Exvangelical and Beyond
How American Christianity Went Radical and the Movement That's Fighting Back
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Narrated by:
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Blake Chastain
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By:
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Blake Chastain
About this listen
A pioneer of the “exvangelical” movement examines how toxic right-wing beliefs took over American Christianity—and why people are leaving the church and speaking out against it
With the rise of Trumpism, the American evangelical movement has more political influence than ever—yet at the same time, people are leaving Christianity in record numbers. Why are so many people walking away from the right-wing religion they were raised in, and what are they doing to overcome the past?
Writer and podcaster Blake Chastain is uniquely positioned to understand this phenomenon. Raised evangelical, he went to a Christian college intending to become a pastor—until he found himself unable to reconcile his faith with the prejudice and even abuse he saw being done in God’s name. He created the popular hashtag #exvangelical and the hit podcast of the same name, and soon became part of a growing movement of people walking away from toxic religion and using the unique tools of the internet to speak out, find healing, and build new communities.
In Exvangelical and Beyond, Chastain delves into evangelicalism’s deep roots in American politics and society, and explains why and how so many Christians—and ex-Christians—are forging a new path online. Blending history, personal narrative, and incisive analysis, this is a must-hear for anyone who has left the church, is deconstructing their own faith, or simply wants to understand religious culture in America.
©2024 Blake Chastain (P)2024 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
"Highly readable....A timely exploration of evangelicalism’s influence and how former believers find meaning beyond it."
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“An insightful exploration of faith, identity, and activism in a nation at the crossroads of religious fervor and social change...At once alarming and hopeful, this is a book that every American must read, regardless of religious affiliation.”
—Reza Aslan, New York Times bestselling author of Zealot
“Blake Chastain created the #Exvangelical hashtag. In doing so, he created a category in which millions of people now gather, commiserate, heal, and learn. By giving us Exvangelical and Beyond, Chastain continues this legacy....This is more than either a personal history or a scathing polemic. It’s a blueprint of a movement—and a call for change.”
—Bradley Onishi, author of Preparing for War
“Chastain has been the thoughtful commentator and mindful observer I have turned to in my often desperate searches online for a counternarrative to American evangelical religiosity that...told me my Black, queer, and trans body had no place in the body of Christ....Blake stands out as a trustworthy narrator of these times....This book, this thinker, and this movement’s story are worth your time, attention, and heart.”
—lenny duncan, author of Dear Church and Dear Revolutionaries
“This book is an essential addition to the current conversation about not just evangelicalism but American religion, politics, and culture today.”
—David P. Gushee, Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics, Mercer University
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- By: Dorsey Armstrong, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Dorsey Armstrong
- Length: 5 hrs and 6 mins
- Original Recording
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The 10 enlightening (and often humorous) lectures of Medieval Myths and Mysteries will show you how far from the “dark” times of legend these centuries were. Uncover the facts about the Knights Templar. Reveal the truth behind the tales of legendary creatures like the Questing Beast and the unicorn. Trace the events of the Black Death and the ways it altered the world in its wake, and much more. With Professor Armstrong, you will dig deep into the ways that later generations reshaped the narrative of the medieval years and perpetuated the myths.
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Interesting, but centered on Britain
- By Ximena on 04-10-20
By: Dorsey Armstrong, and others
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Super Attractor
- Methods for Manifesting a Life Beyond Your Wildest Dreams
- By: Gabrielle Bernstein
- Narrated by: Gabrielle Bernstein
- Length: 6 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Ready to turn what you want into the life that you live? The number-one New York Times best-selling author of The Universe Has Your Back shows you how. In Super Attractor, Gabrielle Bernstein lays out the essential methods for manifesting a life beyond your wildest dreams. This book is a journey of remembering where your true power lies. You'll learn how to co-create the life you want. You'll accept that life can flow, that attracting is fun, and that you don't have to work so hard to get what you want.
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Not a huge fan
- By Pamela H on 09-30-19
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The Exvangelicals
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- Narrated by: Sarah McCammon
- Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins
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Growing up in a deeply evangelical family in the Midwest in the ‘80s and ‘90s, Sarah McCammon was strictly taught to fear God, obey him, and not question the faith. Persistently worried that her gay grandfather would go to hell unless she could reach him, or that her Muslim friend would need to be converted, and that she, too, would go to hell if she did not believe fervently enough, McCammon was a rule-follower. But through it all, she was plagued by fears and deep questions as the belief system she'd been carefully taught clashed with her expanding understanding of the outside world.
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Multiple Reasons
- By Meghan Smith on 03-30-24
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Star-Spangled Jesus
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- By: April Ajoy
- Narrated by: April Ajoy
- Length: 8 hrs and 4 mins
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Social media influencer and podcast host April Ajoy wouldn’t have called herself a Christian Nationalist when she performed her original song “America Say Jesus” on the Jim Bakker show, or when she participated in Jesus Marches across America, or when she posted cringe-worthy videos on YouTube to campaign for Mitt Romney. April just considered herself a good Christian: faithful, Republican, and determined to make America a Christian nation once again.
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Eye Opening
- By ABQKEM on 12-21-24
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Pure
- Inside the Evangelical Movement That Shamed a Generation of Young Women and How I Broke Free
- By: Linda Kay Klein
- Narrated by: Linda Kay Klein
- Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
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In the 1990s, a “purity industry” emerged out of the white evangelical Christian culture. Purity rings, purity pledges, and purity balls came with a dangerous message: girls are potential sexual “stumbling blocks” for boys and men, and any expression of a girl’s sexuality could reflect the corruption of her character. This message traumatized many girls - resulting in anxiety, fear, and experiences that mimicked the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder - and trapped them in a cycle of shame.
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I expected a different ending I suppose
- By Military Dad on 12-12-18
By: Linda Kay Klein
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The Woman They Wanted
- Shattering the Illusion of the Good Christian Wife
- By: Shannon Harris
- Narrated by: Shannon Harris
- Length: 5 hrs and 43 mins
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As a twenty-three-year-old singer and the soon-to-be wife of youth pastor Joshua Harris, nothing in Shannon Harris's secular upbringing prepared her to enter the world of conservative Christianity. Soon Joshua's bestselling book I Kissed Dating Goodbye helped inspire a national purity movement, and Shannon's identity became "pastor's wife." The Woman They Wanted recounts Shannon's remarkable experience inside Big Church—where she was asked to live within a narrow definition of womanhood for almost two decades—and her journey out of that world and into a more authentic version of herself.
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Her Story is Our Story
- By Amazon Customer on 11-04-23
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Rift
- A Memoir of Breaking Away from Christian Patriarchy
- By: Cait West
- Narrated by: Cait West
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Raised in the Christian patriarchy movement, Cait West was homeschooled and could only wear clothes her father deemed modest. She was five years old the first time she was told her swimsuit was too revealing, to go change. There would be no college in her future, no career. She was a stay-at-home daughter and would move out only when her father allowed her to become a wife. She was trained to serve men, and her life would never be her own.
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Compelling narrative and beautifully written
- By Maria Hauskins on 05-05-24
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Out of Focus
- My Story of Sexuality, Shame, and Toxic Evangelicalism
- By: Amber Cantorna-Wylde
- Narrated by: Amber Cantorna-Wylde
- Length: 5 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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When a mass shooter killed five people in an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, grieving people graffitied James Dobson's Focus on the Family headquarters with the words "Their blood is on your hands." Such an accusation comes as no surprise to Amber Cantorna-Wylde, whose father is a Focus on the Family executive and cast Amber out of her family when she came out in 2012.
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Deeply Insightful
- By randal b. on 09-13-24
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The Exvangelicals
- Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church
- By: Sarah McCammon
- Narrated by: Sarah McCammon
- Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Growing up in a deeply evangelical family in the Midwest in the ‘80s and ‘90s, Sarah McCammon was strictly taught to fear God, obey him, and not question the faith. Persistently worried that her gay grandfather would go to hell unless she could reach him, or that her Muslim friend would need to be converted, and that she, too, would go to hell if she did not believe fervently enough, McCammon was a rule-follower. But through it all, she was plagued by fears and deep questions as the belief system she'd been carefully taught clashed with her expanding understanding of the outside world.
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Multiple Reasons
- By Meghan Smith on 03-30-24
By: Sarah McCammon
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Star-Spangled Jesus
- Leaving Christian Nationalism and Finding a True Faith
- By: April Ajoy
- Narrated by: April Ajoy
- Length: 8 hrs and 4 mins
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Overall
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Social media influencer and podcast host April Ajoy wouldn’t have called herself a Christian Nationalist when she performed her original song “America Say Jesus” on the Jim Bakker show, or when she participated in Jesus Marches across America, or when she posted cringe-worthy videos on YouTube to campaign for Mitt Romney. April just considered herself a good Christian: faithful, Republican, and determined to make America a Christian nation once again.
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Eye Opening
- By ABQKEM on 12-21-24
By: April Ajoy
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Pure
- Inside the Evangelical Movement That Shamed a Generation of Young Women and How I Broke Free
- By: Linda Kay Klein
- Narrated by: Linda Kay Klein
- Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
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Overall
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Performance
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In the 1990s, a “purity industry” emerged out of the white evangelical Christian culture. Purity rings, purity pledges, and purity balls came with a dangerous message: girls are potential sexual “stumbling blocks” for boys and men, and any expression of a girl’s sexuality could reflect the corruption of her character. This message traumatized many girls - resulting in anxiety, fear, and experiences that mimicked the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder - and trapped them in a cycle of shame.
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I expected a different ending I suppose
- By Military Dad on 12-12-18
By: Linda Kay Klein
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The Woman They Wanted
- Shattering the Illusion of the Good Christian Wife
- By: Shannon Harris
- Narrated by: Shannon Harris
- Length: 5 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
As a twenty-three-year-old singer and the soon-to-be wife of youth pastor Joshua Harris, nothing in Shannon Harris's secular upbringing prepared her to enter the world of conservative Christianity. Soon Joshua's bestselling book I Kissed Dating Goodbye helped inspire a national purity movement, and Shannon's identity became "pastor's wife." The Woman They Wanted recounts Shannon's remarkable experience inside Big Church—where she was asked to live within a narrow definition of womanhood for almost two decades—and her journey out of that world and into a more authentic version of herself.
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Her Story is Our Story
- By Amazon Customer on 11-04-23
By: Shannon Harris
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Rift
- A Memoir of Breaking Away from Christian Patriarchy
- By: Cait West
- Narrated by: Cait West
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
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Performance
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Raised in the Christian patriarchy movement, Cait West was homeschooled and could only wear clothes her father deemed modest. She was five years old the first time she was told her swimsuit was too revealing, to go change. There would be no college in her future, no career. She was a stay-at-home daughter and would move out only when her father allowed her to become a wife. She was trained to serve men, and her life would never be her own.
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Compelling narrative and beautifully written
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When a mass shooter killed five people in an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, grieving people graffitied James Dobson's Focus on the Family headquarters with the words "Their blood is on your hands." Such an accusation comes as no surprise to Amber Cantorna-Wylde, whose father is a Focus on the Family executive and cast Amber out of her family when she came out in 2012.
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Deeply Insightful
- By randal b. on 09-13-24
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A Well-Trained Wife
- My Escape from Christian Patriarchy
- By: Tia Levings
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Recruited into the fundamentalist Quiverfull movement as a young wife, Tia Levings learned that being a good Christian meant following a list of additional life principles—a series of secret, special rules to obey. Being a godly and submissive wife in Christian Patriarchy included strict discipline, isolation, and an alternative lifestyle that appeared wholesome to outsiders. Women were to be silent, “keepers of the home.” A Well-Trained Wife is an unforgettable memoir about a woman's race to save herself and her family and details the ways that extreme views can manifest in a marriage.
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A review from a chronic non-reviewer
- By T. L. P. on 08-11-24
By: Tia Levings
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American Idolatry
- How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church
- By: Andrew L. Whitehead
- Narrated by: Andrew L. Whitehead
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Power. Fear. Violence. These three idols of Christian nationalism are corrupting American Christianity. Andrew Whitehead is a leading scholar on Christian nationalism in America and speaks widely on its effects within Christian communities. In this book, he shares his journey and reveals how Christian nationalism threatens the spiritual lives of American Christians and the church.
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Excellent & Much Needed
- By David Dominguez on 04-30-24
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You Are Your Own
- A Reckoning with the Religious Trauma of Evangelical Christianity
- By: Jamie Lee Finch
- Narrated by: Jamie Lee Finch
- Length: 3 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Rooted in her experiences growing up in an evangelical Christian family, Jamie Lee Finch’s You Are Your Own offers an overview of evangelicalism and the painful confusion and anxiety experienced under its demands. Finch explores the mechanisms of trauma and how fundamentalist denominations match the patterns connected with PTSD. She elaborates on the doubt, guilt, fear, and grief that haunt those leaving the evangelical faith and offers an approach to help them recover healthy self-worth and resilience.
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great content.
- By Corey Moore on 11-19-19
By: Jamie Lee Finch
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Disobedient Women
- How a Small Group of Faithful Women Exposed Abuse, Brought Down Powerful Pastors, and Ignited an Evangelical Reckoning
- By: Sarah Stankorb
- Narrated by: Suehyla Young
- Length: 8 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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In this national bestseller, journalist Sarah Stankorb outlines how access to the internet—its networks, freedom of expression, and resources for deeply researching and reporting on powerful church figures—allowed women to begin dismantling the false authority of evangelical communities that had long demanded their submission.
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To many generalizations without balance
- By Lisa N. on 05-28-24
By: Sarah Stankorb
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The Flag and the Cross
- White Christian Nationalism and the Threat to American Democracy
- By: Samuel L. Perry, Philip S. Gorski, Jemar Tisby - foreword
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Most Americans were shocked by the violence they witnessed at the nation's Capital on January 6th, 2021. And many were bewildered by the images displayed by the insurrectionists: a wooden cross and wooden gallows; "Jesus saves" and "Don't Tread on Me;" Christian flags and Confederate Flags; even a prayer in Jesus's name after storming the Senate chamber. Where some saw a confusing jumble, Philip S. Gorski and Samuel L. Perry saw a familiar ideology: white Christian nationalism.
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could use an accompanying pdf
- By A W on 08-08-22
By: Samuel L. Perry, and others
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Civil Wars
- A Very Short Introduction
- By: Monica Duffy Toft
- Narrated by: Kim Niemi
- Length: 4 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Understanding the origins of civil wars and their trajectories therefore demands some appreciation of the economic, political, social, cultural, and geographic order of societies. If there is one factor that best predicts why a civil war erupts, it is a prior civil war. That is why knowledge of a country's history of political violence, and associated narratives about who is to blame and why, are critical to understanding where a civil war might next occur.
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The Violent Take It by Force
- The Christian Movement That Is Threatening Our Democracy
- By: Matthew D. Taylor
- Narrated by: Asa Siegel
- Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Over the last decade, the Religious Right has evolved. Some of the more extreme beliefs of American evangelicalism have begun to take hold in the mainstream. Scholar Matthew D. Taylor pulls back the curtain on a little-known movement of evangelical Christians who see themselves waging spiritual battles on a massive scale.
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Comprehensively Researched
- By Chuck Anderson on 09-25-24
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When Religion Hurts You
- Healing from Religious Trauma and the Impact of High-Control Religion
- By: Laura E. Anderson PhD
- Narrated by: Laura E. Anderson PhD
- Length: 6 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Dr. Laura Anderson takes an honest look at a side of religion that few like to talk about. Drawing from her own life and therapy practice, she helps listeners understand what religious trauma is and isn't, and how high-control churches can be harmful and abusive, often resulting in trauma. She shows how elements of fundamentalist church life—such as fear of hell, purity culture, corporal punishment, and authoritarian leaders—can cause psychological, relational, physical, and spiritual damage.
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Harmed by Church of Christ beliefs
- By Bryan Wade on 04-14-24
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The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory
- American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism
- By: Tim Alberta
- Narrated by: Tim Alberta
- Length: 18 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Evangelical Christians are perhaps the most polarizing—and least understood—people living in America today. In his seminal new book, The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory, journalist Tim Alberta, himself a practicing Christian and the son of an evangelical pastor, paints an expansive and profoundly troubling portrait of the American evangelical movement.
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Looked forward to this a long time and wasn’t disappointed!
- By Josh Hulbert on 12-08-23
By: Tim Alberta
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Fentanyl Nation
- Toxic Politics and America's Failed War on Drugs
- By: Ryan Hampton
- Narrated by: Josh Bloomberg
- Length: 10 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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The American overdose crisis has reached record-breaking heights; preventable overdoses are now responsible for more annual deaths than traffic accidents, suicide, or gun violence. Fentanyl—a potent, inexpensive, and easy-to-manufacture synthetic opioid—has thoroughly contaminated the drug supply, and while it frequently makes front page news across the country, it remains poorly understood by policymakers and the public. In Fentanyl Nation, recovery advocate Ryan Hampton separates the facts from the fiction surrounding Fentanyl, and shows how overdose deaths are ultimately policy failures.
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Challenged everything I thought I knew
- By Debbie Courtney on 10-21-24
By: Ryan Hampton
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The False White Gospel
- Rejecting Christian Nationalism, Reclaiming True Faith, and Refounding Democracy
- By: Jim Wallis, Eddie Glaude
- Narrated by: Jim Wallis, Leon Nixon - foreword
- Length: 11 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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It is time says Jim Wallis, to call out genuine faith—specifically the “Christian” in White Christian Nationalism—inviting all who can be persuaded to reject and help dismantle a false gospel that propagates white supremacy and autocracy. We need–to raise up the faith of all of us, and help those who are oblivious, stuck, and captive to the ideology and idolatry of White Christian Nationalism that is leading us to such great danger. Wallis turns our attention to six iconic texts at the heart of what genuine biblical faith means and what Jesus, in the gospels, has called us to do.
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The importance of love and kindness to build people and relationships up, instead of using hate to divide and tear down.
- By Amazon Customer on 05-11-24
By: Jim Wallis, and others
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Wild Faith
- How the Christian Right Is Taking Over America
- By: Talia Lavin
- Narrated by: Talia Lavin
- Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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From school boards to the Supreme Court, Christian theocracy is ascendant in America—and only through exploring its motivations and impacts can we understand the crisis we face. In Wild Faith, Lavin fearlessly confronts whether our democracy can survive an organized, fervent theocratic movement, one that seeks to impose its religious beliefs on American citizens.
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Best Book
- By Stacy Lawson on 11-12-24
By: Talia Lavin
What listeners say about Exvangelical and Beyond
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Warren Collier
- 10-04-24
Wondering why people are deconstructing? Read this
"Exvangelical" has been one of my favorite podcasts for years and this book is such a natural extension of Blake's work. It's great. He does such a fantastic job of breaking down the journey, background, and potential future so many exvangelicals have had. The book shines brightest in his commentary of present day evangelicalism and how it has distorted into a Trumpian monstrosity and why so many of us decided to leave. Not because we no longer believed, but because still WANTED to believe but saw nothing recognizable it what the evangelical church was quickly becoming. It is worth a listen. Especially for anyone out there who still identifies as evangelical and is trying to understand why your friends are "deconstructing" this book is WELL worth your time.
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- Ed
- 10-02-24
Excellent insight into a religion some of us looking from the outside.
This book clarified and ratified some many view and ideas I had about the Evangelicals. I’m not a religious person but was raised Catholic, and as the author I started asking questions in college, while taking a class that explain all religions. What separates evangelicals is their thirst for power. Monetary power, racial power, and power over people’s lives. This book is great. Faith is good but That Evangelical religion is a cult and I see it as evil.
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- Yoo Know-Who
- 10-03-24
Crazy how relatable so much of this truly is!
I'd been looking forward to this book since Blake announced it on his podcast. It was worth the wait!
There are moments that it really soars - where he's talking about his own personal experiences or the experiences of others. When it gets down and dirty and personal with how evangelicalism has affected folks, that's when the book is at its most powerful. When it goes into history lessons, that's where I found myself tuning out a little bit, even though I understand it's important to have historical context for why things are the way they are. Explaining history isn't as much his strong suit as it is when he talks about his own life.
All the same, I found so much of this very relatable to my own life in a validating way.
Thank you for writing this, Blake!
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