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The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory
The award-winning journalist and staff writer for The Atlantic follows up his New York Times bestseller American Carnage with this timely, rigorously reported, and deeply personal examination of the divisions that threaten to destroy the American evangelical movement.
Evangelical Christians are perhaps the most polarizing—and least understood—people living in America today. In his seminal new book, The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory, journalist Tim Alberta, himself a practicing Christian and the son of an evangelical preacher, paints an expansive and profoundly troubling portrait of the American evangelical movement. Through the eyes of televangelists and small-town preachers, celebrity revivalists and everyday churchgoers, Alberta tells the story of a faith cheapened by ephemeral fear, a promise corrupted by partisan subterfuge, and a reputation stained by perpetual scandal.
For millions of conservative Christians, America is their kingdom—a land set apart, a nation uniquely blessed, a people in special covenant with God. This love of country, however, has given way to right-wing nationalist fervor, a reckless blood-and-soil idolatry that trivializes the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Alberta retraces the arc of the modern evangelical movement, placing political and cultural inflection points in the context of church teachings and traditions, explaining how Donald Trump's presidency and the Covid-19 pandemic only accelerated historical trends that long pointed toward disaster. Reporting from half-empty sanctuaries and standing-room-only convention halls across the country, the author documents a growing fracture inside American Christianity, journeying with readers through this strange new environment in which loving your enemies is "woke" and owning the libs is the answer to WWJD.
Accessing the highest echelons of the American evangelical movement, Alberta investigates the ways in which conservative Christians have pursued, exercised, and often abused power in the name of securing this earthly kingdom. He highlights the battles evangelicals are fighting—and the weapons of their warfare—to demonstrate the disconnect from scripture: Contra the dictates of the New Testament, today's believers are struggling mightily against flesh and blood, eyes fixed on the here and now, desperate for a power that is frivolous and fleeting. Lingering at the intersection of real cultural displacement and perceived religious persecution, Alberta portrays a rapidly secularizing America that has come to distrust the evangelical church, and weaves together present-day narratives of individual pastors and their churches as they confront the twin challenges of lost status and diminished standing.
Sifting through the wreckage—pastors broken, congregations battered, believers losing their religion because of sex scandals and political schemes—Alberta asks: If the American evangelical movement has ceased to glorify God, then what is its purpose?
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Reviews
I am not, by theology, an orthodox Christian. I am, however, an evangelical Christian. I admit my politics lie slightly left of center, but I am disgusted with both parties and both political wings. I am not a Republ-Ocrat. Christian nationalism concerns me greatly. My eschatology warns me against it. This book has given me an insight into the mindset of rabid Christian nationalists and how they have arrived at their worldview and set of goals. The epilogue of the book gave me much hope, and I encourage you, the reader, to read the book in its entirety, and especially through to the epilogue. No matter what your political leanings are, I believe you can either see yourself in a mirror or gain new insight into those you do not understand. In these times of extreme polarization, doing either of these things is a radical idea and is exactly what we as a culture should be doing more of. I highly recommend this book to Christians of all stripes and non-Christians as well, to understand this frightening movement within American mainstream Christianity.
By DB from CA
Clinical indictment of the shameless leaders of the Evangelical Church. So sad that so many good people are following them. While the topic and expose deserve 5 stars, I thought it was unnecessarily long, and after a while read like a gossipy novel. Interesting that there are no 1 star rebuttal reviews.
By wynbee
Wonderful book with many interesting thoughts and stories. I want to summarize it using Barry McGuire’s, “hate your neighbor but don’t forget to say grace,” but realize I’m tempted by the finite game when I do so. I don’t know the way out for our country, but I have a better understanding of our journey to today. I’ll reread the book and search for ideas aligned with the infinite game.
By @gilly1965
Sobering and profound.
By AvidReader8
A thorough and respectful investigation into the celebrities of evangelical culture that have grown in the last decades. The many conversations with those on the top, tackling the events that have been highlighted in tweets and news stories was gripping.
By 17Irene