Russell D. Moore
Russell D. Moore | |
---|---|
8th President of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission | |
In office June 1, 2013 – June 1, 2021 | |
Vice President | Phillip Bethancourt |
Preceded by | Richard Land |
Succeeded by | Brent Leatherwood |
Personal details | |
Born | Biloxi, Mississippi, U.S. | October 9, 1971
Spouse | Maria Hanna Moore |
Children | Benjamin, Timothy, Samuel, Jonah, and Taylor Moore |
Residence(s) | Brentwood, Tennessee, U.S. |
Education | Ph.D., Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; M.Div., New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary; B.S., University of Southern Mississippi |
Occupation | Editor-in-Chief of Christianity Today |
Website | www.russellmoore.com |
Russell D. Moore (born 9 October 1971) is an American theologian, ethicist, and preacher. In June 2021, he became the director of the Public Theology Project at Christianity Today, and on August 4, 2022, was announced as the magazine's incoming Editor-in-Chief.[1]
Moore previously served as president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, the public-policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), and at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, as dean of the School of Theology, senior vice president for academic administration, and as professor of theology and ethics.[2]
Early life and education
Moore was born and raised in the coastal town of Biloxi, Mississippi, the eldest son of Gary and Renee Moore. His grandfather was a Baptist preacher, and his grandmother was Roman Catholic.[3] He earned a B.S. in political science and history from the University of Southern Mississippi, an M.Div. in biblical studies from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. in systematic theology from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.[3]
Ministry
Moore served as associate pastor of Bay Vista Baptist Church in Biloxi, where he was ordained to gospel ministry.[4]
In 2001, Moore was appointed to the faculty of the
In 2008, he became pastor at Highview Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky until 2012.[7] More broadly, Moore has served extensively within the Southern Baptist Convention, as chairman and four-time member of the Resolutions committee, as a member of the Ethics and Public Affairs Committee of the Kentucky Baptist Convention, and as a regular correspondent and columnist for Baptist Press.
ERLC Presidency
On June 1, 2013, Moore became President of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, the Southern Baptist Convention's official entity assigned to address social, moral, and ethical concerns.[3] In this role, Moore led the organization, which maintains offices in both Nashville and Washington, D.C. in their advocacy efforts—addressing especially the issues of religious liberty, human dignity, family stability, and civil society.
Moore believes marriage is a union between a man and a woman. He accepted an invitation from Pope Francis to attend a Colloquium on Marriage at the Vatican, where he spoke on 18 November 2014.[8]
In 2014, Moore commented on
Moore's vocal criticism of then-candidate Donald Trump during the 2016 election season drew a backlash from fellow Southern Baptists, triggering a crisis in which more than 100 churches threatened to withdraw donations to the denomination's Cooperative Program in protest of Moore's stances and leading to calls for his resignation.[10] After Moore issued statements of apology in December 2016 and March 2017 for "using words… that were at times overly broad or unnecessarily harsh," Southern Baptist leaders affirmed their support for his leadership and he remained in his post.[11]
Moore resigned from the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission at the end of his term as president. He left the Southern Baptist Convention as well soon afterward; on June 1, 2021; Immanuel Nashville, an nondenominational church, thus unaffiliated with the SBC, announced Moore had joined its staff as a pastor in residence.[12]
Christianity Today
Following his departure from the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, Moore was hired as a public theologian for the magazine Christianity Today.[13] In 2022, he was named Christianity Today's Editor in Chief following the resignation of previous editor Mark Galli.[14][15]
Personal views
Moore has spoken out against the
Nationalism and the Syrian refugee crisis
In 2015, during the
Theological views
Moore writes from the perspective of a Baptist who affirms the
He works in the area of Christian eschatology, highlighting the kingdom of God as the center of theology and ethics.[24] Moore believes in an "inaugurated eschatology" in which the Kingdom of God is "already" and "not yet."[25] Consistent with this position, he sees Jesus Christ as the full inheritor of God's promises to Israel, and that the church receives the benefits of this as it is "in" Christ.[26] Moore emphasizes the kingdom as a spiritual warfare uprooting the demonic powers, an emphasis that shows up not only in his works on the kingdom and on temptation but also in his writings on, for example, orphan care.[27]
Moore has written about issues of ethics and religious liberty. In his early work, he argued for the early Baptist commitment to religious liberty represented by such figures as Isaac Backus, John Leland, and Jeremiah Moore, over against those who would articulate a more secularist understanding of the separation of church and state.[28]
In ethics, Moore stands within the
He has called on evangelicals, especially Southern Baptists, to embrace racial reconciliation as a witness.[31]
Political background and involvement
In the early 1990s, prior to entering the ministry, Moore was an aide to
In 2016, Moore became a leading critic of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump. Moore asserted that in the event of a presidential election contest between Trump and Hillary Clinton, Christians should vote for "a conservative independent or third-party candidate."[32] Moore stated that he could not support the former because he "stirs up racial animosity" and could not support the latter for her support of abortion.[32] Writing in National Review in January 2016, Moore wrote that a Trump presidency would endanger the goals of the Manhattan Declaration; criticized Trump's involvement in the casino industry and past support for abortion rights; and argued that "Trump's vitriolic — and often racist and sexist — language about immigrants, women, the disabled, and others ought to concern anyone who believes that all persons, not just the 'winners' of the moment, are created in God's image."[33]
Personal life
On May 27, 1994, Moore married Maria Hanna Moore. Having adopted their first two sons from a Russian orphanage, Moore has written and spoken extensively on the topic of adoption from a Christian perspective, including his book Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families and Churches. They also have three biological sons.
Recognition
In 2015, his book, Onward: Engaging the Culture Without Losing the Gospel, received the "Beautiful Orthodoxy Book of the Year" award from Christianity Today.[34]
In 2016, he was named alumnus of the year by the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.[35]
Select bibliography
Books authored
- Moore, Russell D. (2004). The Kingdom of Christ: The New Evangelical Perspective. Crossway. ISBN 978-1-581-34627-5.
- ——— (2009). Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families and Churches. Crossway. ISBN 978-1-581-34911-5.
- ——— (2011). Tempted and Tried: Temptation and the Triumph of Christ. Crossway. ISBN 978-1-433-51597-2.
- ——— (2015). Onward: Engaging the Culture Without Losing the Gospel. Broadman & Holman. ISBN 978-1-43368617-7.
- ——— (2016). The Christ-Shaped Marriage: Love, Fidelity, and the Gospel. Broadman & Holman. ISBN 978-1-43367912-4.
- ——— (2018). The Storm-Tossed Family: How the Cross Reshapes the Home. B&H Books. ISBN 978-1462794805.
- ——— (2020). The Courage to Stand: Facing Your Fear without Losing Your Soul. ISBN 978-1535998536.
- ——— (2023). Losing Our Religion. Penguin. ISBN 978-0-593-54178-4.
Books edited
- ———; OCLC 45861873.
- ———, ed. (2012). A Guide to Adoption and Orphan Care. SBTS Press. ISBN 978-0-615-61919-4.
References
- ^ "CT Names Russell Moore Editor in Chief".
- ^ See "Russell D. Moore." The Writers Directory, St. James Press, 2018.
- ^ a b c Aaron Cline Hanbury, Russell Moore: the call to ministry & the public square, baptistpress.com, USA, May 30, 2013
- ^ Jeff Robinson, SBTS profs on first pastorate: Russell D. Moore, news.sbts.edu, USA, September 18, 2009
- ^ Kay Campbell, Russell Moore chosen as president of Southern Baptists' Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, al.com, USA, March 27, 2013
- ^ "Russell Moore to Join Christianity Today to Lead New Public Theology Project". Christianity Today. May 18, 2021. Archived from the original on April 12, 2024.
- ^ Kay Campbell, Russell Moore chosen as president of Southern Baptists' Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, al.com, USA, 27 mars 2013
- ^ Russell Moore speaks on gospel and marriage at Vatican, ERLC, 18 November 2014]
- ^ a b c "Evangelical Leader Russell Moore Denounces 'Ex-Gay Therapy'". The Huffington Post. 28 October 2014. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
- Washington Post. Archived from the originalon March 13, 2017. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
- ^ Moody, Chris (July 2017). "The survival of a Southern Baptist who dared to oppose Trump". CNN Politics. Retrieved 2021-06-22.
- ^ Adelle M. Banks, Russell Moore parts from Southern Baptists personally as well as professionally, religionnews.com, USA, June 2, 2021
- ^ Mark Wingfield, Russell Moore leaves ERLC for Christianity Today, highlighting the new schism within SBC, baptistnews.com, USA, May 19, 2021
- ^ "Russell Moore named editor in chief of Christianity Today". 4 August 2022.
- ^ Bob Smietana, Russell Moore named Christianity Today editor, religionnews.com, USA, August 5, 2022
- ^ a b Sarah Pulliam Bailey & Karen Tumulty, How a Southern Baptist leader became surprising voice on Confederate flag, The Washington Post (June 24, 2015).
- Washington Post. Archived from the originalon September 4, 2017. Retrieved August 14, 2017.
- ^ Ed Kilgore, Is Anyone Listening to Russell Moore in Iowa?, Washington Monthly (November 20, 2015).
- ^ a b Russell Moore, Stop pitting security and compassion against each other in the Syrian refugee crisis, Washington Post (November 19, 2015).
- ^ Russell Moore, "Why I'm a Happy Evangelical," [10 December 2005]. Online.
- ^ Russell Moore, "After Patriarchy, What? Why Egalitarians are Winning the Evangelical Gender Debate," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 49 (Fall 2006): 569-76; idem, "Pastoral Leadership and the Gender Issue: What Does Courage Look Like?" [21 February 2008].
- ^ Klett, Leah MarieAnn (February 25, 2020). "Russell Moore warns against downplaying 'awful' nature of Hell to non-believers". The Christian Post.
- ^ Sanneh, Kelefa (October 31, 2016). "The New Evangelical Moral Minority". The New Yorker.
- ^ Russell Moore, "Kingdom First: How the Reign of Christ Transforms Our Lives, Our Churches, and Our World," [8 September 2008]. Online.
- ^ Russell Moore, "The Evangelical Uneasy Conscience Faces the Future," [22 January 2012]. Online.
- ^ "http://www.russellmoore.com/documents/russellmoore/SBJT_2007Winter2.pdf From the House of Jacob to the Iowa Coaucuses: The Future of Israel in Contemporary Evangelical Political Ethics." Southern Baptist Journal of Theology, Winter, 2007. pg. 17.
- ^ Russell D. Moore, "Triumph of the Warrior King: A Theology of the Great Commission." Online.
- ^ Russell D. Moore, "Baptist After All: Resurgent Conservatives Face the Future," in Why I am a Baptist (ed. Tom J. Nettles and Russell D. Moore; Nashville: B&H, 2001), 233-46.
- ^ Russell D. Moore and Robert E. Sagers, "The Kingdom of God and the Church: A Baptist Reassessment," The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology 12 (Spring 2008): 68-86
- ^ Russell Moore, "Orphan Care and the Great Commission Resurgence," [26 June 2009]. Online; Southern Baptist Convention, "On Adoption and Orphan Care," [June 2009]. Online; Russell Moore, "Immigration and the Gospel," [17 June 2011]. Online.
- ^ Russell Moore.Black and White and Red All Over: Why Racial Justice is a Gospel Issue," [12 June 2012]. Online; idem, "Race and the Gospel in Mississippi," [30 July 2012]. Online.
- ^ a b Alexander Burns, Anti-Trump Republicans Call for a Third-Party Option, New York Times (March 2, 2016).
- ^ Symposium: Conservatives Against Trump, National Review (January 21, 2016).
- ^ CT, The Beautiful Orthodoxy Book of the Year, christianitytoday.com, USA, December 16, 2015
- ^ Andrew J.W. Smith, Russell Moore awarded alumnus of the year at annual SBTS luncheon, news.sbts.edu, USA, June 16, 2016
External links
- Official website
- Editorial board Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine at Touchstone Magazine
- Appearances on C-SPAN