Respected leaders vouched for radical figures despite racial controversy.

Evidence

John Piper helped smooth Wilson’s path from the outer edges into more respectable circles. In 2009, Piper invited Wilson to speak at his Desiring God Conference. Suppressing a bit of a chuckle, Piper noted that Wilson had a way with language, that he was a “risk taker,” but Wilson got the gospel right. With his “unflinching, unashamed commitment to the Bible,” there was much to like in Doug Wilson. When controversy surfaced around Wilson’s views on race, Piper again came to his defense. In a video that was at times almost flippant, Piper pushed back against those who had “perceived” Wilson to have minimized the horrors of slavery. He assured viewers that “Doug hates racism from the core of his gospel soul,” and declared his readiness “to stand with him even if there are differences in historical judgments” concerning the Civil War and the best way to end slavery. — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne, 461

Categorization

• XREF: Piper’s defense of Wilson over slavery connects to the book’s broader argument about racial politics within white evangelicalism; a key data point for the continuity thesis.