{"id":1417,"date":"2025-09-26T13:55:13","date_gmt":"2025-09-26T13:55:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jesusworldview.org\/resource-library\/?p=1417"},"modified":"2025-10-09T15:03:06","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T15:03:06","slug":"the-kingdom-the-power-and-the-glory-american-evangelicals-in-an-age-of-extremism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jesusworldview.org\/resource-library\/the-kingdom-the-power-and-the-glory-american-evangelicals-in-an-age-of-extremism\/","title":{"rendered":"The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Tim Alberta<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

–<\/p>\n\n\n

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Buy Book<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

A careful and clear writer, Tim Alberta pulls back the curtain on white Americanized evangelicalism\u2019s true story of \u201ca faith cheapened by ephemeral fear, a promise corrupted by partisan subterfuge, and a reputation stained by perpetual scandal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His well-sourced work is less about taking digs than constructively digging into the ways in which this prominent religious movement has often lost its way \u2014 the one once focused on the good news of Jesus\u2019 love, grace and calling to discipleship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why this happened is a personal as well as professional question for the successful journalist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs a believer in Jesus Christ \u2014 and the son of an evangelical minister, raised in a conservative church in a conservative community \u2014 I had long struggled with how to answer this question,\u201d he writes in the book\u2019s prologue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For those willing to hear a thoughtful yet critical word, Alberta walks readers through the detailed story of American evangelicalism\u2019s shift to embrace secular power and its methods of coercion that Jesus rejected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For 21 chapters Alberta unfolds the evolution of an odd embrace of darkness by those who claim the light. Seeing the errors of one\u2019s way \u2014 or of a whole movement \u2014 is the first step on the road that leads back to faith as Jesus intended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christians have long called that \u2014 and called for \u2014 conversion. Hearing and heeding one\u2019s on call is sometimes the hardest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Especially if it requires hearing and heeding Jesus\u2019 call once again to deny one\u2019s self-interest and \u201cFollow me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alberta is not some caustic dart thrower, but a reflective Christian with deep personal commitments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor most of my life I have struggled to fathom the dimensions of God\u2019s mercy,\u201d he writes in conclusion. \u201cHow could the make of heaven and earth, the Alpha and the Omega, the ruler of the cosmos, thinks me significant enough to even pay attention \u2014 much less to lavish me with unconditional love?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To that question he affirms: \u201cThe answer, I\u2019ve come to appreciate more fully, is revealed not in the codes of religion but in the context of relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alberta\u2019s critical insights \u2014 though challenging \u2014 are needed for healthy individual faith and healthier congregations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Review by John D. Pierce, Director of the Jesus Worldview Initiative<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Tim Alberta – A careful and clear writer, Tim Alberta pulls back the curtain on white Americanized evangelicalism\u2019s true story of \u201ca faith cheapened by ephemeral fear, a promise …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1418,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-booksadvanced"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jesusworldview.org\/resource-library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jesusworldview.org\/resource-library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jesusworldview.org\/resource-library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jesusworldview.org\/resource-library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jesusworldview.org\/resource-library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1417"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/jesusworldview.org\/resource-library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1417\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1576,"href":"https:\/\/jesusworldview.org\/resource-library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1417\/revisions\/1576"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jesusworldview.org\/resource-library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jesusworldview.org\/resource-library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jesusworldview.org\/resource-library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jesusworldview.org\/resource-library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}