Canon Press, the Moscow, Idaho–based publishing house, has formally proposed a $10 million cash acquisition of Christianity Today International. In doing so, Canon has not only placed an offer on the table but has also drawn a line in the sand for the future of evangelical publishing.
🚨🚨 A Christian publishing company is offering to buy Christianity Today. I have heard many Christians lament that @CTmagazine has been captured by worldly ideology and wish someone would restore it to Billy Graham’s intended purpose.
— Megan Basham (@megbasham) September 29, 2025
Looks like @canonpress is trying to do… pic.twitter.com/3Ub7gCTD6w
What’s at stake here is not just a sale, but the ownership of evangelicalism’s most symbolic platform. Christianity Today was founded in 1956 by Billy Graham as a voice for orthodox Christianity in the public square. It was intended to give evangelicals a seat at the cultural table, balancing intellectual rigor with broad accessibility. For decades, it carried that mantle, often with uneven results, but always with the weight of Graham’s vision in its DNA.
Rooted in Reformed theology and spearheaded by Doug Wilson, Canon Press has built its reputation on challenging mainstream evangelicalism and positioning itself as the vanguard of a culture-shaping Christianity. Its publishing and streaming ventures already reflect a confidence that Big Eva has lost its influence, and something bolder is needed in its place.
If this acquisition succeeds, it will mark a seismic shift. Christianity Today—long considered the flagship institution of mainstream evangelicalism—would be under the stewardship of a publisher that is openly critical of the evangelical establishment. Canon’s letter makes no secret of its ambition: to grow CT into a larger, more impactful platform precisely by embracing confrontation in an age when “Christians come under fire for expressing the most basic truths.”
This is the Christian version of Elon buying Twitter.
— Michael Foster (@thisisfoster) September 29, 2025
I like it when people swing for the fences. Well done, @canonpress! https://t.co/pmVSDPJJCs
Critics can argue that such a move would erase CT’s original identity, replacing broad evangelical appeal with a more critical voice. But Canon would counter that CT already lost its way, drifting into progressive theological waters and cultural appeasement. In that light, Canon is offering not a takeover but a rescue—an attempt to reconnect the institution with the unapologetic gospel witness Billy Graham envisioned.
The symbolic weight of this cannot be overstated. If Canon Press acquires Christianity Today, the mainstream evangelical center of gravity shifts substantially. It would signal the beginning of the end of consensus-driven evangelicalism that seeks to placate the culture and the rise of countercultural Christianity that is ready to go toe-to-toe with the secular culture in the West.
”In America today Christians come under fire for expressing even the most basic truths. Canon Press has a publishing and streaming business built to thrive in this hostile environment, and so we're confident we can preserve Christianity Today's history while increasing its impact. Charlie Kirk carried the torch of Christianity Today's founder Billy Graham as a global evangelist, and it's in his legacy that we see the future of Christianity Today.”- Brian Kohl, CEO of Canon Press
The question now is whether Christianity Today’s board will accept the offer. Ten million dollars is a straightforward number, but the deeper cost is existential: Can CT’s board reconcile entrusting its brand to the very camp that has built momentum by opposing it?
One thing is clear—Canon Press is playing for keeps, and this proposal is not merely about assets. It is about the future voice of Christianity in America.
