QAnon, Chaos, and the Cross

March 20, 2023
Contributors take aim at the intersection of Christianity and conspiracy theories in this eye-opening anthology edited by Austin (God and Guns in America), a philosophy professor at Eastern Kentucky University, and Bock (coeditor, Righteous Indignation), a philosophy and religion professor at the University of Texas at Tyler. One contribution analyzes how QAnon adopts Christian rhetoric to advance its aims by fashioning metaphors of “spiritual warfare” that frame adherents as “soldiers in an ongoing war of cosmic significance” and utilizing Christian nationalist tropes. Another suggests ways individuals can use faith to combat conspiracy theories, since the knowledge “that Jesus is in control” can make it easier to trust “authorities in their specific areas of expertise,” though a healthy skepticism should still be exercised. Elsewhere, a meandering entry tracks a parent’s quest to raise children in a church culture rampant with disinformation and suggests that the act of learning is a “neglected spiritual discipline.” Contributors cast an admirably wide net, examining conspiracy theories and the church from theological, political, philosophical, and educational standpoints, and while some entries are stronger than others (a section that charts the ways technology enables the spread of misinformation, for example, is less than groundbreaking), all will provoke thought and discussion. This is a fascinating, timely outing.

Starred review from April 1, 2023

Austin and Brock have assembled an anthology of 24 articles from evangelicals in diverse fields in an attempt to understand why many white evangelicals subscribe to recent right-wing conspiracy theories. Topics include conspiracy-theory characteristics; the distinguishing factors of real conspiracies; the relationships between evangelicalism and science, culture, and authority; the role of scripture, faith, and reason in evaluating conspiratorial claims; and the various tensions that exist within the evangelical community. This book provides feasible and positive ways for non-conspiratorial evangelicals to handle the conflicts and divided congregations. Individual articles stand on their own, but there is also no sense of a mea culpa. VERDICT This book treats conspiracy theories like an aberration, instead of confronting the possibility that recent events might be a natural development within the evangelical movement itself.--James Wetherbee

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