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Reading the Exvangelicals

June 12th, 2024 | 7 min read

By Miles Smith

In the aftermath of the Trumpist takeover of the Republican Party, evangelicals of all sorts have reevaluated their political commitments and the relationship of politics to the church and religion broadly. Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of this reevaluation is the entrance of a particular type of book, the exvangelical memoir, into the lexicon of popular religious publishing. Accompanying these exvangelical memoirs are a similar group of works, usually committed to arguing against so-called Christian nationalism, which have become fashionable as well. There are similarities between the works, but for this article's purpose I've chosen to focus on exvangelical memoirs. I'm defining these as works from people who historically identified as evangelical or who grew up in evangelical circles that have publicly disclaimed the movement.

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Miles Smith

Dr. Miles Smith IV is a historian of the American South and native Carolinian. Follow him on Twitter @ivmiles.