Christianity Today

About Christianity Today's Bias Rating

Christianity Today is a news media source with an AllSides Media Bias Rating™ of Center.

What a "Center" Rating Means

Sources with an AllSides Media Bias Rating of Center either do not show much predictable media bias, display a balance of articles with left and right biases, or equally balance left and right perspectives.

Center doesn't mean better! A Center media bias rating does not necessarily mean a source is totally unbiased, neutral, perfectly reasonable, or credible, just as Left and Right don't necessarily mean extreme, wrong, unreasonable, or not credible. AllSides encourages people to read outlets across the political spectrum.

Details

Christianity Today, also referred to as CT Magazine, is an evangelical Christian magazine founded by the late Billy Graham in 1956. It is one of the largest evangelical Christian publications in the United States, and has been referred to as evangelicalism’s “flagship” publication by The Washington Post and a “mainstream evangelical magazine” by The New York Times.

Upon its founding, Graham said that he wanted to "plant the evangelical flag in the middle-of-the-road, taking the conservative theological position but a definite liberal approach to social problems." 

In 2023, the magazine says its mission is “To elevate the stories and ideas of the kingdom of God.” Christianity Today promises to “deliver an exceptional experience that is biblically rooted and beautifully orthodox, globally engaged and thoughtfully diverse, exquisitely crafted and surprisingly creative, always inspired by a love for Christ and his church.”

Previously, Christianity Today supported the impeachments of both Democratic President Bill Clinton and Republican President Donald Trump, whom outgoing Editor-in-Chief Mark Galli described as "profoundly immoral" in a 2019 editorial.

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Christianity Today Rated Center in AllSides October 2023 Small Group Editorial Review

In October 2023, the AllSides team conducted a Small Group Editorial Review of Christianity Today, in which we moved Christianity Today’s bias rating from Lean Right to Center. 

A small group of AllSides reviewers — one person each with a bias on the left, center, and right — reviewed content from Christianity Today for media bias. The team noted that Christianity Today showed a religious bias, centered primarily around evangelicalism, and sometimes Roman Catholicism, but did not cover all denominations of Christianity.

The team found Christianity Today generally avoided politicizing often politicized issues like religion or immigration, which it covered often, and exhibited weariness towards right-wing and nationalist Christians, showing a bit of a Lean Left bias.

At the time of review, most content published by Christianity Today was centered around Christians or Christianity and was often international in scope. Topics like immigration, refugees, Christianity abroad, foreign wars, Biden Administration policies, and U.S. politics were most prevalent on the website.

Christianity Today frequently and prominently featured opinion journalism from a newsletter by theologian and preacher Russell Moore, who also serves as Christianity Today’s Editor-in-Chief. The team found content from Moore’s newsletter to exhibit a distinct editorial voice that was more Lean Left in its nature, and separate from much of the website’s other content.

Articles reviewed included:
How to Get Through 2024
Conspiracist Thinking Is Cultural Marxism
The Border Is a Complex Place. Jesus Is There
German Homeschoolers Face Deportation After 15 Years in the US
Oliver Anthony’s Viral Hit Doesn’t Love Its Neighbors
Billions in Federal Aid Helped Christian Orgs Survive the Pandemic
Church of England Advances Plans to Bless but Not Affirm Same-Sex Couples
Evangelical Mike Johnson ‘Raised Up’ as House Speaker
Green Card Change Leaves Thousands of Foreign-Born Pastors in Limbo

Christianity Today Rated Lean Right in March 2021 Independent Review

Previously, a March 2021 Independent Review returned a bias rating of Lean Right for Christianity Today.

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As of December 2023, people have voted on the AllSides Media Bias Rating for Christianity Today. On average, those who disagree with our rating think this source has a Lean Left bias.

As of December 2023, AllSides has low or initial confidence in our Center rating for Christianity Today. If we perform more bias reviews and gather consistent data, this confidence level will increase.

Additional Information

Third-Party Claims of Bias

In October 2023, The Daily Wire published a piece that accused Christianity Today’s staff of being “far out of step with ordinary evangelicals,” on the premise that between 2015 and 2022, 73 total political donations from the publication’s staff members all went to Democrats.

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Owner: Christianity Today International

Christianity Today is a non-profit organization published and owned by Christianity Today International.

In 2022, Christianity Today received a $1,000,000 grant from the Lilly Endowment.