Christianity Today made big news with its anti-Trump editorial. The impact on evangelicals might not be as big

Christianity Today, an evangelical magazine, has mostly concentrated on the spiritual, not the political, during its 63 years in existence. So the editorial it published Thursday went over like a thunderclap from on high: Editor Mark Galli wrote that President Donald Trump should be removed from office, describing him as "a near perfect example of a human being who is morally lost and confused."

Trump's fiery denunciation ("a far left magazine [that] . . . knows nothing about reading a perfect transcript of a routine phone call," he tweeted) and the massive news coverage the editorial received Friday suggested it marked a watershed moment. The implicit idea was that evangelicals - one of Trump's key voting blocs - had finally turned on the president after years of ignoring his trampling of at least a few of the Ten Commandments.

In fact, Christianity Today (known popularly as CT) is just one of a number of media outlets catering to evangelicals and one that speaks for the more centrist faction of them, one of the smallest segment. Evangelicals tend to identify as politically conservative and have remained overwhelmingly supportive of Trump.

As such, despite the attention it received, the editorial might have less practical impact than the news coverage suggests.

As many news stories pointed out, CT has a sterling pedigree; it was founded in 1956 by Billy Graham, the most famous evangelical preacher of the 20th century. Its headquarters is in Carol Stream, Illinois, just a few miles from Wheaton College, the Christian institution that Graham and his wife Ruth Bell Graham attended and later endowed. Trump accurately pointed out in his tweet that the Graham family no longer is associated with the magazine.

Graham, who died last year at 99, once told historian George Marsden that he started CT to "plant the evangelical flag in the middle of the road, taking the conservative theological position but a definite liberal approach to social problems. It would combine the best in liberalism and the best in fundamentalism without compromising theologically" and serve as the evangelical counterpoint to the Christian Century, the leading publication of mainline Protestantism.

But the evangelical movement that Graham helped spur is far larger and more fragmented than when CT started, with as many as 40 percent of Americans now identifying themselves as evangelical.

CT reaches a very small fraction of this large and amorphous group. Its print circulation is 120,000 per month (it is published 10 times per year), about 90,000 of which are paid subscribers, according to publisher Jacob Walsh. Like many publications, it reaches more online - between 3 million and 4 million per month, Walsh said.

As a result, it would be "a mistake" to assume that CT's attitude toward Trump reflected a broader consensus among evangelicals, said a former CT editor, who spoke on the condition of anonymity so as not to jeopardize his relations with the publication. "CT represents a certain kind of evangelical - mostly white, mostly northern, many college-educated. [Its readers] probably aren't huge Trump fans to begin with," the person said.

CT's chief executive, Tim Dalrymple, declined to discuss the gestation of the editorial and any internal debate surrounding it.

He also offered no comment on how the editorial, which plainly condemns Trump, squares with an element of the U.S. tax code: As a nonprofit, CT isn't permitted to endorse or oppose political candidates.

As for the reaction to it, he said, "I would be pleased if it promotes constructive conversations among evangelicals about how we engage in political life. I'd also be pleased if the conversation led to a more effective witness of the church."

Dalrymple has made his concerns about Trump explicit in CT before. In an editorial in July, he wrote, "I sense a profound frustration among non-white Christian friends that their white brethren keep silent as the president aims ugly and demeaning statements at people of color. These friends don't like what the silence of the white church is saying, and neither do we. . . .

"So let us not be silent. We are not captive to political party. We are accountable to a higher authority. We expect better of our leaders, and we stand in the foxholes with our brothers and sisters when they are taking fire. We hope . . . Christians of all political persuasions will speak the truth and stand with those who suffer unjustly."

Trump has never enjoyed uniform support among evangelical publications, said Collin Hansen, the editorial director for the Gospel Coalition, a network of evangelical churches that opposes "the politicization of faith." He noted that World magazine, a biweekly publication with roughly the same circulation as CT, strongly opposed Trump's candidacy in 2016 and called for him to drop out of the race after a 2005 recording of him bragging about groping women surfaced.

Few evangelical voters are likely to be swayed by CT's editorial, he said. "Evangelicals tend to get their political news from Fox News far more than they do from CT or other evangelical media," he said.

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Previously:
• 11/25/19: Bloomberg News will avoid investigating Mike Bloomberg during his presidential campaign
• 10/29/19: Judge reinstates libel lawsuit filed by Covington Catholic teen against Washington Post
• 09/02/19: Some secrets do keep: A year later, the Trump official who penned an explosive op-ed is still unknown
• 08/16/19: Journos behaving badly? CNN sees itself as subject to threats after incidents
• 01/21/19: BuzzFeed's stumble is highest-profile misstep at a time when press is under greatest scrutiny
• 12/20/18: Tucker Carlson is in BIG trouble, right? Not quite
• 08/29/18: A legend of Watergate fame faces new questions about a blockbuster Trump story
• 07/12/18: Once partners, 'Game Change' co-authors are at odds over their shattered franchise
• 06/01/18: MSNBC host Joy Reid faces new questions about her old blog
• 05/01/18: Cut the comedy? The White House Correspondents' Association is considering it
• 04/30/18: Prez's absence at White House correspondents' dinner turns it from schmooze-fest to snooze-fest
• 03/07/18: A chatty former Trump aide with a wild but wavering story raised some questions about live interviews
• 02/16/18: Reporting on tragedy: To explain or exploit?
• 01/04/18: The provocative, plugged-in author of new Trump book has previously been accused of playing fast and loose with facts
• 12/05/17: Blunderer Brian (Ross') staggering screw-ups
• 11/27/17: New news? Not on 'Morning Joe.' Hosts pass off a taped show as the live version
• 01/06/17: Why losing Megyn Kelly probably won't even dent Fox News' armor
• 05/09/16: Obama official 'fesses up: 'Narrative' created by administration sold Iran nuclear deal to clueless press
• 03/16/16: Despite the beatdown, reporters love the Trump beat
• 03/10/16: What really gets under Trump's skin?
• 03/04/16: Megyn Kelly leaves Trump sputtering to defend himself at debate
• 02/29/16: Think Trump's wrong? Fact checkers can tell you how often (hint: a lot)