Evangelical manhood doctrine fused Christlikeness with ruthlessness

Evidence

Cole couched his call for Christian manhood in the language of the prosperity gospel. By following God’s plan, men would “enjoy Canaan land” in every part of their lives—their marriages and families, their professional and financial lives. They would “live the life of maximized manhood.” Cole believed men had three purposes: to guide, guard, and govern, and to fulfill these roles men needed to be “both tender and tough.” Jesus was a perfect balance of the two; the same man who drew little children to himself “gripped that scourge of cords and drove the money-changers out of the temple.” Cole had no use for “sissified” portraits of Jesus that failed to reveal his true character. “Christlikeness and manhood are synonymous,” he insisted, and to be Christlike, to be a man, required “a certain ruthlessness.” — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne, 294

Categorization

• DEFINE: Cole redefines manhood as guide/guard/govern and Christlikeness as requiring ruthlessness — core content of the masculine ideal.
• XREF: The ‘tender and tough’ Jesus with a whip connects to the reader’s broader project on how religious communities domesticate violent scripture — parallels the temple-clearing passage in Mark/John that gets weaponized. — connects to: American conservative Christianity exalts a hypermasculine, militarized image of Jesus. — Katherine Stewart, The Power Worshippers: Inside the…, 347