Book Review: "The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory" by Tim Alberta

 "America... too many of them worship America." 

In an examination of of what his own faith community, Atlantic staff write Tim Alberta outlines threats not only to the evangelical tradition but to America as a whole. Beginning at his father's funeral in suburban Detroit, Alberta examines the condition of American evangelicalism in a journey across the centers of the movement, from Orange County, New York to Lynchburg, Atlanta, Dallas, Wheaton, and denominational meetings and churches as far flung as Arkansas and Anaheim.

At the heart of Tim Alberta's barnstorming journalism across evangelical America is the first sin: idolatry. In Jewish, Reformed Christian, and Orthodox reckoning, the first two Commandments are related to the subject: "thou shalt have no other Gods before me," and "thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image." (Catholics and Lutherans lump these together into the First Commandment and reorder later Commandments, though the text is the same.) For Alberta, the false god is Christian nationalism, the graven image, Donald Trump. In one truly baffling scene, the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, a Southern Baptist megachurch with a long history, shows off his "shrine" to the 45th president in his office. 

Alberta's premise, articulated through the first two chapters, is that American evangelicals like his father, whose death and funeral prompted this examination of the wider evangelical community, have turned America, or their idealized version of it ("the 1950s without the racism and sexism," according to Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention), into an idol that makes supporting Trump an acceptable tradeoff. Seen as a modern-day Cyrus the Great, the Persian ruler of the Old Testament who liberated the ancient Hebrews from Babylon, Trump is the liberator of evangelicals who fear the oppression of the progressive state.

Stung from a loss of prestige and power over the last half century, evangelicals see Trump as the antidote. To a "mainliner" like me, this may be the hardest part to accept- evangelicals were marginalized since the Scopes trial in many ways. On the other hand, the 1950s and early '60s were heady days for more conservative social forces. From the addition of "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance (with the help of mainline churches) to "Operation Wetback," it was a time in which white evangelicalism rode from strength to strength. When one considers that the first evangelicals in this country founded Harvard University (along with Yale, Brown, and Princeton), the loss of prestige begins to make more sense.

Alberta has no sympathy for any of this. Beginning at his father's wake and funeral (the elder Alberta was a minister in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, which broke from the mainline PCUSA in 1981), he examines a subculture from the perspective of an insider who now stands on the outside, with people he grew up with now questioning his loyalties,

None of this will be a surprise to the reader. Perhaps more discomforting- and perhaps a cause for more reflection- is his explanation of the aftermath of COVID-19. Building on decades of conspiracy theories and "prophetic" teaching, the closure of churches during the pandemic sent many evangelicals into "fight" mode, working against pandemic restrictions with the belief that the long-prophesied oppression of the church had finally begun,

This is a work of journalism, not of history or theology. The limitation is that if you want to understand the sources of evangelical paranoia- the prophesies of a state oppressing the Church- you will simply have to accept that as fact. Likewise you will have to accept the story of America as an evangelical province-though if you look to the history of New England in the 17th century, it is not hard to find.  Alberta does not attempt to explain Puritan New England or Millennialist eschatology.

On the other hand, it is a profoundly relevant examination of American evangelicalism in the present. Alberta's ability to secure interviews with leading figures is truly remarkable, and he lets them speak for themselves. It is fascinating and often terrifying. And it is our present reality. Alberta dedicates the book to his father, "a sinner, like his sons." Late in the book, he announces that he has entered seminary. This is a work of a true believer, who speaks the language and practices the faith as genuinely as anyone. For me, it became devotional reading, realizing there were places where I, as an Episcopalian, could learn a thing or two.

If only his fellow evangelicals would listen. Alberta is a braver and more faithful man than I. "Fear not" is at the center of his message. One wonders how much further our faith will be tested.