Book Review: Losing Our Religion by Russell Moore

A couple of months ago I was challenged by a friend to read “Losing Our Religion” by Russell Moore. This challenge came after several months of reading my very politically partisan posts on Facebook. It wasn’t a rebuke. It wasn’t condemnation. It was a challenge. It was to gain some perspective.

So, since I have much respect for this friend, I took him up on his offer. I purchased the Kindle version of the book as well as the audiobook and decided to dig in.

Now, Dr. Moore has gotten a bad rap as of late in Southern Baptist Circles, especially in “Trump Circles.” I knew that going in. However, I never really knew why as I had not followed the situation that closely. The book addresses all of this.

I want to say up front that I have had respect for Dr. Moore for a long time but I do not always agree with him. But I also don’t believe in cancel culture either. I believe we should hear people out. So I heard Dr. Moore out.

In the book, Dr. Moore does an excellent job of laying out the groundwork for the differences between God’s Kingdom and the Kingdom of this world. He exegetes Scripture faithfully throughout the entire work. His heart for the Gospel is unmistakable in the pages of his book. And that, I believe, is important to note.

But Dr. Moore does seem to take his rhetoric to a level that I do not agree with. The events of January 6th, 2021 are brought up regularly during the book. I want to make clear that what happened that day was a despicable tragedy. But I think that many lies have also been put out about what did or did not take place on that day.

Moore uses this to say that Christians should not under any circumstances be voting for Donald Trump. However, he does point out that he understands that some people will use the “lesser of two evils” argument, but believes this fully is against what we should be doing. He does not see any wiggle room on the issue.

Whether you are a Trump supporter or a “Never-Trumper” I do recommend reading this book if you are a believer. If you look past individual candidates mentioned in the book, you cannot help but see the sound theological points that are made and that Christians should ponder in, not only this election, but, every election.