# Russell Moore Editor-in-Chief of *Christianity Today* since 2022 and former president (2013–2021) of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & [[Religious Liberty]] Commission. Moore has been the most publicly prominent **Southern Baptist Never Trump voice** — a Reformed-Calvinist evangelical who declined to support [[Donald Trump]] in 2016 (publicly, repeatedly, and as the official ethics voice of the largest Protestant denomination in the United States), maintained that posture through 2020 and 2024, and whose tenure at the ERLC was the principal target of the [[Tom Ascol]] / [[Founders Ministries]] / [[Conservative Baptist Network]] insurgency that ultimately drove him from the position in 2021. The fight over Moore's ERLC was the most consequential SBC institutional battle of the Trump era and arguably reshaped the convention's center of gravity for at least a decade. Moore's positioning matters analytically because he represents the **establishment-evangelical resistance** to explicit [[Christian Nationalism]] from inside the SBC. His ERLC under his leadership took positions on immigration (pro-immigrant, anti-Trump-restrictionist), racial reconciliation (pro, with explicit anti-CRT-narrative pushback against the SBC right), Russian intelligence operations targeting evangelicals (Moore was an early voice flagging foreign-influence operations on the religious right), and Trump as a threat to Christian witness. Each of these positions made him a target for the Ascol / Founders / CBN coalition; his 2021 resignation letter (leaked, then released) accused SBC leaders of racism, sexual-abuse cover-ups, and political capture. Moore subsequently moved to *Christianity Today* — the flagship establishment-evangelical magazine — where he has continued to operate as the most prominent never-Trump evangelical-establishment voice. For the Right Wing KB, Moore is the **establishment-evangelical opposition pole** of the [[Christian Nationalism Ecosystem]] — analytically important precisely because his career maps the *failure* of establishment-evangelical resistance to the explicit-CN turn inside the SBC. The CBN insurgency won; Moore left. The post-Moore ERLC is a substantially different organization. Tracking Moore is tracking what establishment-evangelical opposition to CN looks like from inside the same theological tradition. ## Biography **Russell Dwayne Moore** was born **October 9, 1971** in **Biloxi, Mississippi**. He earned his B.S. from the University of Southern Mississippi, M.Div. from **New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary**, and **Ph.D. from [[Southern Baptist Theological Seminary]]** (2002, systematic theology — under [[Albert Mohler]]'s presidency). Moore's doctoral work on ecclesiology positioned him within the Reformed-Calvinist stream that Mohler was institutionalizing at SBTS. ## SBTS Dean (2004–2013) Mohler appointed Moore as **dean of the School of Theology** at SBTS in **2004** — a senior academic-leadership position that placed Moore within Mohler's institutional hierarchy. During this period, Moore developed his public voice as a commentator on ethics, culture, and politics from a Reformed-evangelical perspective. ## ERLC Presidency (2013–2021) Moore became president of the [[Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission]] in **2013** — succeeding the more politically-cautious era under interim leadership following [[Richard Land]]'s 2013 departure. Moore's ERLC took notably **public positions** on several issues that placed him at odds with the SBC's political base: **Immigration.** Moore advocated for comprehensive immigration reform, supported the Evangelical Immigration Table, and publicly opposed Trump-era restrictionist policies — a position that drew sustained criticism from the SBC right. **2016 election.** Moore published a **widely-read *New York Times* op-ed** in 2016 criticizing evangelical support for Trump and warning that aligning the gospel with Trump's moral character would damage Christian witness. The op-ed generated intense backlash within the SBC; multiple state conventions and large churches threatened to withhold Cooperative Program funds from the ERLC. **Racial reconciliation.** Moore pushed the SBC toward engagement with racial-justice questions — including a 2017 resolution condemning the alt-right — which the CBN/Founders coalition framed as capitulation to "CRT" and "social justice." **Russia and foreign influence.** Moore was an early voice flagging foreign-influence operations targeting American evangelicals (2017–2019), a position that placed him further at odds with the pro-Trump evangelical mainstream. ## The 2021 Departure Moore resigned from the ERLC in **June 2021** amid sustained institutional pressure. His **leaked resignation letter** — published by Religion News Service — accused SBC leaders of racism, sexual-abuse cover-ups, and political capture by the Trump movement. The letter specifically alleged that SBC Executive Committee leaders had prioritized institutional reputation over abuse-victim advocacy. The leak and its contents became the most explosive internal document in recent SBC history. More than **$1 million** in Cooperative Program contributions were withheld by CBN-aligned churches protesting Moore's ERLC positioning — demonstrating the financial leverage the insurgency wielded. ## Christianity Today (2022–) Moore joined [[Christianity Today]] as **editor-in-chief** in **2022** — succeeding Daniel Harrell and following Mark Galli's consequential December 2019 editorial calling for Trump's removal. The CT editorship positions Moore as the most prominent never-Trump evangelical-establishment voice in American religious media. His CT columns, Substack, and podcast output continue the anti-CN commentary. ## *Losing Our Religion* (2023) Moore published ***Losing Our Religion: An Altar Call for Evangelical America*** in **2023** — his account of the SBC fight and his broader argument that American evangelicalism has been captured by political tribalism at the expense of its theological mission. The book received extensive coverage in both religious and secular press. ## KB Significance Moore is the **establishment-evangelical opposition pole** of the [[Christian Nationalism Ecosystem]] — analytically important precisely because his career maps the *failure* of establishment-evangelical resistance to the explicit-CN turn inside the SBC. The CBN insurgency won; Moore left. His subsequent CT editorship represents the establishment-evangelical counter-voice operating from *outside* the SBC rather than from within. The Moore-Mohler-Ascol triangle is one of the most analytically productive frameworks for understanding the SBC's political-theological trajectory. ## See Also - [[Southern Baptist Convention]] - [[Albert Mohler]] - [[Tom Ascol]] - [[Founders Ministries]] - [[Christian Nationalism Ecosystem]] - [[Christian Nationalism]]