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Theme | July 2023

Civil Rights & Civil Wrongs

What the Church Needs To Know and (Un)Do

The term “Civil Rights” may evoke images of Martin Luther King Jr. preaching, lunch counter sit-ins, and protest marches. From the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955–56 to the Lincoln Memorial “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963, this era resulted in the landmark Civil Rights Act, passed on July 2, 1964. Signed into law by President Johnson (see this month’s cover), this Act of 1964 prohibited discrimination on the basis of “race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability or age.” Positively, this legislation reversed laws fashioned to discriminate against blacks; it also gave all Americans equal protections under the law. Yet, it did more. It effectively wrote a second constitution that gave the federal government power to coerce association with the force of law. Add in the various agencies and programs created by this Civil Rights Act, and two Americas have been fostered since the 1960s. For all the good the Civil Rights Movement did to rectify wrongs, it instituted others. And this month, we are going to consider these cross currents, and how the church committed to the cross of Christ can respond today with wisdom to the rights and the wrongs of the Civil Rights Movement.

Longform

Where is the Good News? An Honest Look at the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Community

By Virgil Walker • Longform Essay • July 3

While the Civil Rights Movement accomplished much good, it unwittingly hitched the Black community to destructive governmental institutions and policies. Just how did this happen?

Podcast

2.30 Virgil Walker • Reading • “Where is the Good News? An Honest Look at the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Community”

By Virgil Walker • Podcast Reading • July 3

While the Civil Rights Movement accomplished much good, it unwittingly hitched the Black community to destructive governmental institutions and policies. Just how did this happen?

Concise

What is the Fourth of July to Black America?

By Virgil Walker • Concise Article • July 4

Can Black Americans celebrate the 4th of July—even though slavery existed at the founding of the United States?

Longform

Introducing Dividing the Faithful by David Schrock

By David Schrock • Longform Essay • July 6

The book Divided by Faith took the evangelical world by storm within the past decade, and it left a movement fractured largely on the issues of race. This is the first book-length critical response that exposes the error that Divided by Faith advances.

Concise

On Civil Rights: What They Are and from Where They Come

By Toby Jennings • Concise Article • July 7

Civil rights did not arise sometime in the last two centuries. They are older than that—much older. Their origin lies all the way back in the garden with God's first image-bearers.

Concise

Why Write a Book-Length Critique of Divided by Faith Twenty-Three Years After It Was Published?

By Ardel Caneday • Concise Article • July 10

The book Divided by Faith was written in 2001, and it was one major contributing factor to the fracturing of the Young, Restless, and Reformed movement over the issue of race. Why write a book-length critique of Divided by Faith 23 years after the fact?

Podcast

2.31 Virgil Walker • Stephen Wellum • David Schrock • Interview • “Where is the Good News? An Honest Look at the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Community”

By Virgil Walker, Stephen Wellum, David Schrock • Podcast Interview • July 10

While the Civil Rights Movement accomplished much good, it unwittingly hitched the Black community to destructive governmental institutions and policies. Just how did this happen? Listen in as Virgil Walker, Stephen Wellum, and David Schrock explain some of these complex issues.

Concise

What is the Mission of the Church in a Racialized World?

By David Schrock • Concise Article • July 11

What does the Bible have to say about race and ethnicity? And how does this inform the Church's role in a world of racialization?

Concise

What’s the Truth About Martin Luther King, Jr.?

By Virgil Walker • Concise Article • July 12

What did Martin Luther King, Jr. believe about the Bible? And how did the Civil Rights Movement he led lay the groundwork for today's sexual revolution?

Concise

Excerpt from Fault Lines: The Social Justice Movement and Evangelicalism’s Looming Catastrophe by Voddie Baucham Jr.

By Voddie Baucham • Concise Article • July 14

What is racism? Though perhaps a simple question, confusion abounds. In this excerpt however, Voddie Baucham brings helpful clarity.

Longform

Thinking Biblically and Theologically about Justice

By Stephen Wellum • Longform Essay • July 17

Today's "social justice" masquerades as truth but is completely untethered from God and his self-revelation in Scripture. To rightly understand justice, we must ground our thinking firmly in the Word of God.

Podcast

2.32 Stephen Wellum • Reading • “Thinking Biblically and Theologically about Justice”

By Stephen Wellum • Podcast Reading • July 17

Concise

Is Systemic Racism a Thing of the Past?

By Kevin Briggins • Concise Article • July 19

Is systemic racism still an issue today? And are all inequalities a product of racism, or might there be other causes?

Concise

A Personal Testimony on (G)race

By Charles Ware • Concise Article • July 19

From the son of a migrant worker to the president of a Bible College: this is the story about one Christian's race, but more importantly it's a story about God's grace.

Concise

Wokeness and the Church

By Jonathan Tapp • Concise Article • July 21

A healthy church is a beautiful portrait of unity in diversity. However, this diversity is Holy Spirit-wrought, not a product of any worldly ideology.

Podcast

2.33 Stephen Wellum, David Schrock • Interview • “Thinking Biblically and Theologically Justice”

By Stephen Wellum, David Schrock • Podcast Interview • July 24

Concise

Civil Rights, Anti-Racism, and the Sin of Partiality

By Marla Helseth • Concise Article • July 24

Scripture is clear: racism is a sin. But is the answer to discrimination more discrimination? Certainly not.

Concise

Defining Racism Upward: Expanding Racism and Multiplying Racists

By Ardel Caneday • Concise Article • July 25

In the darkness of worldly ideas, many words have gone rancid. As salt and light in the world, Christians illuminate this deception and preserve truth.

Concise

The Black Church and the Insignificance of Ethnicity in Light of the Gospel of Christ

By Darrell B. Harrison • Concise Article • July 26

While promising freedom, black liberation theology is actually a graceless self-salvation which enslaves its adherents. Only the true gospel of Christ can free people of all ethnicities from the bondage of sin.

Concise

Shelby Steele and Avoiding Shame in the Age of White Guilt

By Tim Kirk • Concise Article • July 27

When loaded with guilt and longing for justification, what's the natural response? "I'm not like them!" But can this self-justification deliver?

Podcast

2.34 David Schrock, Trent Hunter, Ardel Caneday • Interview • “Dividing the Faithful: How a Little Book on Race Fractured a Movement Founded on Grace“

By David Schrock, Trent Hunter, Ardel Caneday • Podcast Interview • July 31

Listen in as Trent Hunter and Ardel Caneday join David Schrock to discuss his new book, Dividing the Faithful: How a Little Book on Race Fractured a Movement Founded on Grace.

Concise

One Constitution, or Two? Reviewing The Age of Entitlement by Christopher Caldwell

By Brad Green • Concise Article • July 31

The United States essentially has two “constitutions”—its “official” constitution of 1788 and its “functioning” constitution which has effectively been in place since the 1960s, and this can be seen in regard to race, sex, war, debt, and diversity.

Concise

July Intermission: From Cosplaying Civil Rights to Exploring the Creation of the World

By David Schrock • Concise Article • August 1

We transition from considering Civil Rights (and wrongs) to beholding the most foundational chapters in the Bible. Here we provide a recap of July 2023's articles and a preview of our theme for August 2023: In the Beginning: A Theological Exploration of Genesis 1-11.

Taboo: 10 Facts You Can’t Talk About

by Wilfred Reilly

Book

Black Rednecks and White Liberals

by Thomas Sowell

Book

My Grandfather’s Son: A Memoir

by Clarence Thomas

Book

Up From Slavery

by Booker T. Washington

Book

Red, White, and Black: Rescuing American History from Revisionists and Race Hustlers

by Robert L. Woodson Sr.

Book

Civil Rights: Rhetoric or Reality?

by Thomas Sowell

Podcast

The Great Society: A New History With Amity Shlaes

by Amity Shlaes

Book

Please Stop Helping Us: How Liberals Make It Harder for Blacks to Succeed

by Jason L. Riley

Book

White Guilt: How Blacks and White Together Destroyed the Promise of the Civil Rights Era

by Shelby Steele

Applying All the Scriptures to All of Life

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Editor-in-Chief: David Schrock • Theological Editors: Stephen Wellum, Ardel Caneday, Brad Green • Pastoral Editor: Trent Hunter • Managing Editor: Kevin McClure • Assistant Editor: Luke Uhl

Editorial Email: Christisoverall@gmail.com

Theme | July 2023

Civil Rights & Civil Wrongs

Table of Contents

Longform

Where is the Good News? An Honest Look at the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Community

By Virgil Walker • Longform Essay • July 3

Podcast

2.30 Virgil Walker • Reading • “Where is the Good News? An Honest Look at the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Community”

By Virgil Walker • Podcast Reading • July 3

Concise

What is the Fourth of July to Black America?

By Virgil Walker • Concise Article • July 4

Longform

Introducing Dividing the Faithful by David Schrock

By David Schrock • Longform Essay • July 6

Concise

On Civil Rights: What They Are and from Where They Come

By Toby Jennings • Concise Article • July 7

Concise

Why Write a Book-Length Critique of Divided by Faith Twenty-Three Years After It Was Published?

By Ardel Caneday • Concise Article • July 10

Podcast

2.31 Virgil Walker • Stephen Wellum • David Schrock • Interview • “Where is the Good News? An Honest Look at the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Community”

By Virgil Walker, Stephen Wellum, David Schrock • Podcast Interview • July 10

Concise

What is the Mission of the Church in a Racialized World?

By David Schrock • Concise Article • July 11

Concise

What’s the Truth About Martin Luther King, Jr.?

By Virgil Walker • Concise Article • July 12

Concise

Excerpt from Fault Lines: The Social Justice Movement and Evangelicalism’s Looming Catastrophe by Voddie Baucham Jr.

By Voddie Baucham • Concise Article • July 14

Longform

Thinking Biblically and Theologically about Justice

By Stephen Wellum • Longform Essay • July 17

Podcast

2.32 Stephen Wellum • Reading • “Thinking Biblically and Theologically about Justice”

By Stephen Wellum • Podcast Reading • July 17

Concise

Is Systemic Racism a Thing of the Past?

By Kevin Briggins • Concise Article • July 19

Concise

A Personal Testimony on (G)race

By Charles Ware • Concise Article • July 19

Concise

Wokeness and the Church

By Jonathan Tapp • Concise Article • July 21

Podcast

2.33 Stephen Wellum, David Schrock • Interview • “Thinking Biblically and Theologically Justice”

By Stephen Wellum, David Schrock • Podcast Interview • July 24

Concise

Civil Rights, Anti-Racism, and the Sin of Partiality

By Marla Helseth • Concise Article • July 24

Concise

Defining Racism Upward: Expanding Racism and Multiplying Racists

By Ardel Caneday • Concise Article • July 25

Concise

The Black Church and the Insignificance of Ethnicity in Light of the Gospel of Christ

By Darrell B. Harrison • Concise Article • July 26

Concise

Shelby Steele and Avoiding Shame in the Age of White Guilt

By Tim Kirk • Concise Article • July 27

Podcast

2.34 David Schrock, Trent Hunter, Ardel Caneday • Interview • “Dividing the Faithful: How a Little Book on Race Fractured a Movement Founded on Grace“

By David Schrock, Trent Hunter, Ardel Caneday • Podcast Interview • July 31

Concise

One Constitution, or Two? Reviewing The Age of Entitlement by Christopher Caldwell

By Brad Green • Concise Article • July 31

Concise

July Intermission: From Cosplaying Civil Rights to Exploring the Creation of the World

By David Schrock • Concise Article • August 1

Recommended

by Wilfred Reilly

by Thomas Sowell

by Clarence Thomas

by Booker T. Washington

by Robert L. Woodson Sr.

by Thomas Sowell

by Amity Shlaes