American Evangelicals and Trump

Tim Alberta, The Kingdom the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism (New York: Harper, 2023)

The primary purpose of this blog is to encourage you to read Tim Alberta’s The Kingdom the Power, and the Glory. My intent is not to write a careful review of the book. It is instead an endorsement of an important book for our time.

Tim Alberta is an award-winning journalist, best-selling author, and staff writer for The Atlantic magazine. More importantly for the book he wrote, Tim Alberta is himself an evangelical, the son of a pastor, Reverend Richard J. Alberta, who grew a church in Brighton, Michigan– Cornerstone Evangelical Presbyterian Church– from a few hundred to a few thousand members. In the first few chapters Tim Alberta describes his upbringing, his home church, and his father’s gradually increasing sympathies with Christian nationalism, though avoiding the extremism of most of the characters described in the book.

As an evangelical himself, Tim Alberta is able to help us understand the mindset of evangelicals who have become ardent Trump supporters. And this is an important contribution. Far too often American evangelical supporters of Trump are written off as unintelligent and irrational. But there are reasons why some 75 to 85% of American evangelicals are enamoured with Trump. Their convictions about the world we live in are grounded in some biblical truths. There is a spiritual battle going on in this world (Eph 5:10-17). Jesus taught us that the world will hate us (Matt 10:22). We are called to be salt and light in “a crooked and perverse generation” (Phil 2:15; Matt 5:13-16).

The problem is that these biblical truths have somehow gotten twisted in the minds of many American evangelicals. Yes, there is a spiritual battle going on in this world, but it is a spiritual battle. We are not fighting against “enemies of flesh and blood,” but “against spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places, and thus prayer might be a lot more appropriate than trying to achieve power (Eph 6:12 – NRSV). Trump supporters also forget that Jesus taught us to love our enemies (Matt 5:43-8). They forget that we are called to be peace-loving (Matt 5:9; Heb 12:14). They forget that Jesus lived in a very similar hostile political environment and ultimately went to the cross, praying “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). Ultimately, the problem is idolatry. Alberta reminds us that we cannot worship both God and the gods of this world. Sadly, too many American evangelicals are trying to do both. “Too many of them worship America.” (p. 23). Too many of them are kneeling at the altar of Donald Trump.

Alberta also gives us a careful analysis of the current political scene and the factors that have led evangelicals to support Trump. And here again, there are some legitimate concerns. There are many values held by Democrats that go quite contrary to biblical principles. For example, Democrats are ardent supporters of abortion. Liberal progressivism has become rather aggressive. The media and chattering classes tend to be leftist and anti-christian. Prayers have been banished in public schools. Secularization is on the rise.

And then there was the pandemic, when many leaders in government shut down churches. This was the sign for many evangelicals that the barbarians were at the gates. “Desperate times called for desperate … measures” (p. 116). Hence the defensiveness of evangelicals, and the urge to destroy their enemies and dominate the country by any means necessary (p. 258). But again, Alberta is at pains to show that this is not at all in keeping with Jesus’ teaching and example.

Alberta has done his homework, criss-crossing the country, attending church services, assemblies, and rallies, interviewing hundreds of evangelical leaders and pastors. We get an inside look at some very unsavoury characters like Jerry Falwell Jr., Eric Metaxes, Charlie Kirk, Ralph Reed, and David Barton, people with a bottomless appetite for self-promotion and a lust for power and wealth. At times one wants to quit reading, but the stories are gripping even though they are so sad.

Fortunately, the book ends on a positive note. There are evangelicals who are trying to turn things around. For example, David French has taken up journalism to support the cause of moderate evangelicals. Russell Moore, once a prominent leader in the Southern Baptist Convention, is now criss-crossing the country, encouraging pastors who are trying to decouple faith from politics. David French, Curtis Chang, and Russell Moore have created a “Good Faith Podcast,” trying to counter the false teaching that is so prevalent in evangelical churches (p. 345). They also see the need for careful discipling of Christians and have therefore developed a teaching program, “The After Party: Towards Better Christian Politics” (p. 346). They had problems getting funding for this program from Christians, and so went to secular sources who were supportive because these secularists realised that they had for too long marginalized evangelicals. Says Chang: “Maybe if we use the resources of the secular world to heal the evangelical Church, then we can also use the spirit of the evangelical Church to heal the secular world” (p. 347).

I will confess that I got a bit tired of the lengthy detailed and sometimes repeat descriptions of people with twisted minds and sometime very twisted characters. But detail is also a strength of the book. No one will be able to accuse Alberta of not having done his homework. If you want a shorter version of the book, read Tim Alberta’s article in the Jan/Feb, 2024 issue of The Atlantic magazine: “My Father, My Faith, and Donald Trump.” Another option is to listen to a video which provides a good summary of Alberta’s book. https://www.pbs.org/wnet/firing-line/video/tim-alberta-ufn5x7/

If you want to understand the very sad story of widespread evangelical support for Donald Trump and come to a better understanding of why it is so misplaced, read or listen to Tim Alberta.

Tags: Christian Nationalism, ethics, evangelicalism, liberalism, political polarization, politics, Tim Alberta, Trump