Christian Post Editor Resigns Over Pro-Trump Editorial Slamming Christianity Today

By Daniel Politi, Slate

26 December 19

n editor at the Christian Post publicly announced his resignation, claiming that an editorial would place the evangelical publication “on Team Trump.” The move illustrates the divisions that have taken center stage in evangelical circles ever since Christianity Today published an editorial characterizing President Donald Trump as “immoral” and calling for his removal from office. “Today, rather abruptly, I was forced to make the difficult choice to leave The Christian Post. They decided to publish an editorial that positions them on Team Trump,” tweeted Napp Nazworth. Even though Nazworth had worked at the publication since 2011 he said he “never got the gist they were gung-ho Trumpian types,” but pointed that “everything has escalated with the Christianity Today editorial.” 

In the editorial published by the Post earlier Monday, John Grano and Richard Land accused Christianity Today editor Mark Galli, of “obvious elitist disdain and corrosive condescension for fellow Christians with whom he disagrees.” Even those who disagree with Trump’s presidency must know that “America will certainly survive and is, in significant ways, thriving under a Trump presidency — even if it lasts another four years.” On the other hand, “our religious and other freedoms will not long survive a government of elites so convinced of their superiority that they are willing to compromise constitutional due process,” the editorial goes on to say. 

Nazworth tweeted that he “can’t be an editor for a publication with that editorial voice.” His views are hardly surprising considering that earlier this year, he wrote a piece claiming that “evangelicals who rationalize Donald Trump’s misbehavior are sacrificing their moral authority at the altar of politics.” 

With its editorial, Christian Post joins others in evangelical circles in blasting Christianity Today’s editorial. Evangelical leader Jerry Falwell Jr. slammed Galli as an elitist who would say Jesus was a “smelly Walmart shopper.” In an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, Falwell also characterized the editors of the publication as elitist, claiming that “they think they are more moral and smarter than the rest of us.” 

Christianity Today says it has lost 2,000 subscriptions since the controversy over its editorial, but gained 5,000 others. The president of the magazine, Timothy Dalrymple, said that the publication had received lots of letters expressing support for the editorial. “Clearly, there was a profound yearning for some evangelical institution or leader to stand up and say these things,” Dalrymple told the Washington Post. “One of the most consistent phrases was ‘stay strong.’ People had rallied to the flag, and they were afraid we would abandon them, afraid we’d buckle under the pressure and bend the knee, and then their disillusionment would be even worse than before.”