In an evangelical movement overwhelmingly committed to Donald Trump, Christianity Today magazine editor Russell Moore — who for eight years led the ethics and public policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention — has been cast in the uneasy role of dissenter.
Speaking from Nashville by phone Tuesday, hours before the former president was indicted on felony charges for allegedly working to subvert the results of the 2020 election, Moore discussed his new book “Losing Our Religion: An Altar Call for Evangelical America.” In it, he counsels conservative Christians who, like him, find that their broader religious community has become unmoored, consumed by culture war, conspiracy theory and cynicism.
This conversation has been edited for concision and clarity.
Q: What was the original impulse behind the book, and how did that change as you wrote it?