Republican Jesus

How the Right Has Rewritten the Gospels

By: Tony Keddie

Narrated by: Gary Roelofs

The complete guide to debunking right-wing misinterpretations of the Bible—from economics and immigration to gender and sexuality.

Jesus loves borders, guns, unborn babies, and economic prosperity while hating homosexuality, taxes, welfare, and universal healthcare—or so say many Republican politicians, pundits, and preachers. Through outrageous misreadings of the New Testament gospels that started almost a century ago, conservative influencers have conjured a version of Jesus who speaks to their fears, desires, and resentments.

In Republican Jesus, Tony Keddie explains not only where this right-wing Christ came from and what he stands for, but also why this version of Jesus is a fraud. By restoring Republicans’ cherry-picked gospel texts to their original literary and historical contexts, Keddie dismantles the biblical basis for Republican positions on hot-button issues like Big Government, taxation, abortion, immigration, and climate change. At the same time, he introduces listeners to an ancient Jesus whose life experiences and ethics were totally unlike those of modern Americans, conservatives, and liberals alike.

The book is published by University of California Press. The audiobook is published by University Press Audiobooks.

©2020 Tony Keddie (P)2023 Redwood Audiobooks

Well Researched, But Dry

I found this to be a very interesting listen, very well-researched, and enlightening. However, the narration was very slow and methodical. It made it difficult to listen to for a long period of time. I had to take it in small segments in order to fully grasp what was being presented.

Very Informative

The book emphasizes that the
authors of book of the Bible had a specific historical audience, context and purpose. These authors used their own language, writing methods, style of writing and literary form of writing. The author makes a convincing case of the how the Bible has been misinterpreted to fit extreme right wing causes in many cases in direct conflict with the actual meaning.

An investigation of how the church lost its way

This is an extensive investigation of what could perhaps be more aptly described as "corporate Christianity", showing how the simple message of the Gospel was subverted and distorted over the past century or so to support the interests of a powerful elite. If you have ever wondered how the Church in the west, especially in the US, has found itself in such a malaise of partisan politics, self-centred stony-heartedness, and downright denial of the foundational principles of the faith, Tony Keddie does an excellent job at revealing the forces at play that brought this about.

The information presented isn't always easy to accept, and the subversion of the gospel has taken place over multiple generations, yet we are now clearly seeing the results of the abandonment of the precepts of the simple gospel message, and the consequences are terrifying for the faith and for the planet. If we don't find the courage to admit that the Church, or at least the politicially powerful and socially vocal portion thereof, has well and truly lost its way, we'll never rediscover that simple, narrow pathway that leads to life.

About Like You’d Expect

There is an obvious “conservative vs progressive” divide within American Society that is playing out in the American Christian Church … and while I though that I generally identified as part of the conservative side, I find it difficult to understand how I ended up outside of both camps these days as they sling “proof text” at each other to illustrate why they are right and their opponents are wrong. Perhaps the greatest surprise is my perception of just how far the “right” has moved so far away from what I generally see as Christ’s message. I had hopes that this book would provides some answers to that puzzle … and it does a reasonably good job, although there are definitely some Biblical interpretations that seem to be stretched a bit too far, I didn’t see anything that is not actually supported in some form within academia; although it does lean toward a more secular viewpoint and that is probably the only weakness I found (making the author something of an outsider who sometimes gets some viewpoints and nuances wrong).

The book probably has the greatest appeal to nonpartisans who are open to the information presented and willing to evaluate for themselves whether on not the arguments presented make sense. Unfortunately, the author’s personal voice or judgement sometimes undermines some of the material presented, so it is not likely to convince many readers … either that are already on his side and diametrically opposed. Personally I found myself in agreement or neutral that opposed for most of what he had to say.

The chapters and sections in this work are:

Introduction (41:00)
Part One: Who Is Republican Jesus (54:48)
Part Two: Where Does Republican Jesus Come From? (48:29)
Chapter 3: A Corporate Assault not he New Deal (51:42)
Chapter 4: Tea and Prosperity in the Age of Trump (1:00:42)
Part Three: What Does Republican Jesus Stand For? (1:05:18)
Chapter 6: Charity (1:00:01)
Chapter 7: Church and State (51:10)
Chapter 8: Protection from Invaders (48:44)
Chapter 9: The End of the World (1:02:42)
Afterword (08:50)

I was given this free advance review/listener copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

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