The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism

I loved this book! Very, very informative and well researched. I’ve been dismayed, disgusted, and puzzled by the recent move of the American church involved in the political scene and subsequent corruption of the gospel. This book helped explain why and how these things have happened over time and gives a concise chronology. Very thoughtful, written with integrity.

One word: powerful! This book is less of an excoriation of the current state of affairs related to the unholy union between the “Christian right” aka evangelicals and the Republican Party, but more of an exposition. Historically accurate, well sourced, honest, infuriating, and honestly, sad. The sadness, for me, results from knowing how many people are trapped in the high stakes con this the current iteration of evangelicalism. Alberta offers the solution, a return to the roots of Christianity, Christ Himself. Make Jesus the center of worship, cast down the idols of political hegemony, cultural dominance, and faux piety that have been deceptively placed with the church as a substitute for true worship of the living God. I enjoyed reading this book, and I recommend it to anyone looking for a serious discussion on how the church has been hijacked by political pundits who have no intention of using it for good, only to serve their own selfish means.

I watched the author interviewed on a PBS Firing Line episode. His book seemed interesting. It is. It’s A Great Read.The notion - I wish I was a fly on the wall…You are with this book about the inner workings and motivations of The Christian Business Empire…

This is an extremely compelling book that is very well-written. The author gives us insight into what evangelical Christianity is all about, and how adherents of the faith are out to destroy the United States. I did find the book to be a bit of a slog. The book is long, so it took me a while to get through. But the book is filled with fascinating case studies that kept things moving forward. The narrative did try my patience as I struggled to quell my anger over evangelical’s cult-like devotion to Trump, QAnon, and fabricated American history. Despite Alberta’s well-written narrative, I’ve no use for Republican politics or evangelical Christianity. All of that is antithetical to my values and ethics.My one big gripe about this book is that the author never turns his spotlight on whether the Christian beliefs of evangelical Christians are, in fact, reasonable. Clearly Alberta assumes they are since that is how he was raised. Alberta only examines the reasonableness of the political beliefs that stem from the religion. Several times the author refers to Christian beliefs as “the Truth” with a capital ‘T’. My feeling is that, no, Christian beliefs are not the “Truth.” There is no evidence or proof that Christianity is true – none – so the political actions that flow from these beliefs are based on myths and fairy tales. The book is also written as if evangelical Christianity represents all Christianity in the US. It does not.Americans are taught that we are never allowed to criticize someone’s religion. I hold no such opinion. Christian Nationalism and the Christianity of the evangelical supporters of Trump will destroy this country. And I will hold all Christians and their religion directly responsible for this.The case studies Alberta presents are really interesting and more than a little scary. At the end, Alberta’s book has me more convinced than ever that nothing makes atheism look more appealing than American Christianity. Highly recommended for all Americans.

This is an excellent book; is real, honest and sadly so truthful; unfortunately, there will be some readers opposed to it and may trash the content solely based on their political and religious perspective.The truth is that any real person that profess to be a genuine Christian should read this book with an open mind and heart.The book challenged my spiritual beliefs and made me realize how far I have been from living a life that reflects Jesus teachings of love, kindness, morality and forgiveness!!!!

Tim Alberta, a journalist who is a Christian himself, provides great insight into the way much of American Evangelicalism has been captured by the politics of white Christian nationalism. He covers a range of manifestations, from infamous people like Michael Flynn, the Falwells, David Barton, Greg Locke, and Ralph Reed, to non-famous churches and pastors that still influence hundreds of people. Much of this is covered in interviews and attendance at events; the personal insight adds to the narrative. The portrait that emerges of a church that has placed political power ahead of Jesus is sobering and discouraging, but something we should all be aware of.There are also bits of hope, as Alberta talks to Christians who have not bowed the knee to the orange idol, like Russell Moore, Julie Roys, David French, and the pastor who succeeded his late father. I'm not sure I share his optimism about the prospects of steering more of the church back toward Jesus, but it is good to be reminded that such efforts exist (I think of myself as a part of that, having cowritten "Christ or Caesar: Church and Nation in Christian Perspective").The one aspect I felt was missing, perhaps reflecting the author's church background, was the extremes of the charismatic movement, notably the "New Apostolic Reformation," which played a large role in the events of Jan. 6 and which advances an influential narrative of Trump as the person protecting American Christians from demonic forces. The book would have been more complete had there been a chapter about Peter Wagner, Lance Wallnau, Cindy Jacobs, Dutch Sheets, etc. Those interested in filling in that gap should catch the recent podcast "Charismatic Revival Fury."

The author did some serious research. It's qualitative--based on interviews and field observations mostly, so it's hard to tell exactly how pervasive his conclusions are. But it reveals the depth to which some denominations (the Southern Baptist Convention in the U.S. particularly) has become a fund-raiser and vote-getter for the Republican Party. It explores the history and roots of fusion in a particularly effective way I thought.

It’s a thorough and comprehensive of some of the most relevant figures in American Evangelism, using each example to explain every characteristic of the conservative Christians in that country, and how have they surrendered to Donald Trump, against all of their beliefs.

As a British-based Evangelical, one of those strange creatures who actually believes the New Testament, I thought that this was a wonderful and prophetic book. Then I am not an American.... Genuine evangelical believers have long since despaired at the apostasy of "Evangelicals" in the USA, and while Tim Alberta may have left out many of the faithful Evangelicals still left in the United States - groups like 9Marks get no mention for example - his is still a book that shows the global Evangelical majority (sic) that there are still a few believers left in America.

Tim Alberta was raised in an Evangelical family and his father was the pastor of one of the largest Evangelical churches in their Michigan town. His father died in July 2019 shortly after the author had published a book critical of Donald Trump that had been criticized on-air by Rush Limbaugh. As a result, instead of receiving condolences from the people in his family's church, he was regularly criticized for having gone over to the other side. This prompted his wife to ask "what is the matter with these people?" This book is Tim Alberta's attempt to answer his wife's question.The author begins with detailed and very personal stories of churches that were losing members because the pastor was emphasizing Jesus instead of political outrages. Members were moving to churches that delivered an extreme political message. He interviews a number of pastors who were struggling with how to handle this situation.The author then visits a number of the politically charged churches and reports on their church services where the key messages seem to be that the country is going downhill and Christians need to fight back. He notes that the services are also designed to provoke fear in the congregation. He then interviews the pastors and asks them how their square their political focus with their Christian faith. Although some of the pastors acknowledge the conflict, they argue that they are just providing what their congregation wants. They then go back to preaching the same way. The author feels that these churches are practicing idolatry.The author then visits some big rallies where people like Ralph Reed, Charlie Kirk, Eric Metaxas and Paula White are delivering the messages. He sees many of these people are hucksters trying to make money out of the Evangelical community.The book contains excellent reporting on recent events at the Southern Baptist Conference meetings as they are forced to come to grips with sexual abuse scandals in their churches. Russel Moore's struggles with the SBC are also reported on in detail as Moore was forced out of his leadership position in the SBC because of his unwillingness to endorse Donald Trump as well as his insistence that the SBC deal fairly with the sex abuse scandals.There is also some excellent reporting about Liberty University and how it tossed out it's religious mission in favor of political boosterism.On the positive side, Alberta talks to some of the people working to counteract this politicization of the church.Some of the material has already appeared in The Atlantic where Alberta is a staff writer. His deep faith and knowledge of scripture comes out in the book making this a deeply personal book. The book is also very unsettling as you see how the church is being so politicized. The book is strongly recommended for anyone interested in religion and contemporary US politics. It is one of the most important books published in 2023.

This book clearly proclaims the state of religion in America. It is a sobering review of the devolution of evangelical Christianity. Deserving of the read.