Only a hardcover edition was available when it was released in 2020, but the release of a paperback edition in 2021 resulted in sales that helped propel вЂњJesus and John WayneвЂќ to the list.ДЄ broad range of readers have delved into вЂњJesus and John Wayne,вЂќ including many Calvin students. Following the events of the January 6th capitol riots, media attention soared and books flew off the shelves.ДЄccording to Du Mez, the enthusiasm from readers across the country led to its inclusion on the New York Times bestsellers list. The critically acclaimed book received both national and international media coverage from outlets ranging from NPR to Christianity Toda y at the time of its release. вЂњI have to give them a huge shoutoutвЂќ.ДЄfter an 18-month writing period, вЂњJesus and John WayneвЂќ was released in May of 2020- coinciding with a rise in interest in the study of Christian nationalism during the Trump administrationвЂ™s final months. What sustained me was my team of student researchers, and they read a lot of those sources tooвЂ¦to do this in community and work on this project together really was amazing,вЂќ said Du Mez. She resumed her research in 2016, digging through вЂњdifficult sourcesвЂќ with the help of three student research assistants. The journey to вЂњJesus and John WayneвЂќ began nearly 15 years ago, with Du Mez starting her research in 2005 before temporarily putting it on hold. I donвЂ™t really know what to say.вЂќ said Du Mez, who was informed of her bestseller status on Wednesday, June 16. вЂњItвЂ™s still a new thingвЂ¦ItвЂ™s kind of amazing. Kristin writes beautifully and very accessiblyвЂ¦She has done fabulous research.вЂќ On the other hand, itвЂ™s not surprising that Jesus and John Wayne should turn out to be one of the few history books that attains this level of popularity. вЂњTypically the writers who make the nonfiction bestseller list are celebrities or journalists, not academic authors.

ItвЂ™s very rare for an academic book to reach the New York Times bestseller list, so itвЂ™s definitely a remarkable achievement,вЂќ said Kate van Liere, chair of the history department. вЂњWe are tremendously proud of our colleague Kristin. Making the New York Times bestsellers list is a first for Du Mez, a history and gender studies professor, as well as an accomplishment for the Calvin community, as it marks the first time a member of the Calvin faculty has made the list. A much-needed reexamination of perhaps the most influential subculture in this country, Jesus and John Wayne shows that, far from adhering to biblical principles, modern white evangelicals have remade their faith, with enduring consequences for all Americans.Professor Kristin Kobes Du Mez has another accomplishment to add to her resume: she is now a New York Times bestselling author.Дu MezвЂ™s 2020 book вЂњJesus and John WayneвЂќ has landed on one of the most prestigious book lists in the nation almost a year after its debut, reaching #4 on the Paperback Nonfiction Books category. And evangelical culture is teeming with muscular heroes-mythical warriors and rugged soldiers, men like Oliver North, Ronald Reagan, Mel Gibson, and the Duck Dynasty clan, who assert white masculine power in defense of вЂњChristian America.вЂќ Chief among these evangelical legends is John Wayne, an icon of a lost time when men were uncowed by political correctness, unafraid to tell it like it was, and did what needed to be done.Д¬hallenging the commonly held assumption that the вЂњmoral majorityвЂќ backed Donald Trump in 20 for purely pragmatic reasons, Du Mez reveals that Trump in fact represented the fulfillment, rather than the betrayal, of white evangelicalsвЂ™ most deeply held values: patriarchy, authoritarian rule, aggressive foreign policy, fear of Islam, ambivalence toward #MeToo, and opposition to Black Lives Matter and the LGBTQ community. Evangelical books, films, music, clothing, and merchandise shape the beliefs of millions. Many of todayвЂ™s evangelicals might not be theologically astute, but they know their VeggieTales, theyвЂ™ve read John EldredgeвЂ™s Wild at Heart, and they learned about purity before they learned about sex-and they have a silver ring to prove it.

Jesus and John Wayne is a sweeping, revisionist history of the last seventy-five years of white evangelicalism, revealing how evangelicals have worked to replace the Jesus of the Gospels with an idol of rugged masculinity and Christian nationalism-or in the words of one modern chaplain, with вЂњa spiritual badass.вЂќДЄs acclaimed scholar Kristin Du Mez explains, the key to understanding this transformation is to recognize the centrality of popular culture in contemporary American evangelicalism.

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