I was looking forward to this review. When I saw the title Shepherds for Sale, I knew I couldn't read the book. I used to be a fan of Megan Basham when she worked for World. But I've been extremely frustrated with her endless Twitter posts attacking evangelical leaders such as Russell Moore, David French and Tim Keller, not just disagreeing with their politics, but attributing venal motives to what they say and do. I've often thought she comes very close to bearing false witness. As you suggest, she would fare poorly if judged by the same standards she uses to judge others: her work for the Daily Wire, and indeed this book itself, could all be motivated by a desire for money and acclaim from her theological/political tribe. But I would not dare to portray her as a Journalist for Sale.
Thank you for writing this. I haven't read the book but plan to listen to it in the next couple weeks. I enjoyed reading Basham years ago when she was reviewing movies for World. Her turn toward right wing propagandist has been discouraging. Her writing, in both long form and social media, is a stream of slander and bearing false witness. The examples you pulled from the book are nothing new. This is her schtick. "substitutes insistence for proof" is a great way describing one of her many writing/rhetorical tics. It blows my mind how many Christian pastors and leaders promote her work.
"Slander and bearing false witness." I take it you're prepared to prove those accusations of sin? Please give us at least one clear, unequivocal example, in her precise words, with citation of source, of Megan Basham's slander or false witness.
Neil Shenvi has been highlighting them and they are obvious misquotes and mischaracterizations that must have been willful. In a public forum, like a best selling book, this is utterly sloppy work at best, willful lying and bearing false witness at worst.
I am grieved (though not all that surprised) to hear how sloppy Basham is with some of her research. That we have become so hyper-partisan as to replace constructive and charitable criticism with speculation and bad-faith argumentation is disheartening.
Well done! As part of the "far larger Evangelicalism" outside of the USA, in countries in which Evangelical is a theological statement not a political tribal marker, I could not agree more. On Covid vaccination, for example, Evangelicals in my country simply believed the medicine! (In my case a fellow parishioner worked for one of the relevant laboratories). It is sad for those of us who love the USA (my late wife was an American) to see how violently politicised everything in the United States has become. And why don't Evangelicals in the USA talk about abortion being sin, and the Gospel being the answer? Look at how the Republicans have betrayed Evangelicals on this issue in 2024.
"Believed the medicine" lol okay. In the spirit of this article seeking careful thought and attention to facts, this comment is out of place, since "the medicine" has been conclusively proven to have been a pack of lies. A fellow parishioner working for a relevant lab is hardly a reason to trust it. Anybody see the news this week, about Francis Collins, an alleged evangelical, blithely agreeing to hide truth to further Pharma's vaccine push? When people don't take their faith into every aspect of their lives, compromises are made, but in this case, compromises killed a lot of people and continue to cause damage to many more. Let's speak truth about all things.
Fair warning: I'm not going to allow a litigation of COVID policy in the comments section. Comments need to either focus on the review, the book, or relevant topics. Anything else is subject to deletion.
Agreed! It is easy for British Evangelicals to forget how in the USA virtually everything is politicised and everything is seen through the lens of partisan politics. And as the widower of an American I find that immensely sad. COVID discussion therefore closed! And praying for the church in America in what is surely going to be a hideously polarising election....
What a great review, and though I'm curious as to what the current evangelical response to this book will be, I think I'll be better not veering into the abyss of Twitter
Thanks for thisl review, Samuel. I actually just listened to her talk about this book on a podcast, and was honestly a little perplexed at some of the associations- as I could list on my own several similar associations like that on the "other side", like you said. It's interesting (and sad) to see that those contradictions are evident still in the book.
Gavin Ortlund has responded effectively to the book (and, it seems, graciously given the provocation and false statements about him in the book which he cites and refutes with clear evidence). He posted a video on his 'Truth Unites' YouTube channel with the title: "Megan Basham's Shepherds for Sale: The Problems with this Book".
Man thanks for writing on this book! I’ve been hearing a lot about it and I have been looking for a good engagement and review of this book from a legit source. Thanks Samuel!
Well written and thoughtful review, brother. I ordered a copy on hearing some praise from Phil Johnson a few months ago over his advance readers copy. My copy should arrive tomorrow, so your insights will be helpful in navigating my read. Will definitely link your review to my platform. Thanks again.
I can't blame you for thinking I spoke, or was scheduled to speak, for a symposium at SEBTS in 2017 ("But according to this SEBTS program page, Beisner did indeed participate (or was scheduled to) in a symposium at Southeastern in 2017."). However, having found no record of such in my own calendar or correspondence, yet recognizing that I MIGHT have forgotten, I contacted Dr. Mark Liederbach at SEBTS, who confirmed that the page you linked to was incorrect; there was no symposium on creation care at SEBTS on August 28, 2017, and the last (and only) time I spoke at SEBTS was August 28, 2009.
Also, yes, Daniel Heimbach is on Cornwall Alliance's advisory board ("As of 2016, the Cornwall Alliance lists Daniel Heimbach as one of their fellows. Heimbach is a professor at Southeastern Seminary."). We're pleased that he is, but of course he's under no obligation to continue, should he like us to remove him.
Thank you for the time and effort it took to read diligently and to write your reflections with intellectual honesty. As someone who owes much of my theological growth to Keller sermons and books I am grateful you defended him here. My heart aches for the brokenness of Basham to intentionally being so unjust stewarding truth.
"In the end, the title Shepherds for Sale describes not so much facts that Basham has discovered, but a standard against which she evaluates Christians outside of her own political tribe."
This sums it up. When you view the world through the lens of Red vs. Blue/ R vs. D/Conservative vs. Liberal, this is what you get. I see Basham (and many like her) regularly criticize men like Keller, Moore, etc. as being compromised and gone "woke" when it seems to me that, in reality, these men are working by a completely different playbook.
If you can remove the lens of politics for even a minute you can see that Keller did not view the world as Red vs. Blue. He viewed the world through the eyes of Christ and was an evangelist/shepherd at heart.
All people need the gospel no matter their political stripe. The biggest issue threatening the church and all Americans is their sin that will damn them to hell without the blood of Christ. And the gospel is the solution. You can have a R as the POTUS for the next 50 years and people will still be lost without Christ being preached faithfully. Unfortunately, this heart and mindset will make people on the left think your a Christian Nationalist and people on the right think you're "woke" because you aren't regularly "owning the libs." And then you got falsely called out in a book that shoots to the top of the bestseller list.
Also... thank you, Samuel, for doing the hard work and a real service to the church by showing the factual errors in this book. I pray that this makes it around as good men are being slandered against and their lives/reputations being unfairly stained.
Two thousand percent agreement for this wonderful comment! And praying for people such as you and Samuel who see things through the lens of Christian salvation and biblical truth. Thank God for you!
I appreciate how careful and precise you've aimed to be with this review. I'm increasingly of the mind that distrust is one of the biggest problems in American society today, and recriminations over motives only exacerbate this. I know I have trouble taking seriously someone who accuses me of motives that I know I do not have. Your review makes the good point that when you descend to overwrought emotional attacks you obscure any valid points you may have and fail to build up the body of Christ.
In these sorts of discussions, we would all do well to keep 2 Timothy 2:23-26 in mind.
I was looking forward to this review. When I saw the title Shepherds for Sale, I knew I couldn't read the book. I used to be a fan of Megan Basham when she worked for World. But I've been extremely frustrated with her endless Twitter posts attacking evangelical leaders such as Russell Moore, David French and Tim Keller, not just disagreeing with their politics, but attributing venal motives to what they say and do. I've often thought she comes very close to bearing false witness. As you suggest, she would fare poorly if judged by the same standards she uses to judge others: her work for the Daily Wire, and indeed this book itself, could all be motivated by a desire for money and acclaim from her theological/political tribe. But I would not dare to portray her as a Journalist for Sale.
Amen
Thank you for writing this. I haven't read the book but plan to listen to it in the next couple weeks. I enjoyed reading Basham years ago when she was reviewing movies for World. Her turn toward right wing propagandist has been discouraging. Her writing, in both long form and social media, is a stream of slander and bearing false witness. The examples you pulled from the book are nothing new. This is her schtick. "substitutes insistence for proof" is a great way describing one of her many writing/rhetorical tics. It blows my mind how many Christian pastors and leaders promote her work.
"Slander and bearing false witness." I take it you're prepared to prove those accusations of sin? Please give us at least one clear, unequivocal example, in her precise words, with citation of source, of Megan Basham's slander or false witness.
Neil Shenvi has been highlighting them and they are obvious misquotes and mischaracterizations that must have been willful. In a public forum, like a best selling book, this is utterly sloppy work at best, willful lying and bearing false witness at worst.
https://twitter.com/NeilShenvi/status/1820420840053232125
I am grieved (though not all that surprised) to hear how sloppy Basham is with some of her research. That we have become so hyper-partisan as to replace constructive and charitable criticism with speculation and bad-faith argumentation is disheartening.
Neil Shenvi has started working through the book too, and he's already discovered several misconstrued citations in the Introduction alone: https://twitter.com/NeilShenvi/status/1820420840053232125
These are BAD… and that’s just in the intro?!! Or did I misunderstand Neil?
Yeah, it sounds like those are all taken from the introduction alone.
Great review, Samuel. Thanks for taking the time to dig into this.
Well done! As part of the "far larger Evangelicalism" outside of the USA, in countries in which Evangelical is a theological statement not a political tribal marker, I could not agree more. On Covid vaccination, for example, Evangelicals in my country simply believed the medicine! (In my case a fellow parishioner worked for one of the relevant laboratories). It is sad for those of us who love the USA (my late wife was an American) to see how violently politicised everything in the United States has become. And why don't Evangelicals in the USA talk about abortion being sin, and the Gospel being the answer? Look at how the Republicans have betrayed Evangelicals on this issue in 2024.
"Believed the medicine" lol okay. In the spirit of this article seeking careful thought and attention to facts, this comment is out of place, since "the medicine" has been conclusively proven to have been a pack of lies. A fellow parishioner working for a relevant lab is hardly a reason to trust it. Anybody see the news this week, about Francis Collins, an alleged evangelical, blithely agreeing to hide truth to further Pharma's vaccine push? When people don't take their faith into every aspect of their lives, compromises are made, but in this case, compromises killed a lot of people and continue to cause damage to many more. Let's speak truth about all things.
Fair warning: I'm not going to allow a litigation of COVID policy in the comments section. Comments need to either focus on the review, the book, or relevant topics. Anything else is subject to deletion.
Agreed! It is easy for British Evangelicals to forget how in the USA virtually everything is politicised and everything is seen through the lens of partisan politics. And as the widower of an American I find that immensely sad. COVID discussion therefore closed! And praying for the church in America in what is surely going to be a hideously polarising election....
In the UK the vaccine research was done by Oxford University and the vaccine did work.
It worked in the UK, huh? Just there, apparently. Except not. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/06/04/covid-vaccines-may-have-helped-fuel-rise-in-excess-deaths/
What a great review, and though I'm curious as to what the current evangelical response to this book will be, I think I'll be better not veering into the abyss of Twitter
Thanks for thisl review, Samuel. I actually just listened to her talk about this book on a podcast, and was honestly a little perplexed at some of the associations- as I could list on my own several similar associations like that on the "other side", like you said. It's interesting (and sad) to see that those contradictions are evident still in the book.
Gavin Ortlund has responded effectively to the book (and, it seems, graciously given the provocation and false statements about him in the book which he cites and refutes with clear evidence). He posted a video on his 'Truth Unites' YouTube channel with the title: "Megan Basham's Shepherds for Sale: The Problems with this Book".
His youtube responses were gentle, accurate, eirenic and utterly biblical. Brave man!
Man thanks for writing on this book! I’ve been hearing a lot about it and I have been looking for a good engagement and review of this book from a legit source. Thanks Samuel!
Really appreciate your interaction here
Well written and thoughtful review, brother. I ordered a copy on hearing some praise from Phil Johnson a few months ago over his advance readers copy. My copy should arrive tomorrow, so your insights will be helpful in navigating my read. Will definitely link your review to my platform. Thanks again.
Thank you for such a thoughtful review. It certainly will light things up! 😉
I can't blame you for thinking I spoke, or was scheduled to speak, for a symposium at SEBTS in 2017 ("But according to this SEBTS program page, Beisner did indeed participate (or was scheduled to) in a symposium at Southeastern in 2017."). However, having found no record of such in my own calendar or correspondence, yet recognizing that I MIGHT have forgotten, I contacted Dr. Mark Liederbach at SEBTS, who confirmed that the page you linked to was incorrect; there was no symposium on creation care at SEBTS on August 28, 2017, and the last (and only) time I spoke at SEBTS was August 28, 2009.
Also, yes, Daniel Heimbach is on Cornwall Alliance's advisory board ("As of 2016, the Cornwall Alliance lists Daniel Heimbach as one of their fellows. Heimbach is a professor at Southeastern Seminary."). We're pleased that he is, but of course he's under no obligation to continue, should he like us to remove him.
Thank you for the time and effort it took to read diligently and to write your reflections with intellectual honesty. As someone who owes much of my theological growth to Keller sermons and books I am grateful you defended him here. My heart aches for the brokenness of Basham to intentionally being so unjust stewarding truth.
"In the end, the title Shepherds for Sale describes not so much facts that Basham has discovered, but a standard against which she evaluates Christians outside of her own political tribe."
This sums it up. When you view the world through the lens of Red vs. Blue/ R vs. D/Conservative vs. Liberal, this is what you get. I see Basham (and many like her) regularly criticize men like Keller, Moore, etc. as being compromised and gone "woke" when it seems to me that, in reality, these men are working by a completely different playbook.
If you can remove the lens of politics for even a minute you can see that Keller did not view the world as Red vs. Blue. He viewed the world through the eyes of Christ and was an evangelist/shepherd at heart.
All people need the gospel no matter their political stripe. The biggest issue threatening the church and all Americans is their sin that will damn them to hell without the blood of Christ. And the gospel is the solution. You can have a R as the POTUS for the next 50 years and people will still be lost without Christ being preached faithfully. Unfortunately, this heart and mindset will make people on the left think your a Christian Nationalist and people on the right think you're "woke" because you aren't regularly "owning the libs." And then you got falsely called out in a book that shoots to the top of the bestseller list.
Also... thank you, Samuel, for doing the hard work and a real service to the church by showing the factual errors in this book. I pray that this makes it around as good men are being slandered against and their lives/reputations being unfairly stained.
Two thousand percent agreement for this wonderful comment! And praying for people such as you and Samuel who see things through the lens of Christian salvation and biblical truth. Thank God for you!
I appreciate how careful and precise you've aimed to be with this review. I'm increasingly of the mind that distrust is one of the biggest problems in American society today, and recriminations over motives only exacerbate this. I know I have trouble taking seriously someone who accuses me of motives that I know I do not have. Your review makes the good point that when you descend to overwrought emotional attacks you obscure any valid points you may have and fail to build up the body of Christ.
In these sorts of discussions, we would all do well to keep 2 Timothy 2:23-26 in mind.
AMEN brother!