Review: Disciples of White Jesus

Disciples of White Jesus: The Radicalization of American Boyhood

By Angela Denker (Broadleaf Books)

Recent research on Generation Z points to a generation adrift in anxiety, moving away from the church.

But an interesting shift occurred in 2024, a growing gap between young men and women who identify with Christianity—with more young men self-identifying as Christian than young women, for the first time since tracking such trends began.

More recent studies emphasize the trend, showing an uptick in young men who report Jesus is important in their lives. Yet, both young men and young women have continued to fall in other indicators of spiritual health, including regular church attendance.

More boys may be claiming Jesus, but do they know and follow the one we meet through the Holy Spirit and Scriptures?

When white men overwhelmingly are found to be holding the gun in mass casualty shootings, and white men are the most likely to die by suicide, it begs the question: what is going on with young, white men in this country?

Journalist and Lutheran pastor Angela Denker set out on a journey to investigate that question and shed light on what influences are shaping young, male Christians in the United States.

In her new book, Disciples of White Jesus: The Radicalization of American Boyhood, Denker said she focuses on white Christian men because they still hold an outsized number of leadership positions in government and industry and because she knows them best.

Her religious background is in a majority-white denomination with mostly men in church leadership, and her sports-writing career covering hockey brought her close to mostly white athletes, though with a Canadian bent, she noted.

Her book explores what influences have played into a crisis of radicalization among young Christian men of today’s United States and questions who they truly are following.

Denker noted concerns for her own young sons and her journalistic experience and pastoral ministry to predominately white Christians fueled her willingness and expertise to tackle this topic.

Denker approaches the difficult topic by examining theological and cultural shifts related to white Christian men. She also looks at specific communities who have seen an increased presence of extremism and digs into the background of a few young men who, at least for a season, epitomized radicalization. This approach is both a strength and weakness of the book.

It is enlightening to read about white supremacist groups settling in small Midwestern towns and to learn Dylan Roof had a background in church.

It’s challenging to consider where things might have gone wrong in his life, resulting in the hate-based murders of nine Mother Emanuel AME Church members in Charleston, S.C. Denker helps her readers think about the impact of his violence on all who were impacted by it, and to wonder what might be done to prevent such attacks in the future.

Likewise, reading about a former skinhead turned pastor offers an interesting perspective on how young men can be enticed by radicalization, and still eventually see the light and leave.

And Denker doesn’t try to present easy solutions to the problem. She notes addressing such a serious concern requires solutions tailored to specific situations. Yet she offers plenty of insights and troubling observations to ponder.

The weakness, for our tradition and in this cultural moment, is Denker’s progressive perspective. Denker gives her final spotlight on U.S. men who’ve been drawn to extremism to a transexual male. This choice could be off-putting, but I’d encourage you to try not to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

There is important information in Disciples of White Jesus. To get it, it is worth the exercise of looking beyond the parts you might not like.

The discipleship questions her sources utilize will help me as a mother of young Christian boys—who, while I wish they were not, are vulnerable to extremist influences—to challenge bad ideas they might be exposed to with positive, biblical influences.

In fact, I’ve already borrowed several to open conversations with my boys. The onus is on us to inoculate or de-radicalize the young, white men of Christianity’s future. Our daughters, our neighbors of color and the young men, themselves, will thank us for it.

Calli Keener

Baptist Standard