Ipse Dixit – Bare Assertion Mars Needed (If Politically Slanted In Presentation) Call. This is one of those texts that so many American Christians are going to need to read… and yet because it *is* so politically slanted in a somewhere left-of-center/ social justice warrior direction, not enough on at least one side likely will. A more balanced presentation, perhaps referencing more right-oriented issues like being truly pro-life from conception through natural death in addition to those presented here, could have gone a long way to making the overall presentation of the arguments here that much stronger.
But that isn’t actually the star deduction here. No, the star deduction is exactly what the title noted – there is *zero* bibliography in this Advance Review Copy edition of the text I read nearly six months before publication of this book, and yes, even this far out the texts I get as an experienced reader and reviewer of such editions usually include at least some level of bibliography. Indeed, my standard *based on my experience of doing this for nearly a decade now across hundreds of similar works* is at least 15%, and more commonly somewhere in the 20-30% ish range. Less than that will get a star deduction every time, as this does here.
One thing this book, more about Christians living in the US and their behaviors than anything actually Biblical, has going for it is that it is one of the rare books about Christianity/ directed towards Christians that doesn’t actually prooftext – it never cites the Bible in any argument at all, thus is has no opportunity to selectively pick Bible verses out of their context in support or opposition to any of the points it is raising. Thus, it doesn’t lose the star here that so many similar books do, as I deduct when this technique is used in my own personal war against it.
There really is quite a bit here that *every* Christian in America needs to read and truly consider, but there’s also a decent amount here that those claiming any form of right-of-center politics are going to want to find the nearest window to defenestrate this book. Maybe not a high one, but certainly a close one. But don’t. Because you need to read this book even with its political bent. Yes, there is that much here that you really do need to consider. But those with more leftward politics *also* need to deeply consider this book, even as you find yourself agreeing with it more politically, because yes, there is going to be a fair amount of Crawford calling you out too, if in more subtle ways than he uses against those on the right.
Overall a book that is needed – but it needs a healthy bibliography to support it just as much as the American Church needs to read the arguments it presents. And perhaps a more right-of-center author could write a companion text from that perspective ultimately raising many of these same points, in a vein somewhat similar to Shaunti and Jeff Feldhan’s 20+ yr old books For Women Only and For Men Only once did for men and women and helping them understand each other.
Recommended.
This review of One Nation Over God by Wes Crawford was originally written on April 30, 2026.