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

InstantNew York TimesBestseller

One of Barack Obama's Favorite Books of the Year

AnEconomistandAir MailBest 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 polarizingand least understoodpeople 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 kingdoma land set apart, a nation uniquely blessed, a people in special covenant with God. This love of country, however, has given way to a powerful current of 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 stranlóç