Reverend Rob Schenck joins us this week to discuss not only his book Costly Grace: An Evangelical Minister’s Rediscovery of Faith, Hope, and Love, but also his career in the evangelical world and how it morphed into continued political engagement. Schenck, at the age of eighteen, decided that he would live his life in the service of God. He elaborates on how his religious life can be divided into three separate awakenings and how over the past few years he has come to see how politicized the evangelical community has become. 

After meeting President Ronald Reagan, Schenck became mesmerized by Reagan’s “presidential glow”, which inspired him to take his religious career into the political sphere. He notes how the Roe v. Wade decision invited the evangelical world into the sphere of politics. Up until Roe, many states had differing laws about abortion, but the Supreme Court decision allowed evangelicals to come together to form a stable pro-life movement.

When did evangelicals become present in the political discussion? Why were evangelicals so “gun-ho” to get rid of Roe v. Wade? Does Trump represent a cliff that evangelical America fell off of? Why did Trump choose to align with evangelicals?

Further Reading:

‘My Third Conversion’: Rev. Rob Schenck On Why He Took On Gun Control, from NPR. 

Rev. Rob Schenck’s website

Costly Grace: An Evangelical Minister’s Rediscovery of Faith, Hope, and Love, written by Rob Schenck

The Dietrich Bonhoeffer Institute website

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