The kingdom, the power, and the glory : American evangelicals in an age of extremism
Tim Alberta (Author)
For millions of conservative Christians, America is THEIR kingdom-- a land set apart, a nation uniquely blessed, a people in special covenant with God. Unfortunately this love of country has given way to right-wing nationalist fervor as well as a reckless blood-and-soil idolatry that trivializes Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God. Through the eyes of televangelists and small-town preachers, celebrity revivalists and everyday churchgoers, Tim Alberta tells the story of a faith cheapened by fear, a promise corrupted by partisan subterfuge, and a reputation stained by perpetual scandal, retracing the arc of the modern evangelical movement, placing political and cultural inflection points in the context of church teachings and traditions, and explaining how Donald Trump's presidency and the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated historical trends that have 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 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-- desperate for a power that is frivolous and fleeting-- have pursued, exercised, and often abused whatever power is at hand in the name of securing this earthly kingdom. He highlights the battles evangelicals are fighting-- and the weapons of their warfare-- to demonstrate their disconnect from scripture. 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, what is its purpose, and how long can it survive?--Publisher
Print Book, English, 2023
First edition
Harper, an Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, New York, NY, 2023