Evangelicals or Extremists?

The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism by Tim Alberta
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow! I love it when I get to the end of a book and the last line astounds and satisfies. I stumbled onto this book because the Democratic Party where I volunteer was holding a book study on it. It was on hold at my library so my copy didn't come in before the study date, but when it became available I picked it up anyway. I actually dawdled around and didn't read it until my library said it was due in three days. So for the past three days I have been immersed in the scary tale of American Evangelicals.

I grew up Baptist and some of my family members tend toward the extremes, so I recognized many of the people in this book. But I really had no idea how organized, how malevolent, how hateful some churches had become. I had no idea pastors could be fired for not backing the right political candidate, or not putting politics ahead of biblical teaching. The author also grew up in the church, the son of a preacher, so his biblical knowledge was always right on. Which is probably why he does such a good job exposing how some of these teachings and practices fall far short of "what would Jesus do?"

I loved his organization around these three words from the Lord's prayer. "Thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory." Is the church pursuing a heavenly kingdom or an earthly kingdom? Is Satan tempting us with power? And Oh, the glory. That's the best part. If you haven't read this book yet, get on the wait list at your library. Definitely worth it.

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