# Christianity Today The flagship magazine of establishment evangelicalism in the United States — founded in 1956 by [[Billy Graham]] and theologian Carl F. H. Henry as the magazine of the post-WWII "neo-evangelical" project (a Reformed-leaning, intellectually-credentialed evangelicalism distinct from both fundamentalism and mainline Protestantism), now operated by Christianity Today International (a 501(c)(3) headquartered in Carol Stream, Illinois). The magazine has historically been the closest thing to an evangelical *Time* or *Atlantic* — a serious general-circulation publication that covers theology, missions, politics, culture, and ecumenical questions for a broadly-evangelical readership without aligning explicitly with any one denomination or faction. CT's significance in the contemporary [[Christian Nationalism Ecosystem]] runs through its role as the **establishment-evangelical opinion organ** at the precise moment that "establishment evangelicalism" is itself being contested. The December 2019 anti-Trump editorial by then-editor Mark Galli — calling for Trump's removal from office over the first impeachment — generated intense backlash from large segments of the evangelical readership and crystallized the magazine's positioning as a Never-Trump establishment-evangelical voice. Galli's successor [[Russell Moore]] (editor-in-chief since 2022) has continued and deepened that positioning. The magazine's circulation has remained strong, but its readership has narrowed toward the moderate-evangelical / TGC-adjacent / never-Trump segment of the broader evangelical world; mass-market evangelicals who supported Trump have substantially shifted to other outlets. For the Right Wing KB, CT functions as the **establishment-evangelical opposition organ** of the [[Christian Nationalism Ecosystem]]. Tracking CT's editorial positions, board composition, advertiser base, and circulation patterns over time is a useful empirical proxy for how establishment evangelicalism is responding to the Christian-Nationalist turn — a partial parallel to tracking [[The Gospel Coalition]]'s editorial trajectory, but with broader readership and more direct political journalism. ## Founding and the Neo-Evangelical Project (1956) **[[Billy Graham]]** and theologian **Carl F. H. Henry** founded *Christianity Today* in **1956** as the flagship publication of the **neo-evangelical** movement — a post-WWII effort to create a culturally engaged, intellectually serious evangelicalism distinct from both separatist fundamentalism (which rejected engagement with mainstream culture and scholarship) and mainline Protestantism (which neo-evangelicals viewed as theologically compromised). Henry, a Fuller Seminary theologian, served as the magazine's first editor. Graham provided financial backing, fundraising connections, and the celebrity credibility that gave the magazine its initial audience. The magazine was originally headquartered in **Washington, D.C.** (reflecting Henry's vision of evangelical engagement with national politics and culture) before relocating to **Carol Stream, Illinois** — in the western suburbs of Chicago, near [[Wheaton College]], which functioned as the geographic and institutional center of the neo-evangelical world. ## Editorial Leadership CT's editorial trajectory maps the broader arc of establishment evangelicalism: **Carl F. H. Henry (1956–1968):** Founding editor. Established CT's intellectual tone — theologically conservative, culturally engaged, politically aware but not partisan. Henry's editorial vision was explicitly anti-fundamentalist: evangelicals should engage with mainstream culture and scholarship rather than retreat from it. **Harold Lindsell (1968–1978):** Shifted the magazine rightward on the inerrancy question. Lindsell's 1976 book *The Battle for the Bible* — arguing that inerrancy was the non-negotiable marker of evangelical identity — was published during his CT editorship and contributed to the doctrinal polarization that fueled the SBC's Conservative Resurgence. **Kenneth Kantzer (1978–1982)** and subsequent editors maintained CT's position as the broad-tent evangelical opinion magazine through the Reagan era, the [[Moral Majority]] period, and the 1990s culture wars. **Mark Galli (2012–2020):** Editor whose tenure culminated in the most consequential editorial in CT's history. **[[Russell Moore]] (2022–):** Current editor-in-chief, appointed after his departure from the SBC's [[Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission]]. ## The Galli Editorial (December 19, 2019) On **December 19, 2019**, editor **Mark Galli** published an editorial titled **"Trump Should Be Removed from Office"** — calling for Trump's removal following the first impeachment, arguing that Trump's conduct was "profoundly immoral" and that evangelical support for him was damaging the movement's moral witness. The editorial was the most explosive intervention in CT's 63-year history. The reaction was immediate and polarizing. **[[Franklin Graham]]** (Billy Graham's son and BGEA president) publicly rebuked CT, stating that his father would have been "disappointed" in the editorial and that Graham had voted for Trump. Approximately **2,000 subscribers canceled** in the days following publication, but CT also gained subscribers — the magazine reported a net subscriber increase in the subsequent months, though the subscriber base shifted toward the moderate-evangelical / never-Trump demographic. The Galli editorial crystallized CT's positioning as a **never-Trump establishment-evangelical voice** — a position that the Moore editorship has continued and deepened. ## The Russell Moore Era (2022–) Moore was named editor-in-chief in **2022**, bringing his public profile, his SBC-controversy backstory, and his explicitly anti-CN editorial positioning. Under Moore, CT has published extensive coverage of [[Christian Nationalism]] as a phenomenon (multiple reported and opinion pieces, 2022–2026), continued investigative reporting on the SBC sexual-abuse crisis (led by reporter **Bob Smietana** and others), and maintained its positioning as the journal of record for moderate-to-progressive evangelicalism. ## Circulation and Reach CT's trajectory reflects the broader magazine-industry transition from print to digital: - **Peak print circulation:** approximately **250,000–300,000** in the late 20th century - **Current combined reach:** print circulation has declined substantially (estimated **80,000–100,000**), but digital subscriptions, website traffic, and podcast audiences have partially compensated. The CT website generates significant traffic, and the magazine's podcast portfolio (including *The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill*, a breakout investigative podcast that was one of 2021's most-downloaded) has expanded its audience. ## Institutional Relationships **[[Wheaton College]]:** CT and Wheaton share geographic proximity (Carol Stream is adjacent to Wheaton, Illinois) and institutional-cultural overlap — Wheaton is the flagship institution of neo-evangelical higher education, and CT is its journal of record. The relationship is cultural rather than formal: CT is not a Wheaton publication, but the two institutions draw from the same constituency and share a broadly similar theological-political positioning. **[[The Gospel Coalition]]:** Overlapping readership and overlapping contributors, but distinct institutional positioning. TGC is a pastor-theologian network with a confessional statement; CT is a journalistic publication with editorial independence. Both occupy the "establishment-evangelical" lane, but CT's journalism function gives it a different institutional logic than TGC's theological-network function. ## KB Significance CT is the **establishment-evangelical media institution** in the [[Christian Nationalism Ecosystem]] — significant not as a CN actor but as the highest-profile institutional opponent of explicit CN within evangelicalism. The Galli editorial and the Moore editorship represent the clearest institutional articulation of the position that evangelicalism and partisan Trumpism are incompatible. Tracking CT's editorial trajectory, subscriber base, and advertiser composition is a useful empirical proxy for the health and institutional durability of the anti-CN evangelical establishment. ## See Also - [[Russell Moore]] - [[Billy Graham]] - [[The Gospel Coalition]] - [[Wheaton College]] - [[Christian Nationalism Ecosystem]]