Kristin Kobes Du Mez

Kristin Kobes Du Mez is an American historian. She is a professor of history and gender studies at Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Biography Du Mez grew up in Iowa, and lived in Tallahassee, Florida, during high school. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and German in 1997 from Dordt College, and a Ph.D. in American history from the University of Notre Dame. She worked at Williams College and at the Five College Women’s Studies Research Center at Mount Holyoke College before moving to Calvin University. She has three children.

Jesus and John Wayne

Du Mez's second book, Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation, published in 2020, argued that American evangelicals have worked for decades to replace the Jesus of the Gospels with an idol of rugged masculinity and Christian nationalism. It received widespread coverage, including in secular media such as The Washington Post and The Boston Globe, as well as Christian outlets such as The Gospel Coalition. In July 2021, it reached number four on The New York Times Best Seller list of nonfiction paperbacks.

For Our Daughters On September 12, 2024, Du Mez announced the upcoming release of the film For Our Daughters, directed by Carl Byker, that draws from the last chapter of Jesus and John Wayne, documenting stories of abuse within evangelicalism. The film started streaming on YouTube September 26, 2024.

Live Laugh Love Her third book, "Live Laugh Love: The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World They Made" will be released on September 15th, 2026.

Works A New Gospel for Women: Katharine Bushnell and the Challenge of Christian Feminism. Oxford University Press: 2015. Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation. Liveright: 2020.