The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory
American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism
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5.0 • 7 Ratings
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
Instant New York Times Bestseller
One of Barack Obama's Favorite Books of the Year
An Economist and Air Mail Best Book of the Year
"Brave and absorbing." -- New York Times
“Alberta is not just a thorough and responsible reporter but a vibrant writer, capable of rendering a farcical scene in vivid hues.” -- Washington Post
“An astonishingly clear-eyed look at a murky movement.” -- Los Angeles Times
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 pastor, 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 and journeys 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, what is its purpose?
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
This is a fascinating investigation into American evangelicalism and how ideals like “love thy neighbour” gave way to the pursuit of political power. Journalist Tim Alberta guides us through the sprawling world of America’s Christian right, digging into institutions like televangelist TV networks and Christian universities to show us where and how election-swinging, pro-GOP ideas are created. We get to see what it’s like being part of the crowd at evangelical meetings and rallies, where it’s not uncommon for Democrats or even just people who live in cities to be feverishly characterized as “satanic.” He also talks with people who have walked away from this political union, like conservative newspaper columnist Cal Thomas, who expresses regret for his role in building what he now sees as a destructive force. If you’ve ever wondered about how money and power guide everything from megachurches to right-wing talk radio, this read will open your eyes.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this scathing account, journalist Alberta (American Carnage) scrutinizes the unraveling of American evangelicalism over the past several decades. According to the author, extremists are now the establishment within the evangelical movement and have been "conditioned to subdue" their Christlike love and chase political power. To make his case, Alberta profiles such "conservative clerics, Trump-inspired politicos, patriot crusaders, culture-war capitalists" as Robert Jeffress, a Southern Baptist megachurch pastor and longtime Trump acolyte who believes evangelicalism is "under siege" from a secular government, as well as moderate pastors who've broken from the denomination, including Russell Moore, the former president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, whose critiques of Trump and calls to address racial tensions in the church sparked "vicious internecine fighting" and led to his 2021 departure from the denomination. Alberta adeptly illustrates how Christian nationalism is "destroying the evangelical church" on a big-picture level, as well as how it's justified individually, framed scripturally, and blared over pulpits in support of hyper-conservative political candidates. While he suggests a "true Christianity" might still be salvageable, Alberta's own evidence reveals how deep the rot has already spread. It's an incisive, unsparing look at a movement in crisis.
