Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
Was Carter a Progressive Evangelical or Centrist Politician?

Was Carter a Progressive Evangelical or Centrist Politician?

Last updated on: January 25, 2025 at 2:00 am by Guest Contributor

0 Comments

Was Carter a Progressive Evangelical or Centrist Politician? 2025-01-25T01:53:26-04:00 Guest Contributor

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

When President Jimmy Carter died on December 29th, 2024, almost every obituary on the 39th president made some mention of his deep Christian faith. A New York Times article featuring seventeen objects that exemplify Carter’s extraordinary life included a wooden cross hanging in Maranatha Baptist Church, which Carter made himself. Carter’s identity as a born-again Christian was certainly no secret, either during his presidency or after, and it helped to shape his politics in a way that was distinctly different from the Religious Right, which arguably rose to oppose him specifically, at least if one associates the Religious Right with the 1979 founding of the Moral Majority group. Carter was eulogized by religious historian Randall Balmer in Politico as the last of his kind: a progressive evangelical. Balmer defined progressive evangelicals as a group who have taken Jesus’s commands to be peacemakers and care for those on the margins of society, or the “least of these,” as Jesus says in Matthew 25, seriously. Balmer went on to compare Carter’s rhetoric in a famous speech he gave as governor of Georgia to the Chicago Declaration of Evangelical Social Concern, perhaps the most famous document of Cold War-era progressive evangelicalism. Carter’s center-left politics and his eventual departure from the Southern Baptist Convention following the Conservative Resurgence (or takeover) might lead one to logically group Carter with other progressive evangelicals. Balmer did, as did Jim Wallis, the founder of Sojourners magazine and in many ways the face of progressive evangelicalism. Carter’s identification with progressive evangelicals may be appropriate for Carter’s post-presidency, but during his presidency, the relationship was much more complicated. In fact, in the research that I did for my master’s thesis on Carter’s relationship with white evangelicals in Texas, some of the harshest criticism did not come from conservatives. Instead, it came from evangelical progressives in the pages of Sojourners.

A Red-Hot Magazine and a Lukewarm Candidate

First issue of The Post-American, 1971

Sojourners magazine was founded in the fall of 1971, but with a different title that hints at the magazine’s more radical origins: the Post American. The magazine was conceived of as a messaging arm of Sojourners Community, an intentional Christian community originally founded by seminary students at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Rogers Park, Illinois. The group eventually decamped for Washington, D.C., where they continued their intentional Christian community and continued to publish what was now named Sojourners. They were heavily influenced by interpretations of scripture that actively called them to advocate for the poor, the marginalized, and to wage peace in the world. As a result, the Vietnam War proved to be a radicalizing event for many of them, including Jim Wallis, who briefly joined the Students for a Democratic Society before entering seminary. They viewed the war as an atrocity the nation must immediately end and repent of, meaning they were no fans of most of the American state. With the rare exception of politicians like George McGovern and Mark Hatfield (a rare progressive evangelical Republican who became friendly with Wallis and Sojourners), no one was outright condemning the war in the two major political parties, nor were American evangelicals as a whole for that matter. A small cadre of them did form an Evangelicals for McGovern group in 1972 when the senator from South Dakota won the Democratic nomination on an explicitly anti-war platform, but his campaign was doomed to be a 49-state blowout to Richard Nixon, who was embraced by the vast majority of American evangelicals. However, within less than two years, he infamously resigned in disgrace, which brought America to Jimmy Carter, the one-term governor of Georgia. It can be easy to forget, but Carter was more conservative than one might initially expect. In an unsightly moment of politicking, his 1970 campaign for governor employed racial dog-whistling, and he was also in favor of the death penalty and the Hyde Amendment that barred federal funds from being spent on abortions. Additionally, his calls for reform in the 1976 campaign were rather vague, with promises that he as the president “would never lie to [America],” and that the nation “deserved a government as good as its people.” To many of the authors at Sojourners, Carter’s rhetoric was mere empty calories, meant to make Americans feel good in the bicentennial, with little to offer in real change.

In October of 1976, the final month before the election, Sojourners’ cover story was entitled “Election ’76: The Seduction of the Church,” likely riffing on the Newsweek cover story from the same month that declared 1976 “the year of the evangelical.” In that October edition of Sojourners, William Stringfellow, the famous theologian and civil rights activist, wrote “An Open Letter to Jimmy Carter,” which excoriated the self-professed born-again candidate for president. To Stringfellow, Carter was the political embodiment of middle-of-the-road compromise and the lukewarmness Christ condemns in the church of Laodicea in the book of Revelation. Stringfellow saw a serious moral and political crisis in the American government that began with the rise of the military-industrial complex following World War II and was made clear in the horrors and butchery of the Vietnam War. While Carter made reference to Vietnam and the intelligence community in his campaign, most notably promising to pardon draft evaders (although he was quick to state that such a pardon didn’t mean he thought such evaders were morally right), he did not campaign on serious attempts to reform or limit the power of the intelligence community or defense apparatus that approved of the Vietnam War and other Cold War activities. In other words, to progressive evangelicals at Sojourners, Carter did not go far enough. He was still operating as a typical American politician when he needed to become a post-American to truly live out his Christian faith. In fact, providing half-measures of change but not wholesale reform might be even more dangerous than the status quo. As Stringfellow wrote, “to hear the trivial doctrine that the need is to elect trustworthy persons to succeed the wicked in high places becomes a very melancholy experience, aggravating, if anything, the nation’s plight.” The theologian closed his article by suggesting that abstaining from voting for Carter or Ford in the election may be an act of spiritual and political maturity and witness.

William Stringfellow

That attitude permeated Sojourners throughout Carter’s one term. While they certainly condemned and distanced themselves from the Moral Majority and the Religious Right, they also criticized Carter heavily. The magazine ran an article in the weeks prior to the 1980 election that compared the contest between Carter and the arch-conservative Reagan to a baseball game, sending the message that in the mind of the author, the election had little consequence.

Progressive evangelicals’ attitudes towards Carter notably changed after he left office. This was in no small part due to Carter’s humanitarian efforts both at home and abroad, which included work for Habitat for Humanity, attempts through the Carter Center to end Guinea Worm and River Blindness, and nonpartisan election watching. Additionally, in 2000, Carter left the SBC over their rigid doctrine on women’s roles in the church, a departure which warmed progressive evangelicals’ relationship to him. However, progressive evangelicals’ post-presidential change in posture toward Carter should not be retroactively extended to include his candidacy and presidency. While some left-leaning evangelicals supported him, the progressive evangelical movement did not universally love him. Carter was many things, but he was not “the last of the progressive evangelicals,” at least if the writers at Sojourners had anything to say about it.

David Nanninga is a second-year doctoral student in the Department of History at Baylor University. His research focuses on American conservatism and neoliberalism in the late 20th century and their relationship to politics, sports, and Christianity.

progressive evangelicals

religion and politics

Sojourners

Previous Post

January 24, 2025

Evangelicals, Charismatics, and Reformation Roleplay, Pt 1

Next Post

January 28, 2025 What a Humble Presidential Inaugural Address Looks Like

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"I've never thought of Constantine as a villain. Do Christians generally? Maybe the ones who ..."

stevewe

Defending Constantine

"The TV sitcom BEWITCHED was an old favorite of mine"

philipjenkins

How Scotland Gave Us Our Modern ..."

"From now on whenever I see a clipper ship, see a certain brand of Scottish ..."

Terry

How Scotland Gave Us Our Modern ..."

"There are no such things as witches. They were just unmarried or elderly women with ..."

Dot Newkirk

How Scotland Gave Us Our Modern ..."

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category abolitionism Abortion Abraham Joshua Heschel Abraham Kuyper Abraham Lincoln Academia Activism Adam Renberg Advent Adventist africa African American Religion Agnes Howard Albert Camus American History American Religious History American Revolution American West Anabaptists Ancient History Andrea Turpin Andrei Tarkovsky Anglicanism Annales Ansley Lillian Quiros anti-Catholicism Antisemitism Anxious Bench apologetics Apparitions Arash Azizi Archaeology archives art Artificial Intelligence Asia Asian Americans Augustine Authors Bad Bunny Baptism Baptists Barack Obama Battle of Hastings Benjamin Franklin Bernard-Henri Levy Beth Allison Barr Beth Moore Bethany Mannon Bible Bill Cunningham Billy Graham Black Music Bob Dylan Body Boenhoffer Books Breastfeeding Bruce Springsteen C.S. Lewis Calvinism Cancel Culture Capitalism Carmelites Catholicism Cedric Robinson Cesar Chavez Charismaticism charity Charles Dickens Charles Lindbergh Che Guevara Chicago Children Chinese Christianity Chris Gehrz Christ Christian death Christian Higher Education Christian life Christian Nation Christian Nationalism Christianity Today Christmas Church life Church Practice cinema Civil Religion Civil Rights Movement Civil War civility Classics Climate Change Cold War Colonial Mexico colonialism Comer Communism community complementarianism Conference on Faith and History Congregationalism Conspiracies Conspiracy Conversion Narratives Coronavirus Costa Rica Council of Nicaea Covid-19 Creation Critical Race Theory Crusades Culture culture wars Daniel K. Williams David Barton David Swartz Death Ways death with dignity DEI democracy Democratic Party Devotion Digital Age Diplomacy discipleship diversity Donald Trump Drama Dua Lipa Early Church early modern Early modern Catholicism Easter Eastern Christianity economic exploitation Education elections Elie Wiesel Elizabeth II Elizabeth Taylor emotions Empire Engineering England enslavement Entertainment Episcopal Church Erica Ramirez eschatology Eurocentrism Evangelicalism Evangelicals Exegesis Family Feminism Film Flannery O'Connor folk music Food Foreign Policy founding fathers Franciscans Franciscus Junius fundamentalism Funerals G.K. Chesterton Gender Genocide genre geography George W. Bush George Washington George Whitefield Global Christianity Global church Grief Guadalupe guest post Guest Post gun control gun violence Gustavo Gutierrez Hamid Dabashi Harold John Ockenga Harvest Hate Hawaiian Christianity Healing health care Heather Cox Richardson Hell Heresy Hermeneutics Higher Education Hinduism Hippocratic oath Historical Fiction Historical Methodology Historical Profession Historical Profession Historical Theology Historical Thinking historiography Holidays Holocaust horror movies Human rights Humanitarian Work humanities Hummingbirds Hungary hymns Imago Dei Immigration Injustice Interviews Iran Islam Islamophobia Israel Ivan's Childhood Jacob Randolph James Bratt Janine Giordano Drake Japanese history Japanese Literature Jean Paul Sartre Jesse Miranda Jesus Jesus Christ Jimmy Carter Joan Baez Joan Didion Joanne Freeman João B. Chaves Joao Chaves Joey Cochran John Calvin John Fea John Tillotson John Turner Johnny Cash Jonathan Edwards Jonathan Tran Joseph Smith Josh Howerton Journalism Jr. Judaism Jürgen Moltmann Just War Justice Justin Brierley Karl Barth Katelyn Beaty koi ponds Kris Kristofferson Kristin Kobes Du Mez Latin American Religious History Latino Americans Lectio Divina Leisure Lent Leonard Cohen liberal arts liberalism Liberation Theology Linda Ronstadt Lisa Clark Diller Literature Lou Reed Lynchings Lynneth Miller Renberg Mainline Protestantism Malcolm Foley Marilyn Monroe Maritime history Mark Noll Marriage Martin Luther Martin Luther King Martyrdom Marxism Mary Masih Alinejad mass shootings material culture medieval Christianity Medieval Ethiopia Melissa Borja memory Mennonites Mental Health Mental Illness Methodism Mexican Americans Mexicans Mike Madrid Miles Mullin Min Jin Lee Miscarriage Missionaries Mister Rogers Mitt Romney modernity Monasticism Mormonism Motherhood Mothers of the Church Moving Music Musicals Nadya Williams Nahua Christianity Native Americans Natsume Sōseki New Contributor New England New Year New York Nico Non-Violent Protest Orthodoxy pacifism Paleo Evangelicals Palestinians Parenting Patti Smith Paul Kingsnorth Pedro Calderón de la Barca Pentecostalism Philip Jenkins Phillis Wheatley physician-assisted suicide pilgrimage Pilgrims Piracy pluralism Plutocracy Poetry Politics Pope Francis Pope Leo XIV post-modernism prayer preaching Presbyterians prosperity gospel Protest Public Executions Public history Publishing Puritans purity culture Quakers race Race Massacres Racial Capitalism racial reconciliation racialization Racism Raha Bahloulipour Re-Enchantment reading Reformation Refugees religion and the university religion and war Religious Freedom Religious Nones Religious Pluralism Religious Symbols religious violence Republican Party Revival Rita Coolidge Ritual Roger Williams Roman Catholic church Royalty Russell Moore same-sex marriage Sarah Irving-Stonebraker Scandinavia Science Science and Technology Scopes trial Scriptural Interpretation secularism Selena Quintanilla seminary Seventh-Day Adventists sexual morality Sexuality Sikhs Silence slaveholders theology Slavery Slavoj Zizek social justice Social Media Southern Baptist Convention Southern Religion Spain Spiritual Autobiography Spiritual but not religious Spiritual Discipline Sports Stanley Hauerwas Suffering Summer Camps Sunday Night Odds and Ends Supernatural Supreme Court Syriac Christianity Tal Howard Taylor Swift Teaching Technology Television Thanksgiving The Beatles The Mission theater TheoBros Theology Thomas Dixon Thomas Jefferson Thomas Kidd Thomas Merton Tim Gloege Tim Walz Tom Holland Tourism tradition Tragedy Translation Transnationalism Travel Trump Ukraine Uncategorized Unitarians United Methodist Church US History Vanessa Chan Velvet Underground Verónica A. Gutiérrez Veronica Gutierrez Vikings Violence Virgin Mary Virtue Virtue ethics Visions Voting War WCTU Wendell Berry Westminster Assembly White Evangelicalism Wildfires Winnie the Pooh Witches women Women in Ministry Women's and Gender Studies Work Worship writing Yasunari Kawabata Zena Hitz

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who was the first high priest of Israel?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Aaron Joshua Moses Caleb