Over 170 renowned pastors and evangelical leaders signed a letter to Christianity Today President Dr. Timothy Dalrymple.
The letter comes in response to CT's recent editorial calling for the removal of U.S. President Donald Trump after the House impeached him.
In the CT editorial, Editor-in-Chief Mark Galli calls Trump's actions "profoundly immoral" and cites the evangelical magazine's founder, Billy Graham, and his integrity as part of the reason for speaking out as a publication.
But many in the conservative evangelical community did not agree with Galli. Franklin Graham publicly rebuked CT for criticizing Trump and using his father's name in the piece.
The letter, signed by over 170 pastors and Christian influencers, expresses a similar dissatisfaction with CT. Charisma News received a copy of the letter via email.
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Several notable Pentecostal/charismatic leaders signed the letter, including former Assemblies of God General Superintendent George O. Wood, the Church of God's Tim Hill, Cindy Jacobs, Pastor Paula White Cain, Pastor Greg Laurie, Pastor Jentezen Franklin, Bishop Harry R. Jackson, Pastor Robert Morris, pro-life activist Alveda King and more.
Signers also included Christian music artists like Michael Tait and Danny Gokey as well as evangelical leaders such as Dr. James Dobson, Liberty University President Jerry Falwell, Pastor Robert Jeffress and Family Research Council's Tony Perkins.
The letter was delivered to Dalrymple via email on Sunday, Dec. 22, according to Rev. Johnnie Moore.
Below, read the full letter followed by a list of those who signed it:
Dr. Dalrymple,
We write collectively to express our dissatisfaction with the editorial Christianity Today published on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2019 calling for the removal of our duly elected president, who was put into office at the behest of over 60 million voters.
It was astonishing to us that your editor-in-chief, Mark Galli, further offensively dismissed our point of view on CNN by saying,
"Christianity Today is not read by the people—Christians on the far right, by evangelicals on the far right—so they're going to be as dismissive of the magazine as President Trump has shown to be."
It also came to our attention, that Mr. Galli has written other statements about Americans who chose Donald Trump over Secretary Clinton in 2016, referring to them as
"These other evangelicals [who] often haven't finished college, and if they have jobs, and apparently most of them don't, they are blue-collar jobs or entry level work" as he describes himself with pride as an "elite evangelical."
Of course, it's up to your publication to decide whether or not your magazine intends to be a voice of evangelicals like those represented by the signatories below, and it is up to us and those evangelicals like us to decide if we should subscribe to, advertise in and read your publication online and in print, but historically, we have been your readers.
We are, in fact, not "far-right" evangelicals, as characterized by the author.
Rather, we are Bible-believing Christians and patriotic Americans who are simply grateful that our president has sought our advice as his administration has advanced policies that protect the unborn, promote religious freedom, reform our criminal justice system, contribute to strong working families through paid family leave, protect the freedom of conscience, prioritize parental rights and ensure that our foreign policy aligns with our values while making our world safer, including through our support of the state of Israel.
We are not theocrats, and we recognize that our imperfect political system is a reflection of the fallen world within which we live, reliant upon the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is freely given to sinner and saint, alike.
We are proud to be numbered among those in history who, like Jesus, have been pretentiously accused of having too much grace for tax collectors and sinners, and we take deeply our personal responsibility to render unto Caesar what is Caesar's—our public service.
The editorial you published, without any meaningful and immediate regard for dissenting points of view, not only supported the entirely partisan, legally dubious and politically motivated impeachment but went even further, calling for Donald Trump not to be elected again in 2020 when he certainly survives impeachment.
As one of our signatories said to the press, "I hope Christianity Today will now tell us who they will support for president among the 2020 Democrat field?"
Your editorial offensively questioned the spiritual integrity and Christian witness of tens of millions of believers who take seriously their civic and moral obligations.
It not only targeted our president; it also targeted those of us who support him and have supported you.
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