Popular action heroes supplied evangelical masculinity’s core imagery

Evidence

Eldredge opened his book with a portion of Matthew 11:12: “The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force.” Much of his inspiration, however, came from popular culture. It wasn’t women, after all, who made Braveheart one of the best-selling movies that decade. Mel Gibson’s William Wallace was one of Eldredge’s favorite heroes, but the American cowboy also occupied a special place in Eldredge’s vision of masculinity. The cowboy embodied a yearning every man felt, the desire “to ‘go West,’” to be “wild, dangerous, unfettered and free.” Eldredge also showcased the heroic masculinity of Teddy Roosevelt, tenacious American soldiers, Indiana Jones, James Bond, and Bruce Willis in Die Hard. — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne, 398

Categorization

• SEED: Direct evidence for Du Mez’s method: the theology’s defining images come from Hollywood (Braveheart, Die Hard, Indiana Jones), not exegesis — the scriptural verse is window dressing for a cultural idol. This is the load-bearing example for the book’s thesis.