A fringe figure entered evangelical mainstream as militant masculinity rose.

Evidence

In the 1990s, given the audacity of Wilson’s claims, his geographic isolation, and his preference for building his own empire on his own terms, it would be right to place him at the very fringes of American evangelicalism. But by the 2000s, with the rise of New Calvinism, the growing popularity of “biblical patriarchy,” and the turn toward increasingly militant models of masculinity, Wilson found himself within shouting distance of the evangelical mainstream. Wilson hadn’t softened his views or toned down his rhetoric, but this didn’t seem to exclude him from polite company. Not all evangelical leaders approved of his style, but many considered it forgivable. Some found it commendable. — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne, 460

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the chapter’s broader method of tracking the mainstreaming of radical evangelicals via cultural winds; relevant to contesting the dominant-strand-vs-strand distinction.