RUSSELL MOORE
July 24, 2020: Baptist News: Union University's action to rescind grad student's admission draws criticism, support
Southern Baptist religious freedom leader Russell Moore said Union, "as an evangelical Christian institution of higher learning, holds to the same convictions about marriage and sexuality held by Christians of virtually every wing for more than 2,000 years, rooted as these convictions are in Scripture and in the mystery of Christ revealed in the Gospel." "As such, Union, as any private religious institution, has the right to determine the boundaries of moral expectations of those who are part of its community," said Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, in written comments for Baptist Press. "This is a principle repeatedly affirmed and reaffirmed by the Constitution and the Supreme Court of our country. Did you know at the bank they will still give you
$2 bills? And if you show them a gun they'll give you a bunch more stuff too! Mar 20, 2020 Russell Moore: The current situation facing us is not a case of the state overstepping its bounds, but rather seeking to carry out its legitimate God-given authority. Nowhere, at this point, have we seen churches targeted because of their beliefs or mission. At issue is a clear public objective—stopping the transmission of a dangerous virus by gatherings. This applies to the local plate jugglers association just as much to churches. Because the state must respect the consciences and souls of the people, consciences and souls over which it has no ultimate authority, any action involved religious bodies should have, in the words of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, a “compelling state interest” and must pursue the “least restrictive means” of achieving it. In my view, both of these tests have been met, in every case I have seen. Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission: Does it violate religious liberty to close churches over coronavirus?
Dec 19, 2016: Baptist Press: Moore clarifies comments on Trump supporters
Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission President Russell Moore has clarified that he never intended to criticize all evangelical supporters of President-elect Donald Trump, noting many were motivated by "biblical convictions" and "voted their conscience." Russell Moore on not voting for Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton:
"Yes, I will be writing in a candidate this year and the reason for that is simple. The life issue can not flourish in a culture of misogyny and sexual degradation. The life issue can not flourish when you have people calling for the torture and murder of innocent non-combatants. The life issue can not flourish when you have people who have given up on the idea that character matters. If you lose an election you can live to fight another day and move on, but if you lose an election while giving up your very soul then you have really lost it all, and so I think the stakes are really high. And I think the issue, particularly, when you have people who have said, and we have said, and I have said for twenty years the life issue matters, and the life issue is important… When you have someone who is standing up race baiting, racist speech, using immigrants and others in our communities in the most horrific ways and we say ‘that doesn’t matter’ and we are part of the global body of Christ simply for the sake of American politics, and we expect that we are going to be able to reach the nations for Christ? I don’t think so, and so I think we need to let our yes be yes and our no be no and our never be never." --Caffeinated Thoughts June 21, 2015: Christian Post: Charleston Shooting: Take Down Confederate Flag, Russell Moore Says; Lindsey Graham, Others Disagree
The fatal shooting of nine unarmed African Americans in a South Carolina church by a white assailant has reignited the debate whether the Confederate Battle flag is a symbol of Southern heritage or a relic of white supremacy. Southern Baptist leader Russell Moore is calling for the Confederate flag to be taken down, but South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham is defending it. July 17, 2015: Baptist News Global: Moore hopes Planned Parenthood controversy will galvanize pro-life evangelicals
Russell Moore, president of the SBC Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, said in a July 16 podcast interview with the Oklahoma Baptist Messenger that he is hoping “for massive turnout of born-again Christians” at a pro-life event his agency is co-sponsoring with Focus on the Family in January. June 20, 2015: Huffington Post: Russell Moore Still Thinks The Religious Right Will Win The Fight Over Gay Marriage
Russell Moore still thinks the religious right will win the battle against same-sex marriage. Oh, not at the Supreme Court later this month -- like nearly everyone else, Moore is almost positive the right will lose there. But the long game... that, he says, could be a different story. Apr 21, 2015: Russell Moore: Moore To the Point: Should Christians Care about Earth Day?
Apr 8, 2015: BCNN: Russell Moore Issues a Call to Prayer for Marriage and the Supreme Court
Apr 7, 2015: BCNN: The Atlantic Asks: Can Southern Baptists Who are Dedicated to Personal Responsibility Formulate a Collective Response to the Sin of Racism?
“Racial reconciliation is not something that white people do for other people,” proclaimed Russell Moore in March. Moore, a white man from Mississippi, was opening a meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention in Nashville, Tennessee, with an eminently tweetable, infinitely complicated call to end racial division within the church. Apr 6, 2015: Baptist Press: Ind., Ark. diverge on religious liberty
Russell Moore, Southern Baptists' lead church-state specialist, applauded Hutchinson and Arkansas lawmakers for establishing "a model of strong protection of soul freedom for all citizens." "I wish Gov. Pence had shown the same leadership," he said. |
Mar 27, 2015: Baptist Press: ERLC summit: Reconciliation is Gospel imperative
Speaking on the second anniversary of his election as ERLC president, Moore said Christians must realize racial reconciliation is about the Gospel. "The reason that we are here today is that these are not simply cultural issues, although they are. These are not simply political issues, although they are. These are not simply social issues, although they are. Above everything else, these are Gospel issues," Moore said
Speaking on the second anniversary of his election as ERLC president, Moore said Christians must realize racial reconciliation is about the Gospel. "The reason that we are here today is that these are not simply cultural issues, although they are. These are not simply political issues, although they are. These are not simply social issues, although they are. Above everything else, these are Gospel issues," Moore said
Mar 15, 2015: Baptist Press: Supreme Court: lower court's mandate decision lacking
"The Supreme Court took a big step in the direction of liberty and justice," said Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC). "I pray that the present administration will stop its reckless disregard of soul freedom and liberty of conscience."
"The Supreme Court took a big step in the direction of liberty and justice," said Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC). "I pray that the present administration will stop its reckless disregard of soul freedom and liberty of conscience."
Feb 6, 2015: Baptist Press: Obama draws pushback on ISIS, Crusades, slavery
Russell Moore, president of the SBC Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, said, "President Obama is right that many wicked things were done in the name of Christ. This is an unfair and unfortunate moral comparison, though, in light of the threat of ISIS. "All of the sinful acts he mentioned were countered by those who did so also in the name of Christ. The dissenters from these non-Christian deeds prevailed, precisely because a Christian moral ethic was on their side," Moore said in a statement to Baptist Press.
Russell Moore, president of the SBC Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, said, "President Obama is right that many wicked things were done in the name of Christ. This is an unfair and unfortunate moral comparison, though, in light of the threat of ISIS. "All of the sinful acts he mentioned were countered by those who did so also in the name of Christ. The dissenters from these non-Christian deeds prevailed, precisely because a Christian moral ethic was on their side," Moore said in a statement to Baptist Press.
Sept 19, 2014: Baptist Press: TRUSTEES: Moore notes ERLC's Gospel focus
The mission of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission in the last year has been to help churches be Gospel-focused, Russell D. Moore told trustees during their Sept. 16-17 annual meeting in Nashville.
The mission of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission in the last year has been to help churches be Gospel-focused, Russell D. Moore told trustees during their Sept. 16-17 annual meeting in Nashville.
Sept 18, 2014: Baptist Press: Moore to Reid: Vote on relig. freedom post
Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, urged Majority Leader Harry Reid Thursday (Sept. 18) to permit a Senate vote on the nomination of David Saperstein to the post, which has been vacant since October 2013. Saperstein is director and counsel of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. May 18, 2014: Thoughtlife: Is Rachel Held Evans’s Use of “God Herself” Biblically Faithful?
Grounding her attacks in an oft-cited instinct for justice, Evans has—by my count—mocked and opposed the following in just the last few years: The Council on Biblical Manhood & Womanhood, The Gospel Coalition, Together for the Gospel, The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, Southern Seminary, Desiring God Ministries, Al Mohler, John Piper, Russell Moore, Tim Challies, Mark Driscoll, myself, Denny Burk, Andrew Walker, Doug Wilson, Jared Wilson, and the list goes on. May 10, 2014: WND: 'Nuclear bomb' hits Christian talk radio
Some are demanding an apology from Russell Moore, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, following comments he made during a lecture at the 2014 ERLC Leadership Summit April 22 in Nashville. |

Russell D. Moore is an American evangelical theologian, ethicist, preacher, and President of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (Baptist Press). He previously served at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, one of six seminaries of the Southern Baptist Convention, as Dean of the School of Theology, Senior Vice President for Academic Administration, and as Professor of Christian Theology and Ethics.