Stealing Jesus: How Fundamentalism Betrays Christianity

In a time when the very name of Jesus Christ is being manipulated and weaponized for cultural control and partisan gain, Bruce Bawer’s "Stealing Jesus: How Fundamentalism Betrays Christianity" emerges as a prophetic warning, and a necessary call to repentance. Originally published in the late 1990s, Bawer’s groundbreaking book examined the troubling theological and political trajectory of American Evangelicalism and its far-right tendencies. What once read as a sobering analysis has now become a diagnosis of our current crisis. 

The book exposes how fundamentalist and far-right Evangelical leaders in America have not merely misinterpreted the Gospel, they have co-opted jesus Himself, refashioning Him into a symbol of empire, nationalism, and social control. Through the misuse of Scripture, the cultivation of fear, and the relentless pursuit of power, they have erected a false Christ, one made in their own image, who bears no resemblance to the Jesus of the Gospels. This is not just a theological error; it is a spiritual catastrophe. 
 
A Tale of Two Christianities 
Bawer’s analysis centers on the struggle between two competing forms of Christianity in America: what he calls Legalistic Christianity and Emancipatory Christianity. 

Legalistic Christianity is driven by fear, submission, authoritarianism, and a rigid, moralistic theology rooted in threats of damnation. Its God is harsh and punitive. Its Jesus is an enforcer of religious conformity, more concerned with doctrinal purity and social order than with compassion or healing. This form of Christianity thrives in hierarchical structures, where pastors and preachers function more like war generals or demagogues than shepherds of souls. 

Emancipatory Christianity, by contrast, is rooted in love, justice, grace, and freedom. It is the faith of the early Church, of martyrs and mystics, of Christ who ate with sinners, touched lepers, and forgave even His executioners. It sees salvation not as a narrow escape route from hell, but as union with God and transformation into His likeness. This is the Christianity of the Sermon on the Mount, of the radical compassion of the Good Samaritan, and of the endless mercy shown in the parable of the Prodigal Son. 

Bawer argues that the tragedy of modern American Christianity lies in the ascendancy of the former at the expense of the latter. In the hands of Legalistic Christianity, the Gospel has been stripped of its power to liberate and replaced with a set of rules, identities, and ideologies designed to divide, dominate, and condemn. 
 
Jesus the Outsider vs. Jesus the Nationalist Mascot 
The true Jesus, the one revealed in the Gospels, is an outsider. He is born in poverty, rejected by His own people, executed by the state, and raised in obscurity. He comes not to dominate but to serve. He turns over the tables of injustice and calls the powerful to account. He stands in solidarity with the broken, the sick, the marginalized, and the poor. 

But the Jesus preached in many far-right Evangelical circles today is an entirely different figure. He is a muscular, nationalistic strongman. He waves a flag, endorses militarism, and upholds the “Christian values” of white, middle-class America. He demands blind loyalty to the state, supports the death penalty, champions capitalism, and scorns the weak. In this false gospel, immigrants are threats, LGBTQ+ people are abominations, and poverty is a moral failure.
 
In short, the Jesus of Christian Nationalism is a far cry from the crucified Messiah. He is a tribal god, exclusive, vengeful, and violent, used to justify war, racism, misogyny, and the idolization of political leaders. This isn’t just a distortion. It is blasphemy.  
 
The Rise of the Religious Right 
Bawer tracks how this corruption took root through the rise of the Religious Right in the late 20th century. Figures like Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and James Dobson reframed Christianity not as a spiritual path toward holiness but as a political campaign for moral dominance. Through media empires, political lobbying, and culture wars, they forged an alliance between fundamentalist religion and right-wing power. 

This alliance sought to control not only personal behavior but entire political structures. Christianity became associated with Republican talking points, and salvation became inseparable from nationalism. Sermons echoed cable news. The pulpit became a platform not for the Gospel but for the culture war. 

The long-term consequences have been devastating. American Christianity has become a stumbling block for many. Millennials and Gen Z are abandoning the Church in record numbers, not because they reject Jesus, but because they long for Him and cannot find Him in the churches that claim to speak for Him. They see hypocrisy, judgment, and hatred, and want nothing to do with it. Who can blame them? 
 
The Theological Coup 
One of Bawer’s greatest contributions is showing how this takeover was not just political but theological. In place of the living, resurrected Christ, fundamentalists offered a theological system that revolved around sin management, eternal threats, and correct beliefs. Jesus became a tool to escape hell, not a Person to be known and followed. 

In this paradigm, Christianity became transactional: say a prayer, assent to the right doctrines, and you’re in. No transformation. No love of enemy. No mercy for the vulnerable. Only certainty, exclusion, and fear. 

This is not the Gospel. It is a betrayal of everything Jesus taught.
 
From an Eastern Orthodox perspective, such a view is not just misguided, it is spiritually harmful. The Orthodox Church teaches that salvation is not about escaping punishment but about healing the human soul. It is not a courtroom drama but a hospital for sinners. The goal is theosis, union with God, through repentance, humility, and love. 
 
A Call to Recover the Real Jesus 
The time has come to take Jesus back, not for ourselves, but for the sake of the world. The real Jesus does not belong to any political party. He is not a mascot for any nation or ideology. He belongs to the poor, the oppressed, the refugee, the imprisoned, the outcast. 

As Orthodox Christians, we must lift up the real Christ: 
The Christ of the desert, not the megachurch. 
The Christ of the Cross, not the Capitol. 
The Christ of peace, not political conquest. 
The Christ of radical forgiveness, not retributive justice. 

Let us return to the Gospels, to the Fathers, to the Divine Liturgy. Let us show the world a different way of being Christian, not one rooted in fear and dogma, but one that reflects the radiant love of God poured out in the face of Jesus Christ. 

To those who are disillusioned and hurt: He has not changed. He still calls out to you in the silence. Not in the noise of the crowd, but in the still small voice within. He is with the brokenhearted, not the braggarts. He weeps for the Church, even as He prepares to cleanse the temple once again. 
 
Final Thoughts: A Prophetic Warning and a Sacred Invitation 
Stealing Jesus is not just a critique of the Religious Right. It is a plea, a cry, for the soul of Christianity itself. It is a warning to the Church and a comfort to the wounded. It exposes the heresy of Christian Nationalism and calls us to repent. 

This is not merely a political issue. It is a matter of faithfulness. Will we follow the real Jesus, or the one they have created in their image? 

Let us take courage. Let us speak out. Let us recover the beauty and truth of the Gospel, not as domination, but as invitation. Not as judgment, but as healing. Not as fear, but as love. 

The Church is not a voting bloc. It is the Body of Christ. And our mission is clear: 
To proclaim the Good News to the poor. 
To bind up the brokenhearted. 
To set the captives free. 
To love the unlovable. 
To walk humbly with our God. 

And when the true Jesus comes, may He find us waiting, not with weapons and walls, but with open arms and burning hearts. 

“Let anyone with ears to hear, listen.” (Luke 8:8)