Believe Me: The Evangelical Road to Donald Trump

by John Fea

Overview

A historian’s discerning, critical take on current American politics

“Believe me” may be the most commonly used phrase in Donald Trump’s lexicon. Whether about building a wall or protecting a Christian heritage, the refrain has been constant. And to the surprise of many, a good 80 percent of white evangelicals have believed Trump—at least enough to help propel him into the White House. 

Historian John Fea is not surprised, however—and in these pages he explains how we have arrived at this unprecedented moment in American politics. An evangelical Christian himself, Fea argues that the embrace of Donald Trump is the logical outcome of a long-standing evangelical approach to public life defined by the politics of fear, the pursuit of worldly power, and a nostalgic longing for an American past. 

As insightful as it is timely, Fea’s Believe Me challenges Christians to replace fear with hope, the pursuit of power with humility, and nostalgia with history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780802877420
Publisher:	Eerdmans, William B. Publishing Company
Publication date:	01/07/2020
Pages:	248
Sales rank:	476,146
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

John Fea is professor of American history at Messiah College in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. His previous books include Was America Founded as a Christian Nation? A Historical Introduction, and he blogs regularly at The Way of Improvement Leads Home.
 

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction 1

1 The Evangelical Politics of Fear 13

2 The Playbook 43

3 A Short History of Evangelical Fear 75

4 The Court Evangelicals 115

5 Make America Great Again 153

Conclusion 179

Postscript to the Paperback Edition 193

Notes 199

Index 227

Editorial Reviews

★ 04/23/2018
Fea (Was America Founded as a Christian Nation?), professor of American history at Messiah College in Mechanicsburg, Pa., unpacks the historical roots of Trump’s support among evangelical Christians in this clear, concise, and convincing work. A self-identified evangelical who was appalled by the 2016 election, Fea attempts to explain the overwhelming evangelical support for a president who seems antithetical to traditional Christian values. Fea uses his training as a historian to trace a chronology of the evangelical attraction to political power and locates three historical appeals to evangelicals that Trump exploits: fear of perceived threats (both foreign and domestic), desired access to political power, and nostalgia for a perceived American golden age. Fea looks for connections between Trump’s nostalgic rhetoric and particular historical events such as the racist Andrew Jackson presidency and the “America First” movement that strove to keep the U.S. out of WWII. He also provides a frightening portrait of outspoken evangelical leaders with direct access to Trump (including Baptist writer Robert Jeffress and Christian Zionist Mike Evans), and offers an alternative way (relying on hope and humility) for evangelical leaders to think about their relation to power. Although Fea downplays the mythic side of Trump’s appeal, that does little to undermine this important title, which brings to the surface the recurring fear tactics that underpin American evangelical politics. (June)

Publishers Weekly

Mark Noll
— author of The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind
“John Fea’s timely and sobering book shows convincingly how legitimate concerns from white evangelical Protestants about a rapidly secularizing American culture metastasized into a fear-driven brew of half-truths, fanciful nostalgia, misplaced Christian nationalism, ethical hypocrisy, and political naiveté—precisely, that is, the mix that led so many white evangelicals not only to cast their votes for Donald Trump but also to regard him as a literal godsend.”

Jana Riess
— senior columnist for Religion News Service
“It would be enough for John Fea to marshal his considerable prowess as a historian in proving how evangelicals have been propelled by fear, nostalgia, and the pursuit of power, as he does so compellingly in this book. But he also speaks here as a theologian and an evangelical himself, eloquently pointing toward a better gospel way. This is a call to action for evangelicals to move beyond the politics of fear to become a ‘faithful presence’ in a changing world.”

Michael Wear
— author of Reclaiming Hope: Lessons Learned in the Obama White House about the Future of Faith in America
“In Believe Me John Fea takes evangelicalism seriously, treating it with the honest respect it deserves. He also manages to help us understand American politics in a much clearer way. I highly recommend this book to all who remain confounded by the state of faith and politics today.”

Richard Mouw
— author of Uncommon Decency: Christian Civility in an Uncivil World
“While the significant support for Donald Trump by white evangelicals has been the stuff of headlines, there has been little serious probing of the deeper factors at work. John Fea here gives us what we need, with his insightful tracing of the theological-spiritual road that has brought us to this point. A wise and important book!”

George Marsden
— author of Religion and American Culture: A Brief History and Jonathan Edwards: A Life
“For those who think the embrace of Trump by the ‘court evangelicals’ might be an example of yielding to the political temptation that Jesus resisted (Matt. 4:8–10), this is the book to read. Noted evangelical historian John Fea provides a thoughtful and engaging account and critique of how this unlikely alliance came to be.”

Publishers Weekly (STARRED review)
"Clear, concise, and convincing. . . . Fea uses his training as a historian to trace a chronology of the evangelical attraction to political power . . . and offers an alternative way (relying on hope and humility) for evangelical leaders to think about their relation to power."

Foreword Reviews
"Enlightening. . . . Meticulously researched and grounded in historical and theological contexts. . . . An important book for anyone, Christian or otherwise, who wishes to understand the 2016 election and who believes that we can do better."

Salon
“Extremely compelling.

From the Publisher

08/01/2018
Fea (history, Messiah Coll.; Was America Founded as a Christian Nation?) examines why white evangelicals gravitated toward President Donald Trump, who won 81 percent of their vote in the 2016 election. He concludes that they were acting out of fear, perceiving Trump as one who would act to maintain their privileged position despite his status as being well outside evangelical norms. Fea contends that this position is rooted in American exceptionalism, which stems from the Puritan ideal of America as the New Zion. The author investigates how a loose coalition of mainstream evangelicals, prosperity gospel preachers, and independent groups came together in supporting Trump after initially voicing moral qualms, then delving into what Trump might mean by "Make America Great Again," and how evangelicals have reinterpreted that slogan. VERDICT Fea is clearly dismayed with his fellow evangelicals, and his historical treatment lacks a certain amount of nuance yet provides a heartfelt and clear presentation worth considering.—James Wetherbee, Wingate Univ. Libs., NC

Library Journal