, the public-policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), and at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, as dean of the School of Theology, senior vice president for academic administration, and as professor of theology and ethics.
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The Uneasy Conscience of Christian Nationalism Too many of us assume that Christian nationalism promises a road map to a New Jerusalem or a New Rome or a New Constantinople. That’s understandable, given the triumphal and martial rhetoric of would-be theocrats. But what if the actual road map is to none of those places? What if the new Christian nationalism wants to take us not to the rebuilt shining city on a hill of Cotton Mather’s Massachusetts Bay Colony but just to double coupon night at the Bellagio in Las Vegas? Journalist Jonathan V. Last noted years ago, when staying at a Vegas resort and casino, how momentarily moved he was by the hotel’s commitment to help their guests save the earth. Last noted the card on his bathroom sink asking guests to conserve water by using each towel multiple times. On the bedside table, he saw another card asking visitors to safeguard natural resources by opting not to have bed linens changed. (Christianity Today Oct-Nov/24) READ MORE>>>>> Amid film backlash, evangelical leaders double down on denouncing Christian nationalism Prominent Nashville area evangelical Christian voices believe speaking out about Christian nationalism is more important than ever, even if it’s costing them their reputation within some conservative Christian circles. Two of those voices, Russell Moore and David French, addressed controversy surrounding their outspokenness at a panel that accompanied an early screening of the documentary “God & Country.” Set to release in theaters in early February, the film features a range of conservative to progressive Christian voices to comment on the right-wing movement which believes America was founded upon “Judeo-Christian” values. (Liam Adams/The Tennesseean 1/27/24) READ MORE>>>>> Why Character Doesn’t Matter Anymore Until this week, I hadn’t thought about the caricatured born-again Christian neighbor on the animated series The Simpsons in a long time. New York Times religion reporter Ruth Graham mentioned him and his “cheerful prudery” as examples—along with Billy Graham and George W. Bush—of what were once the best-known evangelical Christian figures in the country. Indeed, a 2001 Christianity Today cover story dubbed the character “Saint Flanders.” Evangelical Christians knew that Ned’s “gosh darn it” moral demeanor was meant to lampoon us, and that his “traditional family values” were out of step with an American culture this side of the sexual revolution. (Christianity Today 3/22/24) READ MORE>>>>> Wicked or Misunderstood? Each week on The Bulletin, Russell Moore, Mike Cosper, and Clarissa Moll discuss the media’s top headlines—the people, events, and issues that are shaping our world. In this conversation, The Bulletin talks with best-selling author and Bible teacher Beth Moore about the new hit movie musical Wicked and the arrest of Luigi Mangione, the suspected murderer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Are the wicked truly evil or simply misunderstood? This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. (Christianity Today 1/13/24) READ MORE>>>>> How the Strident Support of Evangelical Christians to Israel Undermines the Palestine Cause Although the likes of well-known theologists like Russell Moore say “an Israeli life is of no more value in the eyes of God than a Palestinian life, and vice versa” – in a classic case of feel-good morality – they also marshal ‘evidence’ through their selective reading of the Bible to advance the same ‘God’s chosen people’ trope. “Our Lord Jesus was and is a Jewish man from Galilee. Rage against the Jewish people is rage against him, and, because we are in him, against us,” wrote Russell in the immediate aftermath of the October 7 attack by Hamas. (Vikram Mukka/The Wire 10/29/23) Read More>>>>> What does Moore now hope for? A restored church culture in five areas he depicts as follows. * Credibility — Today’s “quiet exodus” from church (or waves of believers switching denominations) is not so much a rejection of ancient doctrines and sexual demands but of churches failing to live up to their own moral standards. Instead of cynicism and deconstruction, he advocates “disillusion,” meaning loss of illusions, and “a credible gospel” embraced as truthful, not “useful” for some secular cause. * Authority — Here again, simply tell the truth. He charges that churches infiltrated by today’s “post-truth environment” treat “truth” in terms of “belonging” to a group rather than “the way things are,” for fear of “exile.” American Christians will “say things that we know to be false, just to prove that we are part of the tribe.” (Journalists pay heed as well.) * Identity — He warns that authoritarian political movements “almost always want to co-opt religion.” Though a moral traditionalist, he is worried by aspects of the current “culture wars” and “ever-expanding political idolatries.” He especially abhors a resentful “Christian nationalism” that “is a prosperity gospel for nation-states, a liberation theology for white people.” * Integrity — Moore takes on the evangelical grass roots enthusiasm for Trump. But he also excoriates “serious character issues in ministry waved away because of the minister’s giftedness and ‘success.’” Too often, winking at “wrath, greed and dishonesty” has become evangelicalism’s version of corrosive moral relativism. * Stability — In recent years, Christians have inflicted a “collective trauma” that produces the “wrecked lives, the split churches, the compromised witness” we see. Instead of nostalgia for “an idealized (and often imaginary past” combined with “anxiety about the future,” evangelicals need to work, pray, renew and reclaim the power of traditional Christian faith. --Get Religion: Richard Ostling; Russell Moore on Christians who are switching churches or hitting exit doors – period 8/3/23 “I don’t endorse candidates, but I believe Trump to be a unique threat, both to American institutions and to the church’s witness” --Russell Moore 8.3.23
 Scot Loyd
Challenging the influence of Trump and Tuberville with the love of Christ
Donald Trump once famously claimed that even if he shot someone on Fifth Avenue in New York City, his supporters wouldn’t abandon him. A recent survey by CBS News suggests he might be right. The survey, conducted during the week of August 16th, 2023, focused on people likely to vote for Trump in the Republican Presidential Primaries. It found that these voters trust Trump’s words more than other sources like conservative media, religious leaders, or even their own friends and family. This strong support for Trump doesn’t surprise me anymore, but it still disappoints me that many American evangelicals continue to back him in his third run for the Presidency......Russell Moore of Christianity Today recently spoke with NPR and expressed his frustration with the current state of GOP politics that are so closely aligned with evangelicalism. Moore reported that many pastors citing the Sermon on the Mount in their sermons would then have those messages dismissed by some parishioners as “liberal talking points.” Considering this admission and the CBS News Poll results, it seems that many Trump supporters trust Trump’s words more than they do the teachings and example of Jesus. I believe most of the people who support Trump mean well, but they’ve been influenced by years of fear-driven messages. These messages have convinced them that their faith, status, and safety are under threat. These perceived threats are often categorized as an “attack on religious liberty,” which politicians use to rally support for themselves or their policies. This is true for Trump and those who share his views. They tap into the fears of white majorities who feel their power is diminishing amidst changing American demographics. (Scot Loyd/Faith On View 8/29/23) Read More>>>>> “If the apostles reminded even Paul himself to remember the poor (Galatians 2:10), then surely the rest of us need such a reminder.” ― Russell D. Moore, Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families & Churches
Russell Moore, Karen Swallow Prior Spark Outrage for Saying They Don’t Enjoy ‘The Pilgrim’s Progress’ Some Christians are reacting with indignation after Dr. Russell Moore and Dr. Karen Swallow Prior said that they do not enjoy “The Pilgrim’s Progress,” a 17th century Christian allegory written by Puritan preacher John Bunyan. The work is one of the bestselling books of all time, at one point coming in second only to the Bible. “I have written extensively of my admiration for Bunyan in two books,” said Prior, pushing back on the controversy in a Thursday post on X, formerly known as Twitter. “So you can listen to a very clipped clip that’s circulating, or you can read the books. (Yeah, we know what the click-baiters will choose.)” (Jessica Lea/Church Leaders 8/25/23) Read More>>>>> 
Aug 9, 2023:
In an interview with NPR, Russell Moore said that multiple pastors had told him disturbing stories about their congregants being upset when they read from the famous "Sermon on the Mount" in which Christ espoused the principles of forgiveness and mercy as central to Christian doctrine."Multiple pastors tell me, essentially, the same story about quoting the Sermon on the Mount, parenthetically, in their preaching — 'turn the other cheek' — [and] to have someone come up after to say, 'Where did you get those liberal talking points?'" Moore revealed. "And what was alarming to me is that in most of these scenarios, when the pastor would say, 'I'm literally quoting Jesus Christ,' the response would not be, 'I apologize.' The response would be, 'Yes, but that doesn't work anymore. That's weak.'" Moore, who has been an outspoken critic of many evangelicals' embrace of Trump, argues that this has led him to conclude that American evangelical Christianity is now in crisis. Moore, who has been an outspoken critic of many evangelicals' embrace of Trump, argues that this has led him to conclude that American evangelical Christianity is now in crisis. |
March 22, 2024: Russell Moore wrote: As Ruth Graham (New York Times Religion Reporter) says, a raunchy “boobs-and-booze ethos has elbowed its way into the conservative power class, accelerated by the rise of Donald J. Trump, the declining influence of traditional religious institutions and a shifting media landscape increasingly dominated by the looser standards of online culture.” (This article you are reading right now represents something of this shift, as I spent upward of 15 minutes pondering how to quote Graham’s article without using the word boobs.) Graham’s analysis is important for American Christians precisely because the shift she describes is not something “out there” in the culture but is instead driven specifically by the very same white evangelical subculture that once insisted that personal character--virtue, to use a now distant-sounding word the American founders knew well—matters. Yes, part of the vulgarization of the Right is due to the Barstool Sports / Joe Rogan secularization of the base, in which Kid Rock is an avatar more than Lee Greenwood or Michael W. Smith. But much more alarmingly, the coarsening and character-debasing is happening among politicized professing Christians. The member of Congress joking at a prayer breakfast about turning her fiancé down for sex to get there was there to talk about her faith and the importance of religious faith and values for America. The member of Congress telling a reporter to “f— off” is a self-described “Christian nationalist.” We’ve seen “Let’s Go Brandon”—a euphemism for a profanity that once would have resulted in church discipline—chanted in churches.
March 2024: Moore wrote: Many of us who have felt politically homeless thought our displacement would be temporary. Some Republicans expected things would return to normal after Donald Trump left the White House. Some Democrats thought once the “Defund the Police” moment was over, life would resettle into a more familiar pattern too. But both parties have yet to regain their equilibrium, nor are they likely to anytime soon.
For Christians, though, political homelessness is always a unique opportunity to reassess our priorities. As much as we might think we’re in uncharted territory right now, we’re not. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus is confronted with external pressure to join a warring faction. In fact, most controversial questions posed to him were about just that. Would he side with the Pharisees in quiet revolt against a throne of David now occupied by Roman interlopers, or would he be sympathetic to the Zealots in their not-so-quiet rebellion against the empire? Would he be in league with the tax collectors collaborating with the Romans, or would he ally himself with the Sadducees in accommodating to Roman rule? November/October 2024: Moore wrote at Christianity Today: The uneasy conscience of Christian nationalism pretends that our problem is the opposite of what Jesus told us: that by calling ourselves an orchard we can bring fruit from diseased trees (Matt. 7:15–20), that by controlling what is on the outside of us we can renew what is inside (Matt. 12:33–37). This message is popular in all times; prosperity gospels and fertility religions always are. An extrinsic religion enables people to claim Christianity without following Christ and enables powerless, prayerless, porn-addicted culture warriors to convince themselves that they are goose-stepping to heaven. By assuaging our guilt with our political choices, we can convince ourselves that what we find in our new Bethel is Jacob’s ladder to heaven when it is really just Jeroboam’s calf of gold (1 Kings 12:25–31).  Zorek Richards
May 16, 2023: From the "At least one evangelical leader is noticing it" File: Almost every congregation that I know is either divided or tense about these sorts of political controversies coming out of the Trump years. Almost every family that I know has people who don't speak to each other anymore about this personality and this figure," Russell Moore, editor in chief of Christianity Today and ex-president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, told NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday. Moore was asked whether there was still a "divide" among evangelical congregations over the "morality" issues Trump was facing recently. "What's primarily shocking is the fact that here were are in a week where a former president of the United States is found liable for sexual abuse and sexual assault and defamation of a woman who survived such abuse and assault, and the country just yawns for the most part," he said. Asked if there was "any circumstance" he would support Trump in 2024, Moore said, "I'll let my never [be] never."
August 25, 2023: The Christianity Today editor and former Southern Baptist leader is gravely concerned about the soul of US evangelicalism. Losing Our Religion is a tale of disillusioned love. Russell Moore affectionately recalls his childhood growing up in a Southern Baptist church in Mississippi, giving his youthful heart to Jesus, and completing seminary and doctoral training in Southern Baptist seminaries. He was so deep into the subculture, he quips, he knew the code language by heart. “The Lord has called Brother Jones from the pastorate into itinerant evangelism” could mean only one thing: “moral failure.” Moore’s rise in the Southern Baptist ranks was so rapid it seemed almost predestined. In time he would teach systematic theology at his alma mater and function as dean and chief academic officer. In 2013, he became president of the denomination’s prestigious Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. He served as a frequent and winsome guest on network television newscasts. (I should know; CBS News once bumped me for him.)
April 28, 2014
May 18, 2014: Owen Strachan wrote: Is Rachel Held Evans’s Use of “God Herself” Biblically Faithful? Grounding her attacks in an oft-cited instinct for justice, Evans has—by my count—mocked and opposed the following in just the last few years: The Council on Biblical Manhood & Womanhood, The Gospel Coalition, Together for the Gospel, The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, Southern Seminary, Desiring God Ministries, Al Mohler, John Piper, Russell Moore, Tim Challies, Mark Driscoll, myself, Denny Burk, Andrew Walker, Doug Wilson, Jared Wilson, and the list goes on. |
Russell Moore
“The Bible Belt is collapsing. The world of nominal, cultural Christianity that took the American dream and added Jesus to it in order to say, 'you can have everything you ever wanted and Heaven too,' is soon to be gone. Good riddance.”
― Russell D. Moore
Bob Smietana
Russell Moore has a bit of advice for his fellow American Christians in his new book, “Losing Our Religion.” Don’t lie.
A simple principle, based on the Ninth Commandment’s ban on bearing false witness, and one many Christian leaders are tempted to break by repeating claims that are popular but untrue, argues Moore.“I’m not really talking to the people who are intending to deceive and destroy — yes, I would hope they stop lying too,” said Moore in a recent interview about the new book. “I’m talking more about the disconnect between what people really believe and what the expectations of the tribe demand. And that is what I see to be so dangerous and exhausting to people.”
Following Moore’s advice could come with consequences. The former Southern Baptist ethicist was a rising star in 2013, when he was elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission after the group’s former leader left amid scandal. Moore was known for his love of 1970s outlaw country stars Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson, his advocacy for immigration reform and his skepticism about the close ties between the Republican party and evangelicals.
Things went well until the rise of Donald Trump, which turned evangelical leaders into would-be contestants on a real-life version of “The Apprentice” — Trump’s reality television series— “all clamoring to make the cut on the next episode and fearful of hearing the words you’re fired,” he writes in “Losing Our Religion,” out Tuesday (July 25) from Sentinel, an imprint of Penguin Random House.
Moore’s criticism of Trump as a candidate and as president, along with his advocacy for survivors of abuse in the SBC, made him enemies and eventually cost him his job. In 2021, he resigned from the ERLC to take a new role at Christianity Today, where he is now the editor-in-chief.
--Bob Smietana; Religion News Service: In new book, Russell Moore urges evangelicals to stop lying and come back to Jesus; 7.25.23
A simple principle, based on the Ninth Commandment’s ban on bearing false witness, and one many Christian leaders are tempted to break by repeating claims that are popular but untrue, argues Moore.“I’m not really talking to the people who are intending to deceive and destroy — yes, I would hope they stop lying too,” said Moore in a recent interview about the new book. “I’m talking more about the disconnect between what people really believe and what the expectations of the tribe demand. And that is what I see to be so dangerous and exhausting to people.”
Following Moore’s advice could come with consequences. The former Southern Baptist ethicist was a rising star in 2013, when he was elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission after the group’s former leader left amid scandal. Moore was known for his love of 1970s outlaw country stars Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson, his advocacy for immigration reform and his skepticism about the close ties between the Republican party and evangelicals.
Things went well until the rise of Donald Trump, which turned evangelical leaders into would-be contestants on a real-life version of “The Apprentice” — Trump’s reality television series— “all clamoring to make the cut on the next episode and fearful of hearing the words you’re fired,” he writes in “Losing Our Religion,” out Tuesday (July 25) from Sentinel, an imprint of Penguin Random House.
Moore’s criticism of Trump as a candidate and as president, along with his advocacy for survivors of abuse in the SBC, made him enemies and eventually cost him his job. In 2021, he resigned from the ERLC to take a new role at Christianity Today, where he is now the editor-in-chief.
--Bob Smietana; Religion News Service: In new book, Russell Moore urges evangelicals to stop lying and come back to Jesus; 7.25.23
July 25, 2023: Religion News: In new book, Russell Moore urges evangelicals to stop lying and come back to Jesus
Russell Moore has a bit of advice for his fellow American Christians in his new book, “Losing Our Religion.”
Don’t lie.
A simple principle, based on the Ninth Commandment’s ban on bearing false witness, and one many Christian leaders are tempted to break by repeating claims that are popular but untrue, argues Moore.
Russell Moore has a bit of advice for his fellow American Christians in his new book, “Losing Our Religion.”
Don’t lie.
A simple principle, based on the Ninth Commandment’s ban on bearing false witness, and one many Christian leaders are tempted to break by repeating claims that are popular but untrue, argues Moore.
In this era, Jesus calls his followers not to defeat enemies of flesh and blood but to fight “the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Eph. 6:12). And how do we do that? With the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony.
Gospel witness, which is a call to peace with God, and moral witness, which is a demonstration of a regenerated life and a faithful church, are where the greatest power lies.
The Land of Promise is not the United States of America but the “rest” that comes through Jesus (Heb. 4), whose name can be translated as “Joshua” in English. And just as Joshua spied out the Promised Land ahead of time, we’ve heard from a Pioneer behind the veil of eternity (Heb. 6:19–20)—the One who once was dead and is now alive.
True power is not placing interns on Capitol Hill or filling clerkships at the Supreme Court—especially not if what’s behind these efforts is a dead “Christianity” that trades the power of the gospel for the gospel of power.
A Jesus Generation—one that not only uses his name but also lives out his nature—is where the real power lies. --Russell Moore; We Believe in the Power of the Gospel, Not the Gospel of Power 6.7.23
Gospel witness, which is a call to peace with God, and moral witness, which is a demonstration of a regenerated life and a faithful church, are where the greatest power lies.
The Land of Promise is not the United States of America but the “rest” that comes through Jesus (Heb. 4), whose name can be translated as “Joshua” in English. And just as Joshua spied out the Promised Land ahead of time, we’ve heard from a Pioneer behind the veil of eternity (Heb. 6:19–20)—the One who once was dead and is now alive.
True power is not placing interns on Capitol Hill or filling clerkships at the Supreme Court—especially not if what’s behind these efforts is a dead “Christianity” that trades the power of the gospel for the gospel of power.
A Jesus Generation—one that not only uses his name but also lives out his nature—is where the real power lies. --Russell Moore; We Believe in the Power of the Gospel, Not the Gospel of Power 6.7.23
July 19, 2023:
One of former President Donald Trump’s most staunch evangelical critics said he expects Trump to be the Republican nominee in 2024, and that the years since Trump’s election in 2016 have been an “apocalypse.”“The argument we had in 2016… was always, ‘Well, this is a binary choice. We’re choosing between Trump and Hillary Clinton, so we’re just doing our best,” Russell Moore, editor-in-chief of Christianity Today magazine, said in an interview with Yahoo News. “Well, we’re in a place right now where there’s no binary choice. There is a wide open choice, and still you have a majority in the Republican primaries behind Trump,” said Moore. “I’d be shocked if he wasn’t the Republican nominee.”
Once the field has been sifted from nearly a dozen Republican candidates to one candidate during the primary process, and a Republican is running against incumbent President Biden, “that means anything can happen.”
One of former President Donald Trump’s most staunch evangelical critics said he expects Trump to be the Republican nominee in 2024, and that the years since Trump’s election in 2016 have been an “apocalypse.”“The argument we had in 2016… was always, ‘Well, this is a binary choice. We’re choosing between Trump and Hillary Clinton, so we’re just doing our best,” Russell Moore, editor-in-chief of Christianity Today magazine, said in an interview with Yahoo News. “Well, we’re in a place right now where there’s no binary choice. There is a wide open choice, and still you have a majority in the Republican primaries behind Trump,” said Moore. “I’d be shocked if he wasn’t the Republican nominee.”
Once the field has been sifted from nearly a dozen Republican candidates to one candidate during the primary process, and a Republican is running against incumbent President Biden, “that means anything can happen.”
“there is much more at stake” in the 2024 election than in 2016, as “the future of democracy” is at stake amid “the rise of authoritarian nationalist movements around the world” |
Moore, 51, also said “there is much more at stake” in the 2024 election than in 2016, as “the future of democracy” is at stake amid “the rise of authoritarian nationalist movements around the world”.
Moore was not unique when he first criticized Trump in the summer of 2015. So did most evangelical leaders. But while most others in the evangelical and Republican establishment adapted to Trump’s rise, Moore did not. He continued to reject Trump’s personal character and his contempt for the constitutional order, becoming a target of intense backlash from Trump and other figures in the evangelical world. |
Russell Moore
I am convinced that it’s not just an American Dream that has been consuming our lives. There’s actually an American gospel that’s hijacked our hearts.”
--Russell Moore; “Losing Our Religion: An Altar Call for Evangelical America
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Apr 19, 2023: Christianity Today: David Platt Wasn’t Radical Enough
I am convinced that it’s not just an American Dream that has been consuming our lives. There’s actually an American gospel that’s hijacked our hearts.” So says David Platt, pastor and author of three New York Times bestsellers, on today’s episode of The Russell Moore Show. Referencing his 2010 book Radical, Platt now believes that the core issues in American Christianity run even deeper than he thought they did. His new book, Don’t Hold Back, speaks to those issues Apr 17, 2023: Christian Post: Al Mohler family request prayers after blood clots found in lungs
Russell D. Moore, dean of the school of theology at SBTS, posted a statement on Mohler’s website later that night saying that while the situation was still “very serious,” Mohler was “recuperating well,” according to Baptist Press. “The president is talking and in good spirits,” Moore wrote. “Despite his incredible pain and having just lived through the scare of his life, he was actually able to discuss a book I brought to him the other day about, of all things, the life of Wendell Willkie.” |
March 24, 2014
October 18, 2014
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April 13, 2023: Russell Moore: Christianity Today: The Evangelical Temptation to Prove Ourselves
For a long time, I have feared that my fellow American evangelical Christians were yielding to the third temptation of Christ: to sacrifice integrity for the conquest of power. Yet over the past year, I’ve started wondering whether we’re falling for an entirely different temptation—the one we least understand and were least taught to withstand. |
Another of the temptations was that the Devil would give Jesus “all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor” (Matt. 4:8) if he would just become a momentary Satanist. (Spoiler alert: Jesus passed up this offer.) Again, most of us can understand this one because almost everyone is tempted at some point to trade principles for power. For a few, that power is a position in the White House, but for many of us, it is the ability to get the last word at the family dining room tables in our homes or to get the best seats at the conference tables at our jobs. That temptation is still at work and transcends almost every tribal boundary. Forms of Christianized Marxism often yield to this temptation by replacing a gospel of repentance and faith with merely subduing oppressive social structures. Christian nationalism does the same thing—replacing a faith of new birth with blood-and-soil cultural Christianity. 4.15.23 |
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March 8, 2023: Baptist News Global: Tucker Carlson takes on Russell Moore, Beth Moore, Tim Keller and David French
It’s not just “liberals” who draw Tucker Carlson’s scorn these days. Even some stalwarts of evangelical conservativism are too “woke” to please the acerbic Fox News personality. |
Russell Moore responded to Carlson with a tweet simply quoting 1 Peter 2:1-3 — “So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation — if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.” |
Dec 15, 2022: Capstone Report: Are things about to get bad for CT editor Russell Moore?
Back when Russell Moore was President of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), Dr. Moore decided to help his buddy Kevin Ezell by filing an amicus brief in the case of McRaney V. NAMB. The ERLC’s amicus brief was false. The ERLC was forced to apologize for it. The ERLC even notified the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals about it. And that issue is not dead. McRaney’s superb attorney Scott Gant of Boise, Schiller, Flexner included it in McRaney’s amended complaint.
Back when Russell Moore was President of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), Dr. Moore decided to help his buddy Kevin Ezell by filing an amicus brief in the case of McRaney V. NAMB. The ERLC’s amicus brief was false. The ERLC was forced to apologize for it. The ERLC even notified the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals about it. And that issue is not dead. McRaney’s superb attorney Scott Gant of Boise, Schiller, Flexner included it in McRaney’s amended complaint.
Christianity Today: Russell Moore: Christian Nationalism Cannot Save the World
The ongoing near merger of the Russian Orthodox Church with Vladimir Putin’s authoritarian government made headlines when the church’s patriarch declared that dying in Ukraine as part of Putin’s invading army “washes away all sins.” At the same time, yet another populist leader employing Christian nationalist rhetoric won an electoral victory in Italy.
With these in mind, perhaps the world’s evangelical Christians should remind ourselves that Christian nationalism can’t—and won’t—save the world.
9.29.22
The ongoing near merger of the Russian Orthodox Church with Vladimir Putin’s authoritarian government made headlines when the church’s patriarch declared that dying in Ukraine as part of Putin’s invading army “washes away all sins.” At the same time, yet another populist leader employing Christian nationalist rhetoric won an electoral victory in Italy.
With these in mind, perhaps the world’s evangelical Christians should remind ourselves that Christian nationalism can’t—and won’t—save the world.
9.29.22
Christianity Today: Sam Allberry on the Queen’s Death and the Church’s Future
“We’re learning what she meant to us by having to cope with her absence.”
So says Sam Allberry, British author, speaker, pastor, and apologist as he reflects on the death of Queen Elizabeth II during this week’s episode of The Russell Moore Show. Allberry and Moore talk about the role the queen filled in the British and global imaginations, what it means for the Elizabethan age to end, and the type of leadership the queen embodied. 9.21.22
“We’re learning what she meant to us by having to cope with her absence.”
So says Sam Allberry, British author, speaker, pastor, and apologist as he reflects on the death of Queen Elizabeth II during this week’s episode of The Russell Moore Show. Allberry and Moore talk about the role the queen filled in the British and global imaginations, what it means for the Elizabethan age to end, and the type of leadership the queen embodied. 9.21.22
May 23, 2022: Christian Headlines: Russell Moore Calls Actions of SBC Leaders ‘Blasphemy’ following Release of Sex Abuse Report
On Sunday, the SBC publicly released a 288-page report from independent domestic and internal investigation firm Guidepost Solutions outlining the denomination’s failure to handle allegations of sexual abuse appropriately.
Moore, who resigned from his position with the ERLC last year, in part because of his concerns about the denomination’s treatment of sex abuse allegations, asserted that the word “crisis” was not severe enough to describe the denomination’s failure to address issues of abuse.
“They were right. I was wrong to call sexual abuse in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) a crisis. Crisis is too small a word,” Moore wrote. “It is an apocalypse,” he asserted.
On Sunday, the SBC publicly released a 288-page report from independent domestic and internal investigation firm Guidepost Solutions outlining the denomination’s failure to handle allegations of sexual abuse appropriately.
Moore, who resigned from his position with the ERLC last year, in part because of his concerns about the denomination’s treatment of sex abuse allegations, asserted that the word “crisis” was not severe enough to describe the denomination’s failure to address issues of abuse.
“They were right. I was wrong to call sexual abuse in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) a crisis. Crisis is too small a word,” Moore wrote. “It is an apocalypse,” he asserted.
Jan 20, 2022: Russell Moore: Christianity Today: What Liz Cheney Can Teach American Evangelicals
Some people in her own party want Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) to lose her membership on committees and even her place within her party’s conference in the United States House of Representatives, all because she won’t “move on” from her beliefs that the attempts to overturn the last election—leading up to last January’s attack on the Capitol—are a clear and present danger to democracy.
Some people in her own party want Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) to lose her membership on committees and even her place within her party’s conference in the United States House of Representatives, all because she won’t “move on” from her beliefs that the attempts to overturn the last election—leading up to last January’s attack on the Capitol—are a clear and present danger to democracy.
Dec 14, 2021: Biblical Recorder: Stone withdraws lawsuit against Moore
Attorneys for Georgia pastor Mike Stone filed and were granted a notice to withdraw their case against former Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) President Russell Moore in a Tennessee court Dec. 10.
Sept 2, 2021: Capstone Report: The John MacArthur religious liberty fight Russell Moore & ERLC ignored
Speaking of Russell Moore, where was the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission during this fight?
Sept 11, 2020: Christian Headlines: California Judge Bans John MacArthur, Church from Worshiping Indoors
A California judge on Thursday issued an injunction prohibiting John MacArthur and Grace Community Church from meeting indoors for worship services during the pandemic, thus handing Los Angeles County the ruling it has sought for several weeks.
Aug 28, 2021: Christian Post: NRB fires spokesman Dan Darling for violating vaccine-neutral policy: 'Sad and disappointed'
On Twitter, Russell Moore, former president of the ERLC, called Darling’s firing “inexcusable” and “insanity.” Phillip Bethancourt, pastor of Central Church in College Station, Texas, called his firing “disappointing” and described Darling as one of the “most high character leaders I know.”
Aug 8, 2021: Christian Post: California recall: Calling the Christian Left's bluff on racial equity
Or how about other progressive Christian figures, like Russell Moore, Ed Stetzer, Pastor David Platt, Beth Moore or author Gregory Thompson, who have all advocated for greater levels of diversity.
June 10, 2021: Religious Dispatches: LESS FOR MOORE? IF RUSSELL MOORE LEFT THE SBC DUE TO CONSCIENCE AND CONVICTIONS HIS NEXT MOVE IS A CURIOUS ONE
On that note, Immanuel Church has exhibited, including in the very recent past, an uncomfortable friendliness with C.J. Mahaney, the founder of Sovereign Grace Ministries.
July 24, 2020: Baptist News: Union University's action to rescind grad student's admission draws criticism, support
Southern Baptist religious freedom leader Russell Moore said Union, "as an evangelical Christian institution of higher learning, holds to the same convictions about marriage and sexuality held by Christians of virtually every wing for more than 2,000 years, rooted as these convictions are in Scripture and in the mystery of Christ revealed in the Gospel."
"As such, Union, as any private religious institution, has the right to determine the boundaries of moral expectations of those who are part of its community," said Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, in written comments for Baptist Press. "This is a principle repeatedly affirmed and reaffirmed by the Constitution and the Supreme Court of our country.
Attorneys for Georgia pastor Mike Stone filed and were granted a notice to withdraw their case against former Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) President Russell Moore in a Tennessee court Dec. 10.
Sept 2, 2021: Capstone Report: The John MacArthur religious liberty fight Russell Moore & ERLC ignored
Speaking of Russell Moore, where was the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission during this fight?
Sept 11, 2020: Christian Headlines: California Judge Bans John MacArthur, Church from Worshiping Indoors
A California judge on Thursday issued an injunction prohibiting John MacArthur and Grace Community Church from meeting indoors for worship services during the pandemic, thus handing Los Angeles County the ruling it has sought for several weeks.
Aug 28, 2021: Christian Post: NRB fires spokesman Dan Darling for violating vaccine-neutral policy: 'Sad and disappointed'
On Twitter, Russell Moore, former president of the ERLC, called Darling’s firing “inexcusable” and “insanity.” Phillip Bethancourt, pastor of Central Church in College Station, Texas, called his firing “disappointing” and described Darling as one of the “most high character leaders I know.”
Aug 8, 2021: Christian Post: California recall: Calling the Christian Left's bluff on racial equity
Or how about other progressive Christian figures, like Russell Moore, Ed Stetzer, Pastor David Platt, Beth Moore or author Gregory Thompson, who have all advocated for greater levels of diversity.
June 10, 2021: Religious Dispatches: LESS FOR MOORE? IF RUSSELL MOORE LEFT THE SBC DUE TO CONSCIENCE AND CONVICTIONS HIS NEXT MOVE IS A CURIOUS ONE
On that note, Immanuel Church has exhibited, including in the very recent past, an uncomfortable friendliness with C.J. Mahaney, the founder of Sovereign Grace Ministries.
July 24, 2020: Baptist News: Union University's action to rescind grad student's admission draws criticism, support
Southern Baptist religious freedom leader Russell Moore said Union, "as an evangelical Christian institution of higher learning, holds to the same convictions about marriage and sexuality held by Christians of virtually every wing for more than 2,000 years, rooted as these convictions are in Scripture and in the mystery of Christ revealed in the Gospel."
"As such, Union, as any private religious institution, has the right to determine the boundaries of moral expectations of those who are part of its community," said Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, in written comments for Baptist Press. "This is a principle repeatedly affirmed and reaffirmed by the Constitution and the Supreme Court of our country.
Mar 20, 2020 Russell Moore: The current situation facing us is not a case of the state overstepping its bounds, but rather seeking to carry out its legitimate God-given authority. Nowhere, at this point, have we seen churches targeted because of their beliefs or mission. At issue is a clear public objective—stopping the transmission of a dangerous virus by gatherings. This applies to the local plate jugglers association just as much to churches. Because the state must respect the consciences and souls of the people, consciences and souls over which it has no ultimate authority, any action involved religious bodies should have, in the words of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, a “compelling state interest” and must pursue the “least restrictive means” of achieving it. In my view, both of these tests have been met, in every case I have seen. Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission: Does it violate religious liberty to close churches over coronavirus?
Aug 26, 2019: Tennessean: Russell Moore: Southern Baptist churches must prevent sexual abuse, care for victims
A top Southern Baptist leader said this week the question is not whether Jesus Christ cares for sexual abuse victims and stands against predators.
The question is whether those who worship him will, said Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.
Dec 18, 2018: Christian Post: Are Christians who commit suicide condemned to Hell?
Responding to the question of whether or not Christians who commit suicide go to Heaven, ethicist Russell Moore said that because the blood of Christ covers sins past, present and future, the “last thing we do” does not determine where we will spend eternity.
Dec 19, 2016: Baptist Press: Moore clarifies comments on Trump supporters
Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission President Russell Moore has clarified that he never intended to criticize all evangelical supporters of President-elect Donald Trump, noting many were motivated by "biblical convictions" and "voted their conscience."
Aug 26, 2019: Tennessean: Russell Moore: Southern Baptist churches must prevent sexual abuse, care for victims
A top Southern Baptist leader said this week the question is not whether Jesus Christ cares for sexual abuse victims and stands against predators.
The question is whether those who worship him will, said Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.
Dec 18, 2018: Christian Post: Are Christians who commit suicide condemned to Hell?
Responding to the question of whether or not Christians who commit suicide go to Heaven, ethicist Russell Moore said that because the blood of Christ covers sins past, present and future, the “last thing we do” does not determine where we will spend eternity.
Dec 19, 2016: Baptist Press: Moore clarifies comments on Trump supporters
Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission President Russell Moore has clarified that he never intended to criticize all evangelical supporters of President-elect Donald Trump, noting many were motivated by "biblical convictions" and "voted their conscience."
“Why is it the case that we have, in church after church after church, young evangelical Christians who are having a crisis of faith? It is because they are wondering if we really believe what we preach and teach and sing all the time?” --Russell Moore 2018
Russell Moore on not voting for Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton in 2016:
"Yes, I will be writing in a candidate this year and the reason for that is simple. The life issue can not flourish in a culture of misogyny and sexual degradation. The life issue can not flourish when you have people calling for the torture and murder of innocent non-combatants. The life issue can not flourish when you have people who have given up on the idea that character matters. If you lose an election you can live to fight another day and move on, but if you lose an election while giving up your very soul then you have really lost it all, and so I think the stakes are really high.
And I think the issue, particularly, when you have people who have said, and we have said, and I have said for twenty years the life issue matters, and the life issue is important… When you have someone who is standing up race baiting, racist speech, using immigrants and others in our communities in the most horrific ways and we say ‘that doesn’t matter’ and we are part of the global body of Christ simply for the sake of American politics, and we expect that we are going to be able to reach the nations for Christ? I don’t think so, and so I think we need to let our yes be yes and our no be no and our never be never."
"Yes, I will be writing in a candidate this year and the reason for that is simple. The life issue can not flourish in a culture of misogyny and sexual degradation. The life issue can not flourish when you have people calling for the torture and murder of innocent non-combatants. The life issue can not flourish when you have people who have given up on the idea that character matters. If you lose an election you can live to fight another day and move on, but if you lose an election while giving up your very soul then you have really lost it all, and so I think the stakes are really high.
And I think the issue, particularly, when you have people who have said, and we have said, and I have said for twenty years the life issue matters, and the life issue is important… When you have someone who is standing up race baiting, racist speech, using immigrants and others in our communities in the most horrific ways and we say ‘that doesn’t matter’ and we are part of the global body of Christ simply for the sake of American politics, and we expect that we are going to be able to reach the nations for Christ? I don’t think so, and so I think we need to let our yes be yes and our no be no and our never be never."
Dec 7, 2015: Russell Moore: BCNN: Russell Moore: Christians Must Speak Out Against Donald Trump’s anti-Muslim Comments; Says ‘Religious Freedom is a Natural Right Bestowed by God, Not Government’
June 21, 2015: Christian Post: Charleston Shooting: Take Down Confederate Flag, Russell Moore Says; Lindsey Graham, Others Disagree
The fatal shooting of nine unarmed African Americans in a South Carolina church by a white assailant has reignited the debate whether the Confederate Battle flag is a symbol of Southern heritage or a relic of white supremacy. Southern Baptist leader Russell Moore is calling for the Confederate flag to be taken down, but South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham is defending it.
July 17, 2015: Baptist News Global: Moore hopes Planned Parenthood controversy will galvanize pro-life evangelicals
Russell Moore, president of the SBC Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, said in a July 16 podcast interview with the Oklahoma Baptist Messenger that he is hoping “for massive turnout of born-again Christians” at a pro-life event his agency is co-sponsoring with Focus on the Family in January.
The fatal shooting of nine unarmed African Americans in a South Carolina church by a white assailant has reignited the debate whether the Confederate Battle flag is a symbol of Southern heritage or a relic of white supremacy. Southern Baptist leader Russell Moore is calling for the Confederate flag to be taken down, but South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham is defending it.
July 17, 2015: Baptist News Global: Moore hopes Planned Parenthood controversy will galvanize pro-life evangelicals
Russell Moore, president of the SBC Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, said in a July 16 podcast interview with the Oklahoma Baptist Messenger that he is hoping “for massive turnout of born-again Christians” at a pro-life event his agency is co-sponsoring with Focus on the Family in January.
Apr 21, 2015: Russell Moore: Moore To the Point: Should Christians Care about Earth Day?
Apr 8, 2015: BCNN: Russell Moore Issues a Call to Prayer for Marriage and the Supreme Court
Apr 8, 2015: BCNN: Russell Moore Issues a Call to Prayer for Marriage and the Supreme Court
June 20, 2015: Huffington Post: Russell Moore Still Thinks The Religious Right Will Win The Fight Over Gay Marriage
Russell Moore still thinks the religious right will win the battle against same-sex marriage. Oh, not at the Supreme Court later this month -- like nearly everyone else, Moore is almost positive the right will lose there. But the long game... that, he says, could be a different story.
Russell Moore still thinks the religious right will win the battle against same-sex marriage. Oh, not at the Supreme Court later this month -- like nearly everyone else, Moore is almost positive the right will lose there. But the long game... that, he says, could be a different story.
Apr 7, 2015: BCNN: The Atlantic Asks: Can Southern Baptists Who are Dedicated to Personal Responsibility Formulate a Collective Response to the Sin of Racism?
“Racial reconciliation is not something that white people do for other people,” proclaimed Russell Moore in March. Moore, a white man from Mississippi, was opening a meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention in Nashville, Tennessee, with an eminently tweetable, infinitely complicated call to end racial division within the church.
“Racial reconciliation is not something that white people do for other people,” proclaimed Russell Moore in March. Moore, a white man from Mississippi, was opening a meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention in Nashville, Tennessee, with an eminently tweetable, infinitely complicated call to end racial division within the church.
Apr 6, 2015: Baptist Press: Ind., Ark. diverge on religious liberty
Russell Moore, Southern Baptists' lead church-state specialist, applauded Hutchinson and Arkansas lawmakers for establishing "a model of strong protection of soul freedom for all citizens." "I wish Gov. Pence had shown the same leadership," he said.
Russell Moore, Southern Baptists' lead church-state specialist, applauded Hutchinson and Arkansas lawmakers for establishing "a model of strong protection of soul freedom for all citizens." "I wish Gov. Pence had shown the same leadership," he said.
Mar 27, 2015: Baptist Press: ERLC summit: Reconciliation is Gospel imperative
Speaking on the second anniversary of his election as ERLC president, Moore said Christians must realize racial reconciliation is about the Gospel. "The reason that we are here today is that these are not simply cultural issues, although they are. These are not simply political issues, although they are. These are not simply social issues, although they are. Above everything else, these are Gospel issues," Moore said
Mar 15, 2015: Baptist Press: Supreme Court: lower court's mandate decision lacking
"The Supreme Court took a big step in the direction of liberty and justice," said Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC). "I pray that the present administration will stop its reckless disregard of soul freedom and liberty of conscience."
Speaking on the second anniversary of his election as ERLC president, Moore said Christians must realize racial reconciliation is about the Gospel. "The reason that we are here today is that these are not simply cultural issues, although they are. These are not simply political issues, although they are. These are not simply social issues, although they are. Above everything else, these are Gospel issues," Moore said
Mar 15, 2015: Baptist Press: Supreme Court: lower court's mandate decision lacking
"The Supreme Court took a big step in the direction of liberty and justice," said Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC). "I pray that the present administration will stop its reckless disregard of soul freedom and liberty of conscience."
Feb 6, 2015: Baptist Press: Obama draws pushback on ISIS, Crusades, slavery
Russell Moore, president of the SBC Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, said, "President Obama is right that many wicked things were done in the name of Christ. This is an unfair and unfortunate moral comparison, though, in light of the threat of ISIS. "All of the sinful acts he mentioned were countered by those who did so also in the name of Christ. The dissenters from these non-Christian deeds prevailed, precisely because a Christian moral ethic was on their side," Moore said in a statement to Baptist Press.
Russell Moore, president of the SBC Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, said, "President Obama is right that many wicked things were done in the name of Christ. This is an unfair and unfortunate moral comparison, though, in light of the threat of ISIS. "All of the sinful acts he mentioned were countered by those who did so also in the name of Christ. The dissenters from these non-Christian deeds prevailed, precisely because a Christian moral ethic was on their side," Moore said in a statement to Baptist Press.
Sept 19, 2014: Baptist Press: TRUSTEES: Moore notes ERLC's Gospel focus
The mission of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission in the last year has been to help churches be Gospel-focused, Russell D. Moore told trustees during their Sept. 16-17 annual meeting in Nashville.
Sept 18, 2014: Baptist Press: Moore to Reid: Vote on relig. freedom post
Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, urged Majority Leader Harry Reid Thursday (Sept. 18) to permit a Senate vote on the nomination of David Saperstein to the post, which has been vacant since October 2013. Saperstein is director and counsel of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.
The mission of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission in the last year has been to help churches be Gospel-focused, Russell D. Moore told trustees during their Sept. 16-17 annual meeting in Nashville.
Sept 18, 2014: Baptist Press: Moore to Reid: Vote on relig. freedom post
Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, urged Majority Leader Harry Reid Thursday (Sept. 18) to permit a Senate vote on the nomination of David Saperstein to the post, which has been vacant since October 2013. Saperstein is director and counsel of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.
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Russell Moore
"If all you and I are doing is standing and speaking a word, including a truthful word, about sexual immorality and sexual impurity, the world doesn't need us for that. The devil is able to do that on his own. We have not been called simply to condemn. We have been called to reconcile." --Russell Moore 4.17.23