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John Fea

John Fea is an author at Religion News Service.

All Stories by John Fea

Christians, it’s time to add infrastructure to the pro-life agenda
By John Fea — October 1, 2021
(RNS) — If President Biden's bill doesn't pass, it will be a massive moral failure. This should concern all Americans, but especially Christians.

Reforming Liberty University in the post-Falwell era should begin with the Falkirk Center
By John Fea — September 9, 2020
(RNS) — For many of those connected to the school, the problems at Liberty run much deeper than a sex scandal.

Walking back Metaxas’ tweet on Biden to blackface days
By John Fea — May 28, 2020
(RNS) — Biden’s comment was, as many have pointed out, inappropriate and offensive for its presumption to speak for African Americans. Metaxas’ tweet, however, was worse.

A pandemic Billy Sunday could not shut down
By John Fea — April 16, 2020
(RNS) — Pastors holding religious services in the midst of a COVID-19 pandemic recall evangelist Billy Sunday’s face-to-face encounter with 1918’s flu in Providence, Rhode Island.

The problem with the ‘reluctant Trump’ vote
By John Fea — February 18, 2020
(RNS) — The reluctant evangelical Trump voter and the enthusiastic evangelical Trump voter are guided by a political playbook forged in the late 1970s and 1980s by the Christian right.

Can any of the Democratic candidates appeal to evangelicals?
By John Fea — January 30, 2020
(RNS) — Democratic candidates have been quoting the Bible, but if they are going to ignore evangelical concerns, the political gains will be few.

Courtiers and kings, evangelicals, prophets and Trump
By John Fea — January 8, 2020
(RNS) — If evangelical leaders don't oppose the president's worst behavior with prophetic witness, they are complicit in his sins.

Trump evangelicals bewail ‘civil war’ while still profiting from last one
By John Fea — October 3, 2019
(RNS) — We don’t need to fear a new civil war. Instead, to paraphrase Abraham Lincoln in his Second Inaugural Address, we still need to bind the wounds of the old one. 

Why a $45 Trump prayer coin is no joke
By John Fea — May 17, 2019
(RNS) — A charismatic preacher named Lance Wallnau appeared on the program of disgraced televangelist Jim Bakker to hawk a Donald Trump/King Cyrus gold coin. He claimed that the coin can be used as a 'point of contact' between Christians and God as they pray for the re-election of Trump in 2020. It is no joke — as some charismatic Christians see Trump as a divinely appointed figure.

Pence controversy at Taylor University a sign of changes coming to Christian colleges
By John Fea — April 17, 2019
(RNS) — Vice President Mike Pence was recently invited to give the commencement address at Indiana's Taylor University. Not everyone at the evangelical school is thrilled with the idea. The controversy reflects a broader debate among evangelical schools.

Bruce Springsteen’s run for home
By John Fea — January 9, 2019
(RNS) — With a surprising resort to prayer, the Boss acknowledges that his relentless quest for the American dream can't be separated from tradition, roots, place, a longing for home, and faith.

Why won’t most of Trump’s ‘court evangelicals’ publicly condemn his border policy?
By John Fea — June 21, 2018
(RNS) — While a few conservative evangelical Trump supporters have openly criticized his administration's border policy separating children from their parents, most of the 'court evangelicals' have not. Their silence sheds light on how evangelicals have defined 'family values' for the past 40 years.

Is Jerusalem embassy part of God’s grand plan? Why some evangelicals love Israel
By John Fea — May 15, 2018
(RNS) — Many American evangelicals cheered because they understood the United States' recognition of Jerusalem as the 'once and eternal' capital of Israel as a fulfillment of biblical prophecy.

Kentucky’s shrewd move to promote a Christian nationalist agenda
By John Fea — July 7, 2017
(RNS) If Kentucky couldn't bring Christianity and the Bible back into the schools in an overt way, it could at least bring it into the curriculum under the guise of history and social studies. 
 (COMMENTARY)

The evangelical courtiers who kneel before the president’s feet
By John Fea — May 12, 2017
(RNS) These Court Evangelicals have sacrificed the prophetic voice of their Christian faith for a place of power and influence in the current administration.
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Popular Stories by John Fea

Opinion
Reforming Liberty University in the post-Falwell era should begin with the Falkirk Center
Faith
Courtiers and kings, evangelicals, prophets and Trump
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Why a $45 Trump prayer coin is no joke
Beliefs
Ted Cruz’s campaign is fueled by a dominionist vision for America (COMMENTARY)
Opinion
How Eric Metaxas manipulates the past to serve his political agenda

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