Carson knows exactly what he’s doing. And because it’s not an act or a tool, he only talks about it, politely, when asked. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal — notable for its calmly forgiving treatment of Trump — Carson revealed the secret to his success, perhaps unintentionally, with the most evocative political metaphor of the year. “The human body was not made for that type of abuse,” he said of football. “There’s no question about that. But do human beings love to see carnage? Yes. They always have and they always will. So that may be one of the safer forms of carnage to satisfy the human desire.”

Carson renounces violence in an arena defined by ritual bloodsport. His response to the instinct for pandemonium hardwired into us all is to channel an almost super-human practice of peace.

Here Carson’s fellow Christians will detect some real-life modeling of the art of the turned cheek. But Carson’s significance goes beyond simply “bringing Christianity back in” to Election ’16. Huckabee’s Christianity hasn’t done a thing to change the dynamic of the race. That goes double for Santorum’s. The effect of Carson’s faith can’t be separated from the effect of his personality, which makes no-drama Obama look fitful. Even more remarkable than Carson’s serene religiosity is his personal control over his attitude and demeanor. Christianity alone doesn’t magically elevate candidates above the frenzy. To succeed in politics as a man of faith, simple human discipline — of a kind much different than that inculcated in the world of “message discipline” — is required.